HMAS Sydney opened the gangway to about 3000 military personnel and their families keen to tour an Australian warship as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).
Sydney was one of 21 ships from around the world to welcome guests on board during the RIMPAC open ship day.
Based out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, RIMPAC is the world's largest international maritime exercise. This year, 31 nations are participating, including 30 surface ships, five submarines, more than 197 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel.
Welcoming visitors on board Sydney, Lieutenant Clinton Kerr said it was fantastic to meet so many local families as well as crew from partner nations participating in RIMPAC.
"I'm genuinely blown away by how friendly and excited people have been to come on board," Lieutenant Kerr said.
"I have met people from all around the world - from Mexico, Italy, the Philippines and Singapore - and it's been wonderful to see so many local military families and personnel out and about on a beautiful summer's day.
"The ship has also been doing a roaring trade, swapping patches and coins and chatting with visitors."
Among the crowd was the Wishnowsky family who live on base at Pearl Harbor. Vince is a US Marine and is married to Elise, from Melbourne.
"When I saw in the program that Sydney was going to be here, I wanted to come home for just a little bit," Mrs Wishnowsky said.
The couple met in 2013 when Vince was in Sydney for the Australian- and United States-led military Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Commanding Officer Sydney Commander Hayden Jenkins said RIMPAC was an excellent opportunity for Sydney to highlight the ship's capabilities and conduct professional exchanges.
"This open day provided the opportunity for the ship's officers and sailors to build people-to-people relationships with their counterparts from partner nations visiting Sydney, or when our crew were visiting partner ships," Commander Jenkins said.
"Many members of ship's crew spent time exchanging stories of their RIMPAC experiences to date and discussing the upcoming activities that they are looking forward to throughout the exercise."
