The Mothball Fleet 

The $50 Jeep in a crate story has been dispelled as a myth numerous times. There is no evidence to indicate this ever occurred. Jeeps in a crate were somewhat rare, especially within the US as crating a Jeep was only used as a shipping method to send them overseas. A few were sold like this inside the US, but not many at all. The ads for $50 Jeeps in a crate persisted for years in the back of magazines, but sadly it was never more than a scam. Send them money and they only provided publicly available, free information on government surplus auctions.

@@Colonel_Obvious I remember seeing those ads as kid, even as 12 years old I found it hard to believe. There were lots of stories about people finding a crate with an army surplus Harley-Davidson inside, covered with cosmoline.

@@bigredc222 I don’t know much about the H-D in a crate stories, but I’d wager those were tall tales as well. Might have happened a time or two, but more likely they were never widely available in crates, or for that cheap.

The army/navy store here ran until surplus ran out and they tried to resell ACU gear. 600 bucks for a pack with no frame when ALICE packs with a frame were like 120.

@@JarthenGreenmeadow you mean UCP gear. But, yes that is outrageous. $600 for a UCP ruck without frame?! I’ve got one with a frame I’ll let go for $599. 😆

Same in Boston

I was in Philadelphia naval hospital apron returning from Vietnam in 1969. Then sent to navy yard to await discharge. I just swam in one the pools and walked around looking at the ship, many never used.

I was really sad when the Philly Navy shipyard was closed.

I was stationed at PNSY in the mid 80's while waiting for my ship to come out of SLEP. It was nice you could walk from the base to the Spectrum and catch the train to go into the city.

My grandfather who was from Michigan was on the USS Pennsylvania and became good friends with another sailor named Jim , they were both Junior Lt’s on their way back from Pearl Harbor where they were supposed to get on a airplane and head to Connecticut and start sub school , something happened in the Atlantic Ocean with one of are ships being sunk by the Germans so they were given new orders to go to Philadelphia Navy yard for some type of upgrade which my grandfathers best friend got excited about because he was from Philadelphia, ship hits the canal they both cross the equator so they do that ceremony on the ship where they dunk you in a pool of water and the chief of the boat where’s some custom with a long beard and holds a trident ( I have his certificate and all of the pictures) the ship pulls into the navy yard , all the ammunition has to be unloaded so they don’t get liberty for almost five days . They finally both get liberty together but my grandfather was from a college town in Michigan he doesn’t know anything about Philadelphia so his friend Jim invites him up to his parents house in Kensington ( when it was in its heyday) he tags along they hop on the EL and in 20 mins they surprise his family showing up without any warning, they treat my grandfather like their own son his friend Jim introduces my grandfather to his sister who is one year older then my grandfather, one thing leads to another they are married 6 months later,and my mom is born 9 months after their honeymoon which was a day pass to Willow Grove park and a few nights in some fancy center city hotel . Then of course he gets his orders goes out to sea , almost gets killed by a Japanese submarine that followed them for two days before shooting torpedos at them that missed and ended the war in the central pacific. He came home met his new daughter and wife and stayed married for 45 years until my grandmother died and he lived for another 8 years but he was never the same after he lost his wife .

Now is that fake up north like Traverse City or the real UP up north?

@@shadymaint1 I guess to you Cupcake it would be the Fake Up North. However I was born in Reykjavik, Iceland. Anywhere in Michigan is like the Tropics to me. You have no idea what up North is. Ola.

You can tour the aircraft carrier Lexington (CV-16) in Corpus Christi, Texas. I spent all day crawling around it. In fact, I need to plan another trip down there.

@@texaswunderkind Thanks for the info would love to visit a smaller world war 2 era carrier. The first super carriers CV 59 thru CV 67 were the class of carriers that were larger and faster but all have gone to the scrapper now. Wish they would of saved one at least. Again thanks for the information 👍

been there, WesPac '92

Which one

I happen to have a nice 16 inch gun right here

@@mattthemusicman2037 The Iowa

@@captainjackpugh6050 That's what she said

@@jimlincoln1283 I don’t think she would have said that

My former navy ship, USS FOX(DLG-33), spent her last days in Suisun Bay. Spent two years on her; nine months of that time in Vietnam. Lots of history in Suisun Bay.

I live 15 minutes from the fleet. See it all the time crossing the Benicia Bridge. Anyone here recall that newspaper article about a stealth boat being stored within a carrier?

@chipcurry - I used to live in Benicia and drove over the bridge by the fleet twice a day. Never failed to peak my imagination to see them. The Glomar Explorer was left there for years and then suddenly one morning it was gone. Pretty interesting. Fantastic history.

I remember seeing that for the first time, Suisun Bay crossing the bridge not knowing that such a large fleet was mothballed there, I was blown away. Must of been in the early 80's I would guesstimate.

Scary bridge

i was on the deck of the missouri back in 99 at pearl harbor. they had just opened it to the public and i was with a group that was listening to an older gentleman talking about an attack on the ship during ww2. At first i thought he was just a tour guide but he started talking about where he was at the time of attack and what was damaged. Holy crap talk about history firsthand

It’s because of your father. That we as Americans live free. God Bless the American Service Members. THE TIP OF THE SPEAR.

During the Deactivation Process, too much of the interior of the Carrier had to be cut out to Remove the Reactors. It will be too costly to make ready and maintain as a museum.

Curt, John Wayne is referring to the WWII Enterprise CVA-6 which was powered by fuel oil. You’re think of it’s descendent Enterprise CVN-65, a nuclear powered carrier launched about 15 years after the previous version was scrapped. (And centuries after the original sail-powered FRIGATE was sunk in the Pacific by the British)

HALSEY did all he could to save CV 6. 5 stars was not enough. Sad.

@@curtekstrom9531 I was talking about the WW2 one..has so many battle awards and famous people were on it.

@@johnwayne6501 John, the thing about floating ships as museums is they cost a ton of money to keep up. Now that the Greatest Generation has passed, there is little demand for the ones that are out there. If you’re interested go visit one like the Hornet in Alameda and drop a donation in the box or better yet become a volunteer. I’ve spent many unpaid hours keeping the Potomac (FDR’s presidential yacht) operational. They are always broke.

Those ships would make great artificial reefs!

@@drewbowers5476 I'd love to buy one if I had the money. It's sickening that we scrapped the most decorated ships in U.S. history. Those should have been saved, not the newest.

@@GetDougDimmadomed A navy exists to protect the nation, not to preserve obsolete vessels that would be a death trap if used in modern warfare. There's a simple reason these old ships were not preserved -nobody was interested at the time, and even fewer people are today.

@@davidjones332 Uh...there are plenty of preserved ships from WWII.

@THUN QI FAY - actually the Navy have more than the air force

Buffoonery? I say Burntsider, your cheeky commentary has not gone unnoticed, but pray take care - once one invokes the term “buffoonery”, I fear one cannot retract such a slight devoid of consequence!

Upvote for correct use of "buffoonery". Spiffing!

Gadzooks! The buffoonery indeed!

Do you still live with your mum and dad?

@@paulkazjack 🙄

Nah you gonna win to quickly 😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤 USA USA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Can’t wait for you to turn eleven years old.

@@kingkoopa5807 but... US didn't win, they got embroiled in a 20+ years conflict which still didn't end, and the region is highly unstable to this day

@@justADeni nah man we won the first gulf war where desert storm was You’re thinking of the 2nd

@@shadowling77777 'we won'..... but Suddam survived and came back again.

My cousin ( a BIG star trek fan ) was in the Navy. After 4 yrs, he agreed to sign up for another term just so he could serve on that particular ship.

@@timothyblackburn6801 you might mean CVN-65 was contemporary to Star Trek, CV-6 is significantly older

That ship was decommissioned in 1947 time you got over it

@@nolankahler6705 well there has been 8 ships total that have carried the name. I do know it was an aircraft carrier but it was in the 1980's.

Onboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), there was a profile of the Starship Enterprise painted on the deck tiles in the island on the way up to the bridge.

Never seen that till now.

YOU’RE TO SEXY TO BE INCOGNITO , OR A TOMATO . . . jus’ sayin’

Finna make me act up😜

Well the Navy's about getting wet.

@@RoomRa1dersmilsim And full of things that are long, hard and full of seamen.

That’s bad man, it means war

unfortunately it is a likely scenario some time in the future.

All those “jeep” carriers

@@billyliddy5833 I don’t think we will be seeing ww2 escort carriers and destroyers out on the open seas anytime soon

@buffalo wt But does that mean we have to wage a war before to see this sight? I think its bad lol.

They are now

why should we not? It is a lot if steel that nobody would not look again ever.

Hell they used ammo from 45 when they started shelling Saddam from the Missouri was reactivated and had updated fire control I think but using ww2 cartridges I bet that's a rush first time u hear them things start cracking away

Well. they did cost some money, plus the fact that nobody knew if the cold war changes it's stratus to hot war.

That would make too much sense

We lived only about 10 minutes away and would bring our boat Up the Hudson River and my father would take the boat along side the ships then a boat would come out and chase us away! But I think most of those ships were liberty ships that would design to transport supplies a crossed the Atlantic ocean. Miss those days🤔😁🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

@@kevinbarletta7749 I grew up in Rockland County NY and would see the Mothball Fleet (mostly Victory Ship freighters) up around Bear Mountain.

@@bobcole612 Yes Bob it was between stony point battlefield to the south and Jones point to the north. There’s a monument there on the west shore route 202 that pays tribute to the mothball fleet. You can see it on Google map👍🇺🇸

@@kevinbarletta7749 The mothballed fleet was on Route 9W (never referred to as Rt.202) in Tompkins Cove.

I remember seeing the mothballed Liberty ships on Rte 9w in NY back in the 70s. Even though it was a small fleet, the ships were impressive to a kid.

I’ve been to the Alabama several times and have found new areas to explore each time. Great museum and well worth the cost of admission.

I've toured the Alabama and Drum as well. Also got the chance to go aboard the Texas when I lived in Houston. It's a shame that more of these historical ships were not preserved. Would have loved the chance to tour the Enterprise.

BB60 Is an Alaska Class if I am not mistaken.

@@Lolita327 Alaskas were heavy cruisers, not battleships...almost battlecrusiers, though I won't argue those fine distinctions.

I actually got to spend a weekend on the ship while in Boy Scouts. Slept on the ship and all. Super cool. We ran around and played hide and go seek on the upper decks

Ah, well thanks for the correction. I watched a bunch of news clips but each of them pronounced it a little bit different! Must be sad seeing all those historic ships disappear.

Try 6 ships, and a handful of assorted large boats and barges.

I was in Bremerton in 2008. Went down just outside the base and saw an old aircraft carrier. I was only about 50 yards away, so it was very impressive. It's sad to think they are all gone now.

Thanks for the kind words! That sounds like an amazing trip.

While riding the Zephyr to Salt Lake in early 2002, the conductor pointed out USS Iowa moored within the Suisun mothball fleet.

My uncle served on the Hornet in WWII. She had a great history. My uncle never really recovered from his service actions and eventually died earlier than normal due to mental and physical problems connected to the War. He could not speak about it telling of only one horrific incident he could not finish. We must always remember and honor our military. They are vey special and carry silent wounds of heart and mind as well as body. They are always in our prayers.

Dad had a color overhead shot of it firing. A ship he missed after getting yanked off and being sent to Great Lakes. Where after he completed the class there, they kept him there as an instructor for the whole Korean War.

@@foobarmaximus3506 Well he did get promoted while there. He escaped as an E-6 when they told him the only way out was to change from an ET to a CT. Which he did. The other thing they do is make you an officer, if you are willing to go that route. Dad refused more than once. And retired after 25 years as an E-9. Which he had been for the past 7 years.

Now Suisan bay is pretty much emptied of ships. Only three or four looking at the latest satellite views

Isn't stockton around 50 miles inland? How did they get there?

@@cattibingo so I googled Stockton and wouldn't you know that Sacramento and Stockton are actually port cities that handle ocean going cargo ships. Learn something everyday :)

@@cattibingo: The Deep Water Channel. Runs from S.F. Bay to both inland ports. Port of Stockton, and the Port of Sacramento. I worked at the Port of Sacramento for several years as Electrical Superintendent.

Yep, the mothball fleet at Rough & Ready Island, Stockton, CA was my first duty station out of boot camp back in 1962. It was dismantled 3-4 years later and moved down the river to Suisan Bay.

Thanks for sharing the memory! I wish I was alive back then and able to see some of those ships. Shame that nearly all were scrapped. Thanks for the sub!

Yes. There was a large fleet in the Hudson river anchored in northern Rockland County, south of West Point. I think they were removed when I was in Nam, late ‘60s

There was one on the East Coast & one on the West Coast. At the Height of Ship Building during WWII America was churning out a War Ship every Month, Japan Simply couldn't keep up

I heard biden was selling it to the chinese.

Toured the mamie summer 1997. Also the NC and Alabama. Good memories.

I did two tours on the Connie, 69 and 71, I was a BT3, saw the mighty mo at Bremerton Washington, the New Jersey at San Diego

Wow, 17 inch thick. That is some steel just there!!! 👍🏻🇺🇸🇦🇺

@@larrymotes3512, very cool! Was that after Vietnam? I was an AT3 and worked in AIMD while onboard. The only time I went deep into the ship was when my supervisor sent me there to get an MM punch. Lol.

@@peterwallace9764 Yes! I was blown away when I saw that. It had to make you feel invincible during combat. If I remember correctly, the hull has 12 inches of steel with an additional 1 inch hardened outer layer.

Did they really play the William Tell overture launching planes on Ranger?

My dad's ship from the 70s was in Mothballs in Bremerton in the 90s. USS Holland. Submarine tender with a complete machine shop onboard

@@foobarmaximus3506 my dad was telling me that you couldn't make anything in the machine shop whilst under way. Said he spent those hours in the engine room

Are the bermton ship open for public beiwung

@@foobarmaximus3506 Submarines required constant maintenance, especially machining services. RADM Charles Lockwood set up the Aussie version of a sub refit base in N. Australia. The men in this base saved and refit many subs and crews!

Hope you're doing okay now. Would've been an awesome story to tell though, squatting on a naval vessel.

@@storrho back in the 1980s, you could basically walk into a pound/dog shelter and get as many dogs as you liked. So when it was cold, I’d just go adopt four or five hounds and use them for heat that night.

@@deoglemnaco7025 I prefer firewood but i guess as long as it's flammable.

@@deoglemnaco7025 lmao!!!

@@ferway6295 sometimes I’d be using the same dog multiple times. The folks at the pound knew what I was doing (because it was only homeless people getting dogs that winter) but there wasn’t anything they could do about it

The Hughes Mining Barge as well. Eventually it was sold to some outfit that was going to turn it into some sort of entertainment venue. It was moored at Treasure Island in the middle of the SF bay for a while. I don't what ever became of it.

My uncle worked for decades at Mare Island. He maintains that the cover story that we only got bits and pieces of k129 were bs. He says we got the whole sub intact

Glomar Explorer has been scrapped

The bow was replaced after Captain Brown ran her hard aground earning the nickname "Brown water Brown. The main engines from the Illinois were used in the USS Sacramento AOE-1. In November 1965 at Naval Station San Diego, they had sailors in the transit barracks working on the moth ball fleet preparing them for demolition. I was there for three weeks waiting for the USS Iwo Jima LPH-2 to return from westpac.

I have been to the USS Alabama several times and it is well worth the visit. There is also an aircraft museum and submarine next to it that you can walk though. Highly recommended.

I've been to the USS north carolina.beautiful ship.great walkthrough tour with much history.my grandfather was stationed on it,and was aboard when it was hit with a torpedo.highly recomend you visit

i pass by the BAMA 5 days a week...and never fail to salute her..

That's just the wind.

Also expansion/contraction of parts without machinery noises or ventilation blast or the sea to drown them out. A video of the SS United States in modern times shows this very well. It’s constantly making noise.

There was a reserve fleet of several hundred ships in my hometown of Orange Tx. They gave some of them to the babies of Mexico, columbia, and others. The rest were scrapped eventually.

The oxygen used in casting metal was force fed from our regular breathing air. After the. .. nukes started being tested in insane numbers ..there was found to be radioactive elements in the whole planets air. These elements were then inadvertently force fed into the metal melting process. No big deal not enough to kill you but enough to make it useless for space travel as it's slightly radioactive body released interference. True story...after ban on above ground nuke testing combined with improving metallurgy techniques like using only purified air.....it's no longer a problem but for awhile metal made before the bombs started was more expensive. Warships sunk in WW1 were salvaged due to the extreme rarity..........make sense now?

Only 4 ships left down there?

.....they might have lasted longer in frozen cold storage say north Alaska .

@@charlesdickens6706 not really

I didn't notice how many last time I went by there, but Google satellite view shows 6 plus a few small ones.

I've been on the alabama, massachusetts and even spent the night on the Texas. These ships are really worth visiting and supporting, as each have unique stories.

I've been on the Alabama and the Missouri. Want to see the New Jersey and the others.

USS Wabash (AOR-5) Pier E NAVSTA Long Beach Did you know a Mr Chipman?

Sorry I don't think so.

My dad had just retired in 80... He was in the sonar shop through the 70s. I grew up in the LBNS drydocks, and going to sea with him when the then-new Spruances were doing pre and post-commissioning trials. Lots of fun memories, like seeing the Titanic models (for that horrible movie version of Clive Cusslers "Raise the Titanic" ) in the RV lockup, or always gawking at "Herman the German"... Sad that LBNS is no more...!! What a cool experience to work on the BBs!! I toured Missouri in Bremerton just before she left for reactivation. Then, years later, I got orders to serve on her in late '90. Sadly, those orders were changed, but I still think of her as "my" ship...👍

That's because war isn't fought that way anymore. America is already the biggest baddest bully there is. Why would you need more when others can produce even less?

Agreed...

@@xmlthegreat Not exactly accurate... Chinas navy is growing fast, and is already larger that the USN...

@@wheels-n-tires1846 China's navy is only larger than the US if you count every tiny PT boat, trawler and cold war relic they operate. In terms of actual combat vessels they are laughable. The real problem is that American companies continue to manufacture in China and give them economic power... That's like locking yourself in a room with a man-eating tiger and giving it strength supplements. American corporations are the reason why China is now such a big threat... They were so blinded by cheap manufacturing that they didn't realise they were putting that money into the pockets of the PLA.

@@watwat2540 Why would there be any suspicion that you were going to lie?

I assume fishing with depth carges?

Hello? Cringe department? I'd like to file a claim.

I've heard this with the punch line, "Who held their little legs?"

@@riskfactor5686 You can claim damages for emotional distress.😨

Two uppercuts and an elbow will stop her taking a swing at you bro

@@jacqueslefave4296 Hello? Jacques LeFave department? I'd like to file a claim.

Dude. Why would they want a ship.

I grew up in Va beach and learn to fly as teenager, flying up James River you see these ships just North of Felker Army Airfield Fort Euastis this was in the early to mid 70’s

War time we always are able to build faster.

We also designed, tested, and built 3 generations of manned spacecraft in 7 years in the 1960s. Now it takes over 20 & we're still trying to get it right.

Its called technology. Cant build the ship faster then technology improves.

POLITICIANS, NOT THE UNIONS....Look at the clown in the WH now , look what hes done to our Energy independence in 3 short months. Oil went from Negative Prices to $75 a barrel in 4 months, and we have 44 months left, if hes not removed from office

I'm British. We have a great naval tradition but we saved hardly any of our ships. We sold them for scrap because we were skint. Be grateful for what you have.

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!

Texas may not be around much longer, the state is too cheap to take care of her.

@@foobarmaximus3506 CV66/VA46

I served on the glacier for deep freeze 76 and went on the deck of the glomar explorer when I was at the LA Captain of the Port for an oil spill investigation.

@@agilemalinois1602 I knew a QMC Fleming who served on the glacier around that time. Only woman I ever knew who smoked a bigger tobacco pipe than the BMC.

Worked at Mare Island Naval Shipyard which was only 20 miles away or so. Most of those ships were in poor condition and would need extensive rebuilding to be used again. However, there were some that were kept in a condition to be rapidly reused in an emergency, mostly cargo ships. During desert storm, they brought one to the shipyard to fix any last minute items and to test it out. They couldn't figure out how to light the boilers, so they put out a call to the old timers that worked at the shipyard, if anyone knew how to light the boilers, as there were still quite a few WW2 and Korean War era workers there. One was a guy that I worked with.

@@elnet1 Thanks for your informative post. Given the renovation costs, it probably is not economically efficient in an American Shipyard. But given that a major component of the cost is labor, would it make sense for the unskilled and semi- skilled labor be done in the receiving country, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, or Taiwan to do the bulk of renovation in a home port? Cleaning, painting, maybe the less critical welding, and so forth be done in and by the receiving country? The more challenging technical work perhaps could be done in an American shipyard before departure, or be done under the supervision of American engineers and managers? All of these countries are highly motivated to have the navies needed to resist Chinese Imperialism, and presumably they would be willing to do their part.🤔

That was a WWII convoy being assembled in the Bedford Basin. I guess they met their escorts just outside the harbour.

@@marshallbowen8693 I am originally from Halifax. My grandfather was in the Royal Canadian Navy. CPO. WWII.

You're gonna die, I'm gonna die... just not today

🤣😂🤣😂🤣

I spent a whole day on the Alabama.Awesome!Did you know that the Drum had the 6th highest tonnage of enemy ships sunk in WW II?