The 'Ghost Fleet'

[itchybro]

Incredible photo's here:

Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet | Beyond the Photos

What led me there...

6 Images of Abandoned Weaponry You Won't Believe Are Real | Cracked.com

EDIT:

More info:

http://themaritimeblog.com/1915/the-...mothball-fleet

[rrranch]

Just sad. A couple years ago there were 5 ships I had served on there. Now it's down to just one left. I was a crew member onboard the Iowa at it's last commissioning. Two other ships I was on are now museums and 5 have been sunk. I hope the Iowa is spared.

[James S]

That is sad....

[jerrymc]

Originally Posted by rrranch

Just sad. A couple years ago there were 5 ships I had served on there. Now it's down to just one left. I was a crew member onboard the Iowa at it's last commissioning. Two other ships I was on are now museums and 5 have been sunk. I hope the Iowa is spared.

The Iowa has been spared & will be brought to San Pedro, in LA Harbor, hopefully in December of this year (weather permitting). She will occupy Berth 87 on the San Pedro waterfront & converted to a floating museum/tourist attraction. More details in this article:

USS Iowa goes to the Port of L.A. - The Daily Breeze

[S/V Alchemy]

That was extremely interesting. Maybe America would be less broke if it took better care of its things.

OK, that sounded bitter, but the wastage implicit in those "ghost fleets" is appalling. I'm pretty sure you could give every disabled kid on Earth a free wheelchair just by carving up one of those dead warships.

What the Russians have done is just nihilistic and criminal and will poison us all. The fact that it will poison the Russians first is no consolation, really.

[boasun]

Every ship I've sailed on in the Navy and with Military sealift Command are no longer in comission and most of them have been scrapped.
But life goes on and I now have my own personal Command...The S/V Rapture, a Harden45... Yeah!!

[w1651]

Try to remember that these ships get sold for scrap and may well end up as wheel chairs or hospital beds. Just because they are no longer viable because of technology or age doesn't mean they don't have more or greater uses.
It'll just be China that makes it instead of us.

[Khagan1227]

This is a photo of my last ship, USS MISSISSIPPI CGN40, the hull to the right, the other hull is the USS South Carolina, sad, very sad indeed:

[Chief Engineer]

What is really sad is there are few AMERICAN Merchant Mariners.......

[itchybro]

The "Sea Shadow" struck me as something that is particularly "museum worthy". The interior photos reminded me too much of the "Venture Brothers".

[jerrymc]

UPDATE: The USS Iowa left the "Ghost Fleet" in Benicia, the first leg of her journey to her new home in San Pedro. See article in Latitude 38:
Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude