Two divisions of the Great White Fleet visited Bellingham Bay, reaching there on Friday, May 22, 1908. Anchoring in the Bay were the flagship Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Vermont, Georgia, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Other ships in the fleet that toured Puget Sound were the Louisiana, Virginia, Ohio and Wisconsin, visiting Port Angeles, and the Illinois, and Kearsarge, visiting Port Townsend. The main event was the parade through the center of Bellingham. The parade route was from Ivy Street on Elk (now State) to Whatcom Creek. 500 sailors and marines marched through the streets. There were 112 companies, composed of thirty men each, not including the Red Cross representatives. Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry was at the head of the parade. An estimated crowd of 100,000 people watched the parade.
Tragedy occurred Friday evening, when two sailors from the New Jersey, Third-rate Master-at-arms F. L. Lulinski and Seaman J. J. Staub, were crushed to death under the wheels of a Lake Whatcom streetcar just beyond Whatcom Creek on Dock Street (now State). At about 6:30 p.m., the two sailors along with coal passer J. J. Kelly of the New Jersey and an unidentified sailor from the Vermont were riding on the front fender of the streetcar when the chain snapped and all were thrown to the ground. According to news reports in the Herald, "the two on the outside fell clear of the track, but the front wheel of the truck passed clear over Staub, cutting him in two and killing him instantly. Lulinski was thrown between the wheels and dragged for a distance but did not get under them." He died four hours later at St. Luke's Hospital. An inquiry cleared the conductor and motormen of any blame, and placed the responsibility for the accident upon the victims themselves.
The Great White Fleet departed Bellingham Bay for Seattle on Saturday, May 23, 1908. The Bellingham Herald noted that the first to leave for Seattle were the "speilers," vendors hawking curios and momentos commemorating the fleet’s visit.