View source for United States Navy reserve fleets

{{short description|Collections of inactive naval vessels of the US Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
[[File:Mothball fleet Suisun Bay aerial.jpg|300px|thumb|Mothballed ships in Suisun Bay, California (2010). The battleship [[USS Iowa (BB-61)|USS ''Iowa'']] at the right-side end of the group has since become a restored museum ship in [[San Pedro, Los Angeles]].]]

The [[United States Navy]] [[Caretaker (military)|maintains]] a number of its [[ship]]s as part of a [[reserve fleet]], often called the "'''Mothball Fleet'''". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and sufficiently working as to be reactivated quickly in an emergency.

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. The usual fate of ships in the reserve fleet, though, is to become too old and obsolete to be of any use, at which point they are sold for [[scrap]]ping 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 [[museum ship]]s, memorials, or [[artificial reef]]s.

== Administration ==
[[File:View of the reserve fleet laid up at Naval Station San Diego, circa in the 1950s (NH 80755).jpg|thumb|View of the reserve fleet laid up at Naval Station San Diego, circa in the 1950s]]
[[File:USS Cebu (ARG-6) laid up at Suisun Bay, California (USA), 27 July 1972 (NH 83859).jpg|thumb|Ships in the US Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay in 1972]]
[[File:Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet aerial photo 1995.JPEG|thumb|Aerial view of the US Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay in 1995]]
[[File:Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (12163008334).jpg|thumb|Some US reserve fleet ships at Suisun Bay in 2014]]

In November 1976, the controlling organization was the Inactive Ship Division of the Naval Ship Systems Command.<ref>General Accounting Office, [http://www.gao.gov/assets/210/201494.pdf], 8.</ref> As of 2011, the controlling organization actually appears to be the Inactive Ships Management Office of the Program Executive Officer – Ships, [[Naval Sea Systems Command]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161019114731/http://www.navsea.navy.mil/Who-We-Are/NAVSEA-Activities/ accessed January 2022 US Navy NAVSEA-Activities]</ref>

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.

===Maintenance categories===
Ships placed in the reserve fleets are categorized depending on priority, funding and the planned disposition.<ref name="usn_disposition">{{cite web | url=http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/Documents/4770_5G.pdf | title=GENERAL POLICY FOR THE INACTIVATION, RETIREMENT, AND DISPOSITION OF U.S. NAVAL VESSELS | publisher=DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY | date=6 February 2009 | access-date=5 October 2014 | at=Chapter 3 | archive-date=24 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924120414/http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/Documents/4770_5G.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

'''Category B'''
Ships in this category are prioritized over the other categories when it comes to maintenance and funding. They are retained for possible future mobilization and will receive updates and upgrades as funding permits.

'''Category C'''
These are ships that will be maintained as-is; meaning no updates or improvements unless funding becomes available after that assigned for category B ships has been exhausted.

'''Category D'''
Temporary state pending planned usage by the Navy, will be maintained as-is.

'''Category X'''
Ships stricken from the Naval Vessel Register awaiting disposal. Receives no maintenance except ships on donation hold, which undergo dehumidification and [[cathodic protection]].

'''Category Z'''
This category is for nuclear-powered ships and related support ships pending disposal.

==History==
Around 1912, the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and the Pacific Reserve Fleet were established as reserve units with still operating ships, but on a greatly reduced schedule.

After the [[Second World War]], 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. For example, {{USS|Brock|APD-93}} was underway for [[Green Cove Springs, Florida|Green Cove Springs]], [[Florida]], on 11 April 1946. ''Brock'' arrived there on 13 April 1946, and joined the Florida Group, 16th Fleet, which later became the Florida Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

Many of the deactivated World War II merchant vessels were of a class called [[Liberty ship]]s which were mass-produced ocean-going transports used primarily in the convoys going to/from the U.S., Europe, and Russia. Liberty ships were also used as the navy's support vessels for its fleet of warships and to ferry forces across the Pacific and Atlantic.

Most Liberty ships when deactivated were put into "mothball fleets" strategically located around the coasts of the U.S., or sold into commercial service. They began to be deactivated and scrapped in the early 1970s.

=== Atlantic Reserve Fleet ===
Vice Admirals [[Herbert F. Leary]] and [[Thomas C. Kinkaid]] served as Commanders, Sixteenth Fleet, after World War II. Sixteenth Fleet later became the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

The groups of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet were at [[Boston]], [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[Green Cove Springs, Florida]], [[Naval Submarine Base New London|New London]], [[MOTBY]]/[[New York Harbor]], [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Philadelphia]], and [[Texas]].

=== Pacific Reserve Fleet ===
The Nineteenth Fleet became the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

The groups of the Pacific Reserve Fleet were at [[Alameda, California|Alameda]], [[Bremerton]], [[Columbia River]], [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]], [[Mare Island]], [[San Diego]], [[San Francisco]], [[Stockton, California|Stockton]], [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]], and [[Olympia, Washington]] (Budd Inlet).

==List of current USN reserve fleets==
===James River Reserve Fleet===
[[File:Freedom Star with SRB.JPG|thumb|250px| MV ''Freedom Star'' returns to port with an SRB after STS-131.]]
{{Main|James River Reserve Fleet}}

The [[James River Reserve Fleet]] consists of a small number of decommissioned [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] auxiliaries and [[warship]]s anchored in [[Virginia]]'s [[James River]] near [[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News]].
The fleet originally comprised approximately 60 ships, most of which were gradually towed away for scrapping.
From 2012 to 2016, among its few remaining vessels was {{MV|Freedom Star}}, previously a [[NASA recovery ship]] for the [[Space Shuttle]]'s [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster|solid rocket boosters]], which was then loaned out to the [[Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education]] in Piney Point, Maryland, as a training vessel.

===Suisun Bay===
[[File:Suisun fleet BB61.jpg|thumb|250px|{{USS|Iowa|BB-61}} laid up in Suisun Bay (''Iowa'' has since moved to the Port of Los Angeles as a museum ship).]]
{{Main|Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet}}

A similar fleet, the National Defense Reserve Fleet, is anchored in [[Suisun Bay]] near [[Benicia, California]], and has similarly been reduced. This location is known for hosting the ''[[USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193)|Glomar Explorer]]'' after its recovery of portions of [[Soviet submarine K-129 (1960)|Soviet submarine ''K-129'']] during the [[Cold War]] before its subsequent reactivation as a minerals exploration ship.

===Beaumont===
{{Main|Beaumont Reserve Fleet}}

The [[Beaumont Reserve Fleet]], anchored in the [[Neches River]] near [[Beaumont, Texas]], contains a number of transport ships.

===Former fleets===
[[File:Aerial Bremerton Shipyard November 2012.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Aircraft carriers stored at the [[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Bremerton]] in Bremerton in 2012. From left to right: {{USS|Independence|CV-62|2}}, {{USS|Kitty Hawk|CV-63|2}}, {{USS|Constellation|CV-64|2}} and {{USS|Ranger|CV-61|2}}.]]

*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Boston]]
*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs]] also called [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida]]
*[[Hudson River Reserve Fleet|Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Hudson River]]
*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New London]]
*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Orange]]
*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Wilmington]]
*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk]] then a NISMF
*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Charleston]]
*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia]] now a NISMF site
*[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New York]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Astoria]] also called [[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Stockton]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Hunters Point]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Olympia]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Mare Island]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Alameda]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Bremerton]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Long Beach]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Tacoma]]
*[[Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Francisco]]

==Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facilities==
{{Main|Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility}}
A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the U.S. Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate. All ships in these facilities are inactive, but some are still on the Naval Vessel Register, while others have been struck from that Register.

===Philadelphia===
The [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] [[Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility]] holds several dozen inactive warships, including the [[Ticonderoga class cruiser]]s, [[Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate]]s, and numerous supply ships.

===Bremerton===
The [[Pacific Reserve Fleet, Bremerton|Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility]] at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]], located next to [[Bremerton, Washington]], hosts, among its other ships<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historylink.org/File/5579|title=Puget Sound Naval Shipyard|website=historylink.org}}</ref> two dozen decommissioned submarines, several frigates, and numerous supply ships. It is the former home of the nuclear cruiser {{USS|Long Beach|CGN-9|6}}, which was scrapped.

===Pearl Harbor===
The Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, holds logistic support ships and amphibious transport dock ships.<ref>[https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/02/20/navy-wont-resurrect-decommissioned-ships-355-fleet-buildup-admiral-says.html military.com Navy Won’t Resurrect Decommissioned Ships for 355-Fleet Buildup, 2016]</ref> Several of these ships have served as target ships for Sink Exercises (SINKEX) during [[Rim of the Pacific]] (RIMPAC) naval exercises.

==Ready Reserve Force==
{{main|Ready Reserve Force}}
*The [[Ready Reserve Force]] (RRF) is a subset of ships in MARAD's National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF). Ready Reserve Force supports the rapid worldwide deployment of U.S. military forces.<ref>[https://www.maritime.dot.gov/national-defense-reserve-fleet/ndrf/maritime-administration%E2%80%99s-ready-reserve-force maritime.dot.gov, Ready Reserve Force]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group]], a U.S. Air Force equivalent

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.history.navy.mil/ar/romeo/reserve.htm Records of the Reserve Fleet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040228225717/http://www.history.navy.mil/ar/romeo/reserve.htm |date=28 February 2004 }}
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Suisun+Bay,+United+States&sll=38.086642,-122.251782&sspn=0.026313,0.040169&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=0,38.073585,-121.988280&ll=38.07242,-122.094669&spn=0.052636,0.080338&t=k&z=14 Satellite photo of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet]
*[http://www.terrastories.com/bearings/abandoned-ships Adventures in the Abandoned Ships of Suisun Bay]
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=30%C2%B04'6%22N+94%C2%B05'4%22W&ie=UTF8&ll=30.022918,-94.011297&spn=0.062573,0.064373&t=h&z=14&om=1 Satellite photo of the Neches River Reserve Fleet]
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=ft+eustis,+va&ie=UTF8&ll=37.122001,-76.639338&spn=0.047838,0.080338&t=h&z=14&iwloc=addr&om=1 Satellite photo of the James River Reserve Fleet]
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bremerton,+wa&ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=47.556546,-122.645187&spn=0.022561,0.040169&z=15&iwloc=addr Satellite photo of the Puget Sound Reserve Fleet]

{{US Fleets}}
{{US Navy navbox}}

[[Category:United States Navy reserve fleets| ]]
[[Category:Fleets of the United States Navy|Reserve]]
[[Category:United States Navy lists|Reserve fleets]]