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September 25, 2005
Mothballed Ship Fleets
Have you ever wondered what happens to all the ships that get decommissioned? Well, I know some are sent to scrap yards and torn apart to resmelter the steel, etc. But, not all of them go there. The US Maritime Administration maintains several fleets of ships in readiness for use in what is called the "National Defense Reserve Fleet". One location in Suisun Bay, California has over 70 ships. Another fleet is located in the James River, Virginia.
These ships are not all destined for scrap. The Maritime Administration says a large number of their fleet were recalled to duty during the 1991 Gulf War to transport nearly one fourth of the equipment needed during that action. They continue to maintain these ships by oiling the engines, checking for leaks, keeping the interiors clean and watertight, etc.
You can see these mothballed fleets here 
and here in Google Earth. The picture above is just a small sample of the ships to be found.
Posted by FrankTaylor at September 25, 2005 10:15 AM
Comments
Posted by: Bill Day at September 25, 2005 6:36 PM
Your welcome, and thanks, the mis-spelling is fixed.
Posted by: Frank Taylor at September 25, 2005 11:17 PM
One of the world's most historic and charismatic ships, U.S.S. Iowa, sitting in the Mothball Fleet is now available for donation as a museum and memorial from the U.S. Navy to a California community. We invite your support to place this battleship at our nation's first Pacific naval installation, Mare Island, Vallejo, California. Go to www.battleshipiowa.org for infomation. Please send letters of endorsement to Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square, P. O. Box 361, Vallejo, CA 94590
Posted by: Lore at September 14, 2006 9:12 PM
Is there any way to find out when they might move the U.S.S. Iowa to Mare Island? It would be a great photo opportunity going by Benicia.
Posted by: Larry at December 8, 2009 4:09 PM
I would like to know why the Navy & the State of California doesn't work out a deal to use these ships electrical plants & water desalting equipment to generate electricty & fresh water.
The Midway, when operable, processed one million gallons of potable water per day, 365 million gallons per year. Why not use that capability to process water for Southern california? We the taxpayers have already paid for this equipment!Why Can't we use it?
Posted by: David V at January 17, 2010 11:07 AM
Is there any truth that the remaining battleships could be returned to service if needed?
Posted by: steve at February 5, 2011 5:13 PM
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I've driven by the ships in Suisun Bay many times and wondered what fate would befall them. Thanks for answering that question. :-)
BTW, it's "Suisun", not "Susian": http://www.suisun.com/intropage.htm