Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet

Benicia, California (CA), US

Harbors, Sea - Military - Other
Links: en.wikipedia.org
By: nic

Nearby:

USS New Orleans (LPH-11) amphibious assault ship

USS Iowa (BB-61)

HMB-1 & Sea Shadow (IX-529)

Airplane near Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet

Cows

Valero Benicia Refinery

US Cavalry Camel Barns

New Benicia Bridge Being Built

Zodiac Killer - Lake Herman Road attack

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial

Tesoro’s Golden Eagle refinery near Martinez

Foster Wheeler Martinez Power Plant

Comments

johninc

@ 2005-07-13 13:53:44

I've driven by these. There not reserves there just old ships left to rust. Right?

TexasAndroid

@ 2005-07-13 14:16:50

Nope. They are maintained and kept for a variety of purposes. Spare parts for other ships. Sale to foreign nations. Weapons testing. (Take out a real ship to deep waters and see how a new weapon does against it.)

There's a several person staff at each of these sites, maintaining them. Sensors all over them to alert if the do start to rust or leak, etc. They are far from abandoned.

kjfitz

@ 2005-07-13 15:51:05

Cities along the gulf coast bid against each other and pay big bucks to have these ships sunk off their coasts. The sandy bottoms of the Gulf of Mexico along the Panhandle are not great fish breeding grounds. The sunken ships provide a breeding ground for fish that are then commercialy caught.

http://www.visitpensacola.com/oriskany/

boethius

@ 2005-08-08 17:51:05

I'm afraid you're both wrong - it's "SuisUn." (phonetically sa-soon).

I work about 20 minutes from Suisun Bay and 5 minutes from the City of Suisun, a homey little town that was once a trashy delta slum town like Rio Vista and Isleton and has now, thanks to California's skyrocketing home values and dramatic refurbishment of its marina, become a trendy little tourist trap.

There are very good burgers at a place called Sundaes in Suisun if you're ever in the neighborhood.

Anonymous

@ 2005-11-19 11:06:28

For many years the CIA's Glomar Explorer was stored here

kjfitz

@ 2006-02-02 15:52:43

Form a 501c3 corporation (i.e. non profit). Raise a bunch of money. Find a coastal city that will let you dock it. Spend a whole lot of $$ cleaning it up (these ships are floating toxic waste dumps with PCBs and asbestos just to name two contaminants). Open ship for tourists.

Optional: Sign up lots of nostalgic old-timers to come restore the ship to the point of being operational and offer cruises.

kjfitz

@ 2007-07-13 14:59:34

54 of 73 ships slated to be scrapped:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_6365859?source=rss

kjfitz

@ 2008-02-22 13:46:21

Debate continues on what to do with the ships:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8270169

kjfitz

@ 2009-03-25 13:20:47

http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/05/boat-cemetery-in-suisin-bay-2.html

http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/05/blog-post.html

Anonymous

@ 2010-02-06 18:46:34

They could be used for Staycations. Turn 'em into floating hotels for economic weddings, funerals (ashes at sea) or parties. Or use them for schools. Or put state offices in them, and close those big office buildings in Sacramento. Let Arnold come to work on a ship.

kjfitz

@ 2010-03-24 10:13:23

Fleet may be moved to the South Pacific:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/localnews/ci_14735685?source=rss

Parabellum

@ 2011-06-09 05:49:22

A good story and some great photos here: http://scotthaefner.com/beyond/mothball-fleet-ghost-ships/