USS McClusky (FFG 41) visited Naval Station Everett last week before heading south to represent the Navy at the Portland Rose Festival.

The Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile frigate made the stop in Everett after taking part in the Trident Fury joint Canadian-American military exercises held in the northwestern Pacific.

The maneuvers included ships and planes of the Canadian Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard partnered with U.S. Navy vessels and units from the New Jersey Air National Guard. Trident Fury is a multi-national exercise designed to advance Canada’s ability to respond to offshore threats while working in a coalition environment, said Ensign Ben Norkin, McClusky’s ordnance officer.

“It’s good to train with our Canadian counterparts,” Nor-kin said. He emphasized the frigate’s versatility and multi-mission capabilities. During the exercise, McClusky participated in formation steaming, gun shoots, Tactical Action Officer joint training, underway refueling, coastal defense, and helicopter flight ops.

“We can do it all,” Norkin said. “Last year at this time our ship was chasing drug runners off the coast of South America. We just got back from working with our northern cousins, and now we’re getting ready to show the flag at the Rose Festival.”

Portland’s Festival of Roses hosts an estimated two million visitors each year. From small beginnings as informal gatherings of growers who noticed that Portland’s climate was perfectly suited to growing and exhibiting roses, the event has grown to a month long festival and international showcase for the city. Some visitors travel thousands of miles to attend the celebration, now in its 98th year.

McClusky has also steamed thousands of miles since leaving its homeport in San Diego. After leaving Everett, the frigate will make the next leg of the journey by traveling more than 100 miles up the Columbia river to Portland, a rare inland voyage for a Navy vessel.

At the festival, the crew of more than 300, with attached helicopters and aviation personnel, will act as goodwill ambassadors for the Navy, opening the ship for tours and demonstrations of technology and equipment. McClusky’s Sailors will also “dress the ship,” a naval tradition that involves hanging dozens of colorful signal flags and pennants from lines strung from bow to stern of the vessel.

“It’s a lot of work getting ready for something like that,” said Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 2nd Class(SW) Jared Polack, a member of McClusky’s crew. “We’re doing a ton of cleaning, dusting, painting and everyone gets extra training as a tour guide. Having your surface warfare pin (ESWS) really helps you out being a tour guide because you already know all the ship’s major systems. We’ve all heard Portland is one of the best liberty ports in the country, and we want to show off our ship to the people there.”

That’s a feeling shared by McClusky’s senior enlisted advisor. After the frigate’s recent real world deployments, Command Master Chief(SW) Clifford Lewis is grateful for the chance to take his ship to what is known as the Mardi Gras of the Northwest.

“The crew of the ‘Fighting Forty-one’ (McClusky’s nickname) are excellently trained and highly professional and motivated in all they do,” he said. “They did a great job during the exercise with our northern neighbors, and now they have a well deserved chance to be Navy ambassadors and present our ship to the people of Portland.”