 The ship 's next significant action was the cruise of the Great White Fleet around the world , which started with a naval review for President Theodore Roosevelt in Hampton Roads . On 17 December , the fleet steamed out of Hampton Roads and cruised south to the Caribbean and then to South America , making stops in Port of Spain , Rio de Janeiro , Punta Arenas , and <unk> , among other cities . After arriving in Mexico in March 1908 , the fleet spent three weeks conducting gunnery practice . The fleet then resumed its voyage up the Pacific coast of the Americas , stopping in San Francisco and Seattle before crossing the Pacific to Australia , stopping in Hawaii on the way . <unk> in the South Pacific included Melbourne , Sydney , and Auckland . 
