Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet

gifford1967 · Jun 4, 2013

Just Amazing. See the complete collection of photos at the link.

Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet

May 7, 2011
By Scott Haefner

For decades, dozens of forgotten Navy and merchant ships have been corroding in Suisun Bay, 30 miles northeast of San Francisco. These historic vessels—the Mothball Fleet—served their country in four wars: WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Desert Storm. After a decade of impasse, the ghost fleet is slowly dwindling as the ships are towed out one-by-one for scrapping. About 15 retired ships are already gone; by 2017, the entire fleet will be just a memory.
Mothball Fleet photo: Ghost Ships

Over a two-year period, several close friends and I gained unprecedented access to the decaying ships, spending several days at a time photographing, documenting, and even sleeping aboard them—often in the luxury of the captain’s quarters. Sneaking on-board required months of planning and coordination, and it involved taking significant risks. Of course, things did not always go as planned, but despite several close calls, we were successful in all of our attempts to infiltrate the ships while evading round-the-clock security patrols.
Mothball Fleet photo: Captain's Room
History and Current State

These ghost ships, part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) overseen by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), were supposed to be ready for duty in the event of a national emergency. Perhaps a few ships are actually “reserve ready” and could be activated, but the vast majority are well beyond their useful lives and rotting away as they wait in line for disposal...

http://scotthaefner.com/beyond/mothball-fleet-ghost-ships/

Click to expand...

boomboom · Jun 4, 2013

I would feel so creeped out walking around and sleeping on those. Cool stuff.

Master Baiter · Jun 4, 2013

Really cool!

updawg · Jun 4, 2013

Interesting. I used to drive by there a lot 15 yrs ago. I'm surprised there were any in that good of shape. They look bad from far away

DaDakota · Jun 4, 2013

Wow.

DD

MoonDogg · Jun 4, 2013

They should open those up to the homeless. I'm sure that's a near impossibility due to liability and safety reasons, but it's a cool thought.

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Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet

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Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet

gifford1967 Contributing Member Supporting Member

boomboom I GOT '99 PROBLEMS Supporting Member

Master Baiter Contributing Member

updawg Member

DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

MoonDogg Member

Share This Page

gifford1967 Contributing Member
Supporting Member

boomboom I GOT '99 PROBLEMS
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