The floating graveyard is now dead

Despite living in California for a good portion of my youth, there are quite a few places I would have loved to go visit that I never really had the chance to see while I was there. One such place I would love to go see is the former NAS Alameda, the USS Hornet Museum, and if it still existed, the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. 

The Hornet is well known and well preserved, it's also just a place that is chock full of interesting history, both in the warship itself and it's continued role in being a museum and movie set. The list of combat accomplishments and historical significance of this ship is just too long to list here, but is well worth reading a summary of it on the Wikipedia page. 

Unfortunately, as for the Reserve fleet, it appears that Californians can never just enjoy anything fun or interesting, so as of 2017, the fleet has basically ceased to exist. I only had a chance to see it myself from a distance once or twice growing up, but it was always something that fascinated me. Most of the ships were sold off for scrap after people complained of "possible" environmental concerns, but the most significant of them was thankfully preserved as a museum as well, the famous USS Iowa, and is now located in L.A.

A picture of the reserve fleet in 1962.

The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet was created 1946, as a consequence to the massive surplus of ships freed up after the end of WWII and was administered by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD). In it's peak in the 1950's, the site was home to over 2,000 mothballed ships that were taken off the naval registry. There were over 300 ships anchored there most of it time, but the number had steadily declined as the more obsolescent ships were either sold off or scrapped. The bulk of the ships stored there were oilers, supply ships, surveyors, salvage, and replenishment ships, but at times there were also the occasional frigates, guided missile cruisers, and icebreakers. Some other notable ships that were stored there at one point was the Sea Shadow experimental stealth ship, Glomar Explorer that was created to salvage the Soviet sub K-129, and the USS Vancouver amphibious landing ship. 

As of this year, there are still a couple boats left at the site that are awaiting their fate, but it won't be long until they are all gone. Thankfully, the Youtube channel It's History put together a little video that gives a brief overview of some of the more notable boats that were stored there.