The Ghost Ships of Suisun Bay

[S&Wshooter]

Originally Posted by mjp28

In Suisun Bay, 30 miles northeast of San Francisco, there lies a vast ghostly fleet of almost 100 abandoned Navy and merchant ships. These vessels, known as the Mothball Fleet, served in four US wars and are currently awaiting disposal. (Photo courtesy Scott Haefner/Scotthaefner.com)

But doesn't Mothballing a fleet mean that they are just kept in reserve just in case they are needed?

My father told me a while back about how there are a bunch of US Navy ships in Beaumont that have been pumped full of Nitrogen and had all their hatches sealed up until they are needed

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by S&Wshooter

But doesn't Mothballing a fleet mean that they are just kept in reserve just in case they are needed?

My father told me a while back about how there are a bunch of US Navy ships in Beaumont that have been pumped full of Nitrogen and had all their hatches sealed up until they are needed

Technically yes, that's how my dad was on the New Jersey in WWII and called back to active duty in Korea, they just bring them back online.

With air power and missles (and age plus budgets) some ships will just rust away then need scrapped.

[funkychinaman]

Originally Posted by S&Wshooter

But doesn't Mothballing a fleet mean that they are just kept in reserve just in case they are needed?

My father told me a while back about how there are a bunch of US Navy ships in Beaumont that have been pumped full of Nitrogen and had all their hatches sealed up until they are needed

It's fairly rare for ships to come back from mothballing. Battleships were lucky because they were all still fairly new and no one was building any new ones. A bunch of (also fairly new) carriers were also mothballed after the war, and most of them never made it back to service.

I'm glad all four found homes. I have to get around to reading "A Glimpse of Hell," which was about the explosion. I bought it a few months back, but I haven't touched it.

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by funkychinaman

It's fairly rare for ships to come back from mothballing. Battleships were lucky because they were all still fairly new and no one was building any new ones. A bunch of (also fairly new) carriers were also mothballed after the war, and most of them never made it back to service.

I'm glad all four found homes. I have to get around to reading "A Glimpse of Hell," which was about the explosion. I bought it a few months back, but I haven't touched it.

Call ups just depend upon demand for their skill set. If you need ships to be a few miles off coast and lob 2,000 lb high explosive shells up to 20 miles inland to disrupt the enemy that's great.

In Korea our shore parties and M*A*S*H units were getting harassed until the battleships came in and pounded the hell out of them. It worked.

Same thing in Viet Nam, the New Jersey again was called in to help out.

Now we can turn dumb bombs into smart bombs and get the job done better with less bombing and collaterial damage.
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On that Iowa explosion I've seen the film they released on the explosion. Hard to believe it's basically just bags of powder stuffed into a cannon and fired. Real old but still deadly tech.