United States Navy reserve fleets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the activity have changed several times, the basics are constant; keep the ships afloat and sufficiently working as to be reactivated quickly in an emergency.
Contents |
[edit] History
In some cases, for instance, at the outset of the Korean War, many ships were successfully reactivated, at a considerable savings in time and money; but the usual fate of ships in the reserve fleet is to become too old and obsolete to be of any use, at which point they are sent for scrapping or are scuttled in weapons tests. In rare cases the general public may intercede for ships from the reserve fleet that are about to be scrapped; usually asking for the Navy to donate them for use as museums or memorials.
Around 1912, the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and the Pacific Reserve Fleet were established as reserve units, still operating ships, but on a greatly reduced schedule. After World War II, with hundreds of ships no longer needed by a peacetime Navy, each fleet consisted of a number of groups corresponding to storage sites, each adjacent to a shipyard for easier reactivation.
The groups of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet were at Boston, Charleston, Florida, New London, New York, Norfolk, Philadelphia, and Texas. The groups of the Pacific Reserve Fleet were at Alameda, Bremerton, Columbia River, Long Beach, Mare Island, San Diego, San Francisco, Stockton, and Tacoma.
[edit] Navy Inactive Fleet (NIF)
Since 2004 the administrative organization is called the Navy Inactive Fleet with headquarters at Portsmouth, Virginia.
Merchant ships held in reserve are managed as part of the separate National Defense Reserve Fleet within MARAD (US Maritime Administration). Several of its sites, such as at Suisun Bay in California, are also used to store regular Navy ships.
[edit] List of USN reserve fleets
[edit] James River
The James River Reserve Fleet consists of about 60 decommissioned U.S. Navy warships anchored in Virginia's James River near Newport News. The ships are gradually being towed away for scrapping. From 2001 to March 2005, 31 were disposed of. [1]
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
[edit] Suisun Bay
A similar fleet, the National Defense Reserve Fleet, is anchored in Suisun Bay near Vallejo, California, and has similarly been reduced. This location is known for hosting the Glomar Explorer after its recovery of portions of a Soviet submarine during the Cold War before its subsequent reactivation as a minerals exploration ship. Also present is the USS Iowa.
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
[edit] Neches River
A third fleet of WWII era ships is anchored in the Neches River near Beaumont, Texas.
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
[edit] Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard holds several dozen inactive warships.
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
[edit] Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
The Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, located next to Bremerton, Washington hosts three aircraft carriers among its other ships: USS Ranger (CV-61), USS Independence (CV-62), and USS Constellation (CV-64).[2]
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
