Decommissioned destroyers on James River 1993

The James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF) is located on the James River in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

at () near

Fort Eustis Fort Eustis is a United States Army installation in Newport News, Virginia. In 2010, it was combined with nearby Langley Air Force Base to form Joint Base Langley–Eustis. The post is the home to the United States Army Training and Doctrine ...

. James River Reserve Fleet, a "ghost fleet,", is part of the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

. The Reserve Fleet ships in storage, called " mothballed", that can be ready for use if needed. Many are awaiting scrapping due to the age or condition of the ship. Some ships are used for target practice or as

artificial reefs An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing. Many re ...

. A few ships became museum ships and other sold to private companies. Ships can be readied for use in 20 to 120 days during national emergencies or natural disaster. The

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

's Maritime Administration (MARAD) provides oversight of the James River Reserve Fleet. For the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

ships the

United States Navy reserve fleets The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships 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 ...

stored these ships and submarines. The James River Reserve Fleet is the oldest National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) opened in 1919. At the start of World War II all 300 ships in the fleet were put into service. The current Reserve Fleet was opened in 1946 to store and maintains the many surplus ships after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Some ships there were reactivated for

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

and

600-ship Navy The 600-ship Navy was a strategic plan of the United States Navy during the 1980s to rebuild its fleet after cutbacks that followed the end of the Vietnam War. The plan, which originated with Republican leaders, was an important campaign plank of ...

program. In the 1950s the fleet had over 800 ships, with all fleets having over 2,000 ships stored. Many of the ships were World War II

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

s and

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were sli ...

s. The other large Reserve Fleets in the 1950s are the

Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet is located on the northwest side of Suisun Bay (the northern portion of the greater San Francisco Bay estuary) in Benicia, California. The fleet is within a regulated navigation area that is about long and wide. It ...

inland from San Francisco Bay and the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas. In 2021 only 10 ships were in the James River Reserve Fleet fleet and in 2022 only 5 ships.

Special projects

*The fleet was used for surplus grain storage. Liberty ships laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet were used by the

Commodity Credit Corporation The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation that was created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices" (federally chartered by the CCC Charter Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-806) ...

for storage of surplus grain. In 1950s the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

purchased and store surplus grain in ship's

cargo hold 120px, View of the hold of a container ship A ship's hold or cargo hold is a space for carrying cargo in the ship's compartment. Description Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged (bulk cargo). Access to h ...

s. *The James River Reserve Fleet is also used for training. Team train for search-and-seizure,

hostage rescue A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

approach then hover and more. *Part of the Reserve Fleet is a newer program called

Ready Reserve Force The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

(RRF).

Notable former ships

* USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7),

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, a ...

, was used as a target off

Virginia Capes The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America. In 1610, a supply ship learned of the famine at Jamestown when it ...

in May 1995. She was to recover astronauts in

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. * SS Charles H. Cugle became the SS Sturgis (MH-1A) was Liberty ship use to test

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

. A nuclear power plant was placed in her, used at the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

, scrapped in 2015. * USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) Sunk as an artificial reef in May 2009 off Key West. *

USS General Nelson M. Walker USS ''Admiral H. T. Mayo'' (AP-125) was a United States Navy built by the Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard, Inc., that entered service at the end of World War II. She partook in Operation Magic Carpet before being transferred to the U.S. Army for a sh ...

was

Troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

used in World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. Art Beltrone, a military historian found troop art in the stored ship, now on display. SS ''Red Oak Victory'' *

NS Savannah NS ''Savannah'' was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship. She was built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million (including a $28.3 million nuclear reactor and fuel core) and launched on July 21, 1959. She was funded by Uni ...

was stored 14 years at James River, the first nuclear power cargo ship. *

USS Simon Lake (AS-33) USS ''Simon Lake'' (AS-33) was the lead ship of her class of submarine tenders in the United States Navy, named for Simon Lake, a pioneering designer of early submarines. The ship was laid down on 7 January 1963 by the Puget Sound Naval Shipya ...

submarine tender A submarine tender is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and ...

s, stored from 2015 to 2019, till scrapped. *

USS Donner (LSD-20) USS ''Donner'' (LSD-20) was a ''Casa Grande''-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy, named for the Sierra Nevada Donner Pass, where the Donner Party became snowbound in the winter of 1846–47. ''Donner'' was launched on 6 April 194 ...

leaked 1,000 gallons of fuel in 2000.Archive: Decaying fleet could break apart, unleash disastrous spill, By Scott Harper, PilotOnline.com, Sep 16, 2009
/ref> * USS Suribachi (AE-21) a scrapped in 2019. * SS Red Oak Victory now a museum ship in Richmond, California. A Boulder Victory-class *

SS American Victory SS ''American Victory'' is a Victory ship which saw brief service in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the final months of World War II, Korean War from 1951–1954, and Vietnam War from 1966–1969. Built in June 1945, she carried amm ...

Victory cargo ship now a museum ship in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. * SS Arthur M. Huddell

cargo now a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

museum ship. * SS John W. Brown Liberty ship museum ship

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. *

USS Waccamaw (AO-109) USS ''Waccamaw'' (AO-109) was a replenishment oiler in the United States Navy. She was named after Waccamaw River. The original capacity was . ''Waccamaw'' was laid down on 28 April 1945 by the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsy ...

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

. * MS Sea Witch (1940) Type C2 cargo ship. * SS California (1927) the first major ocean liner built with

turbo-electric transmission A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine ( steam or gas) into electric energy, which then powers electric motors and converts back into mechanical energy that power the driveshafts. T ...

. * USS Albemarle (AV-5) one of two ''Curtiss''-class seaplane tenders, part of

Operation Flat Top Operation Flat Top was a United States Army project during the Vietnam War to convert , a World War II-era seaplane tender, into a forward theater, offshore helicopter repair facility. Helicopters had been used during the Korean War to ferry ...

. *

MV Freedom Star MV ''Freedom Star'' is a formerly NASA-owned and United Space Alliance-operated vessel which primarily served as an SRB recovery ship following the launch of Space Shuttle missions. It also performed tugboat duties and acted as a research platfo ...

NASA recovery ship The NASA recovery ships are two ships, the and the , that were tasked with retrieving spent Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) following the launch of Space Shuttle missions. Although owned by NASA, the ships were operated by Space Flight Operations c ...

. *

USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) USS ''Kittiwake'' (ASR-13) was a United States Navy in commission from 1946 to 1994. Construction and commissioning ''Kittiwake'' was launched 10 July 1945, by Savannah Machine & Foundry Co., Savannah, Georgia; sponsored by Mrs. Howard S. Ru ...

and USS Ortolan (ASR-22) submarine rescue vessels * USS Escape (ARS-6) ''Diver''-class

rescue and salvage ship Rescue and salvage ships (hull classification symbol ARS) are a type of military salvage tug. They are tasked with coming to the aid of stricken vessels. Their general mission capabilities include combat salvage, lifting, towing, retraction of grou ...

. *

USNS LCPL Roy M. Wheat USNS ''LCPL Roy M. Wheat'' (T-AK-3016), the only ship of its class, is a cargo ship built in 1987. She became one of the only Soviet ships to enter United States service. The ship is named after Lance Corporal Roy M. Wheat, an American Marine w ...

cargo ship built in the Soviet Union, delivering supplies to

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, into Fleet March 31, 2021. *

USS Gage (APA-168) USS ''Gage'' (APA-168) was a ''Haskell''-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1947. ''Gage'' was the sole remaining example of the 117-ship ''Haskell''-class and was scrapped in 2009. History ''Gage'' was ...

last existing Haskell-class attack transport. * MV Cape Lambert (T-AKR-5077) and MV Cape Lobos (T-AKR-5078) a

Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ships in fleet 1987 to 1990, In 1990 active to support

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

and Desert Shield, back in fleet in 2000. * USS Matsonia (ID-1589)

built in 1913.

References

External links

James River Association

Satellite image
of the Reserve Fleet in the James River near Fort Eustis, Virginia fro
Google Maps
{{authority control United States Navy Reserve Fleets of the United States Navy National Defense Reserve Fleet James River Reserve Fleet James River Reserve Fleet Grain Program

Special projects

Notable former ships

See also

References

External links