HONG KONG - Sailors from the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) and the Warlords of embarked Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 51, Detachment 4, arrived in Hong Kong for a port visit from Oct. 7 - 11.

The visit will provide the more than 350 Sailors on board Shiloh a chance to experience the unique culture and hospitality of Hong Kong, and take advantage of its world-class shopping, sightseeing and cuisine and participate in community service projects with their hosts.

Sailors will take part in a community service project, spending an afternoon reading to children at the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children (HKSPC) Nursery School in the neighborhood of Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon. The HKSPC was established in 1926 to serve underprivileged children in the city. It remains one of Hong Kong’s oldest charities and among the largest of its type in Hong Kong. The HKSPC has eighteen nursery schools that provide day care for the children of lower income working class families.

In addition to community service projects, Sailors will receive home-cooked cuisines from the “Meals in the Home” program with local families, sponsored by the American Women’s Association (AWA). Thanks to the generosity of volunteer families, who host Sailors in return to learn about the U.S. Navy and shipboard life.

“We routinely have more Sailors volunteering for the community relations projects than can be accommodated. The word it out that participating in these events provides a unique opportunity to meet people in the local community and interact on a personal level,” said Shiloh’s Commanding Officer, Capt. Matt Loughlin.

“Hong Kong is always one of the most popular liberty ports in the Asia-Pacific region, and these renewed friendships further strengthen the already close relationship between the U.S. Navy and the people of Hong Kong,” Loughlin said.

Shiloh is forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, and the cruiser operates routinely throughout the Western Pacific region in support of 7th Fleet missions.