Many years ago, when I was in the Navy, I had the honor to work aboard the Mothball Fleet, including the USS Iowa and her twin sister the USS Wisconsin and many others. As a fan of naval history, it was a marvelous experience.
My Dad served on the Iowa in the early 50s. He could be hard to deal with but damned, was he proud of that ship. He's gone now but seeing her there gave me a reason to smile when thinking of my Dad. He'd be happy to know she's in LA as a museum now. There are some true works of are tied up there...waiting for a chance to serve again.
When I was a kid, we use to pass by the bay and see the old fleet and I'm talking hundreds of ships. They are all gone, including my two destroyers I served on in the US Navy.
Just for the record. I helped set the first Buoy marker to establish the Mothball Fleet. It was a cold windy morning and I was setting on a side hill in Benicia with a surveyor at my side. It was his job to establish the spot to set the Buoy, and my job to radio the information to a Navy ship setting in the bay waiting for my call. The job was done, and that was the begging o f the Mothball Fleet. I do not remember the date, but it had to be in the late forties. I was around 19 and the time, and now I am ninety-one.
A treasure to send you this. Thank God for you sir.. I have a question for you, how many of these ships could be put back to battle ready condition if the need should happen?
Used to spend many, many weekends out here in Suisun Bay with my Dad back in the 70's fishing for sturgeon just off the mothball fleet. My Dad is long since gone and so is the old fleet---only pleasant memories remain.
In the early 80s I was riding a motorcycle in California and came upon the mothballed ships off Almeda in a bay and the pictures I have been able to find on the net don't do it any justice ! The scale and size of all those weapons of war was for me an incredible eye opener it was just mind boggling !! In a quiet bay it felt almost hidden and was in fact frightening and reassuring at the same time it is something I haven't nor will I ever forget !! Does anyone e!we remember that ??
I may be an 11 year old boy but I love battleships and warships and I visit my grandma in danville,"bay area",CA once a year but we had to go over the bridge and I always loved looking and asking about the"mothball" fleet.
Thankfully, the Iowa now stands proudly in the harbor as a museum ship. My grandfather actually served just after WWII on the Iowa's sister ship, the USS New Jersey.
+Brenden Zatorski He was about 18 or 19 years old when he enlisted in August of 1945. Of course, the war ended before he actually got much of anywhere in the Navy. The USS New Jersey is currently moored in Camden, NJ, as a museum ship.
Armagon Armagon The four battleships that were the last to be retired in the early 90s are still on a type of "stand by" in case we ever need their awesome might again. They carried "tomahawk" cruise missiles and still have the "sea wiz" ship defence guns in place.
During WW2, I was with 3rd and 5th fleets in the Pacific. It was a sight to behold to see this tiny spec on the horizon and watch it grow as the NJ approached, and grew to full size. From the deck of USS Twining, the horizon was about 20 miles away.
My wife and I were riding the California Zephyr ,from Emeryville Ca. to Denver Co.and when the train crossed the bridge I looked down and saw the "mothball fleet'' it was thrilling! In 2011!
They are almost majestic in a way, the awesome, Iowa Class, Battleships...!!!!! Not taking anything away from the ships that came before, and after them, of course. Love 'em all and I am gratefully indebted to each of them, and the sailors that served on them!!!!!
I was lucky enough to get a full tour of the U.S.S. Missouri before it was decommissioned. It was really something to see the insides of a working, living battleship and I cherish all the pictures I took of it.
They may be mothballed now but these fought many battles and were victorious many times and carried on board brave and courageous Anericans some of whom gave their lives to keep this country and indeed the world free. Hand salute!!! Ready two!!!
Thank you for a glimpse, perhaps the last glimpse of some fine old war horses. I saw my Navy ship transfered from the James River ghost fleet by tugs and go on her way to the scrappers. Such a sad thing to see them go.
I was on USS John Hancock at Pascagoula when the Iowa was being reactivated. I went on board a few times and was climbed up thru the center barrel of the #1 turret. Amazing strong ship. Tons of history.
I REALLY appreciate this vid and a big thanks to you for posting it! I saw USS Sperry, AS-12, a submarine tender that I was on 1976-1980. First time in 31 years that I saw the Sperry in such detail. It's the one with the Fulton bow and 2 giant cranes on either side of the ship.
I did notice the AS style ship, I was on USS Proteus. I’m from Northern California and used to drive by there all the time going home on the weekends from naval hospital Oakland California
In the early 70 I was in the Navy at San Diego, saw several WWII vintage warships being towed out to scrap. There were cruisers, CAs and CLs and some carriers I imagined what those ships must have been through in the war then to meet such a sad ending as derelicts, scrap steel. A few years ago I was on a tug down near Haiti and saw the carrier Constellation being towed to Texas to be scrapped. That hit home as I had friends on the Constellation. My ship the Chicago CG 11 (formerly CA 136) often tied up by the Constellation and Kitty Hawk at North Island NAS. Felt like part of my youth was passing to the scrap yard. The Chicago had been scrapped some years before. In the 90s the ex USS Cabot an escort carrier from WWII was tied up for months while a group tried to raise funds to preserve it as a memorial, unsuccessfully. The Cabot was the last straight deck carrier existing.
This video is a number of years old and there are very few ships there in the bay anymore non of which are military ships.. Most them went to Texas for dismanteling. The one ship that surviver was the USS Iowa, BB61. It is now used as a museum in Southern California.
The preserved USS The Sullivans is in a park in Buffalo,NY. It is a Fletcher Class destroyer ,and happens to be fitted out exactly like my old ship, USS Twining DD540, at end of WW2. Worth a visit, and close to Niagra Falls, as a bonus site.
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.
I used to live in Benicia and drove past that fleet twice a day for years. Used to keep the Glomar Explorer there also (Howard Hugh's boat- look it up). One morning it was gone- that was pretty cool.
This video was produced in 2010. I wonder - now in 2020 - how many of these ships have been scrapped and what newer ships have replaced them in the mothball fleet? A 2020 update video would be nice to see.
The first ship with the large black exposed is Thomaston class LSD. I served on one of those for 3 and a half years.Really grew up on the USS Plymouth Rock.
The fleet is gone. California said it was polluting the water. As a boy upstream from the fleet my aunt and uncle were care tackers of a duck club on a game reserve on Grizzly Island. Mare Island in Vallejo once used to build nuclear subs had 2 dry docks. What was left of the fleet was scraped. In stead of towing these ships to the Vallejo dry docks California re painted the hales and had them towed to Brownsville Texas and had them scraped. Vallejo is my home town. When Clinton shut down the base he shut down Vallejo. California put in the last coffin nail. That so call polluting the water, you could see no effects to the fish or game.
I can believe the USS IOWA IS IN MOTHBALLS THAT SHIP HAS SO MUCH HISTORY I'M TEARING UP IT SHOULD BE THERE IT SHOULD BE HONOR AND TOLD THE HISTORY OF THAT Beautiful ship and it's crew I salute you.Thank you
When I lived in Richmond CA., Contra Costa County, I used to fish for Sturgeon and Striped Bass around the Moth Ball fleet. A friend use to have a small, 24' fishing boat that was berthed across from Mare Island. We were working on his boat the day that the USS Nautilus was being decommissioned. That was a memoriable occasion for me This coming March 18 th, I'll be joining some family down in San Pedro to tour and have dinner aboard the USS Iowa. The CRPA (CA Rifle and Pistol Association), will be hosting the event. If any CRPA members happen to read this, be sure to attend this great opportunity to tour a legend. Stan
Nice to see that some of them survived the scrap heap. Shame that the stories that go along with these ships is lost to a great extent. Many men served long tours on these old ladies of the sea. I'm sure there is a book and a movie in every one of them.
Turning U.S.S. IOWA Into a museumship, is a great idea. She is so elegant,and deserves to live on. I will personally donate some Dollars to the project.👍🇺🇸👩🏻🚀🇩🇰✌🏻
There’s only, like, five ships left in Suisun Bay. All of the other ships were carted off for scrap, except the Iowa, which is a museum in Los Angeles. They still fire blanks from her 16-inch guns occasionally.
I have been by the mothball fleet may many times before on my way past the Martinez area to visit releatives, I really never knew there is a tour that takes you right out to the ships, is that tour still running today and if so, would you be able to advise me please where and how I can find information on the tour(s), Thank you so very much....
been a museum since 2012.... Iowa is perfectly able to go back to sea, they already determined that turret 2 is fully repairable, the gun is still usable, they have replacement parts for the range finder, compartment bulk heads, doors, lights, wiring, rammer chain, powder and shell hoists. They have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere and was ready to be installed in 1989, but for some reason they decided not to, most likely victim of the budget cuts. The turret looks fine in the interior, according to the Navy and the press that was allowed a private tour in 1989, besides the dented bulk heads from the blast, the crew did so well repairing and repainting that it looks perfectly normal in there to the untrained eye.
Um, I think it was proven that 16 inch guns still have a useful purpose as recently as Desert Storm. Those guns can kick some serious ass from a ship that's safe and sound miles offshore. Still useful in my opinion.
I think that's what Congress wanted to convince the Navy and that's why they didn't finally retire the Iowa until, I think, 2006? Something like that. They are certainly less expensive than launching freaking missiles everywhere. I'd LOVE to see those ships sail again. I'm very happy they were saved from scrapping at least.
When fired in the Gulf War, thefirst shots fell way too short. The powder bags were leftovers from WW2, and had lost a lot of power due to deterioration. They had to reset the firecontrol computers.I wouldthink a few bombers would have been cheaper and quicker. The cost of taking a BB out of mothballs, and the expense of thousands of crew members must have been staggering.
@@kenworthNH There are very few shells left to fire from the big guns now , and remember it was a hit or miss with them , missiles do not miss there targets these days Duncan from Bonnie Scotland
I have been on all 4. Iowa is good but her sisters are in better shape. If you get the chance, check them out. They are will worth a trip to one of their cities.
Most, if not all, are scrapped. We found out just how hard it is to return one of these ships to operational condition: extremely hard and very expensive. Most are outdated technologically from stem to stern. Can't be sad about it; it's just the way it is....technology marches on, and these ships were left in the dust.
Glad to see the Iowa finally got a home! Now she just needs som.....ALOT of TLC! I wish I lived closer (ie the other side of the flippin country) I'd volunteer for her. Great video though!
Sad. When once before if Chief found some dust he was calling battle stations. Now these ships are rusting away. I get it cost wise we cant save them all but we should preserve some of the most historic ships.
I'm looking for some record of the "General Langfit" I was 13 when my Parents and I got on that Ship in May of 1956..Everyone on that Ship was immigrating to the USA. I remember leaving Bremmer Haven..everyone on the Ship was crying . I wonder how everyone did once they got to the US.Are there any Records of names left???
It would be nice if you could have named some of the other ships, too...I served on the USS Fort Fisher LSD-40...I did recognize a well deck on one of them...
Thankfully, some ships have been preserved as museums, although not nearly enough. For BB fans the U.S.S. Texas is a must see as it is the oldest dreadnought still existing.
The Texas is an historical jewel permanently moored in San Jacinto, (I think. Definitely on the Texas gulf coast.) If you want to see it, don't tarry. Despite valiant attempts to preserve it, the hull is in really bad shape and the ship's long term future is questionable at best. Also in bad shape, from what I read, is the USS Olympia, Admiral Dewey's flagship from the Spanish-American War. It is moored in Philadelphia harbor. I plan to visit it within the next twelve months, mostly just to pay my respects. Olympia is actually a Pre-dreadnaught battleship, or armored cruiser, which as part of the Great White Fleet circled the globe when Teddy Roosevelt was president. It has to be one of the oldest steel warship's in existence. In the world.
Of those ships, excluding the Iowa, I wonder how many will be scrapped, how many refitted and sold to foreign navies, how many will be sunk as targets in live fire exercises, how many sunk as artificial reefs and how many preserved as museum ships?
now there is a possible effort to refit and recommission it. all this time we thought it was waiting to be scraped. and then the city of long beach bought it, and at that point we were waiting for it to fall apart and sink. ( l say this because the foxtrot class b-427 attack submarine known as the scorpion was recently permanently closed off to the city of long beach because it was unmaintained and the hull is damaged beyond repair, it is likely to be removed and scraped fairly soon. the RMS queen mary is also in long beach in critical shape, there is a very large list of things wrong with the ship including rooms that were recently closed off because of risk ofthe floor caving in on itself. there is some very serious hull deterioration that has sprung many leaks that are spreading and WILL cause the ship to sink if not repaired in the next year or so.) but now there is a chance the iowa will get away from long beach where it is no longer in danger of falling apart.
The first ship I served on was the USS Oxford at Liberty Hall a gtr1 it was old always broken down the boilers the bricks in the boilers were always falling out something was always broke down to my surprise after I got off of it it was scrapped out in Japan lot of these old ships have holes coming in the bottoms and sides and can never be repaired to where they can be seaworthy again it would be best to melt them down and make some new battleships or new Destroyers
The SS Green Mountain State was a cargo vessel that served with the Merchant Marine. It was later refitted as a crane ship by the navy and placed in ready reserve.
Thanks for checking out my video. I understand how you feel about these ships. Hopefully the video might help in the effort to turn the USS iowa into a museum housed here in the Bay Area. Thank you for taking the time to write a comment. Wayne Fogle
The old fleet isn't what it was when I was a kid. The Glomar Explorer is gone. All the big guns boats are gone or stripped. Seems a shame. Like everyone forgot what these ships and the men who served on them did to defend the World from evil. Now, we have a new evil. And a war we are losing on home soil.
Most of what I saw here was auxiliary fleet. If it ever comes down to another World War, this is where a large portion of the floating gas cans are coming from.
it nice to keep old ship in mothball of as museum piece. My father always said we in the UK should of keep HMS Vanguard. but on the other hand one just as to except that the cost of keeping sometimes is just not worth it. If a ship is not Sea worthy then it has to be scraped.
The Royal Navy should have kept Queen Elizabeth, Warspite, Duke of York or Rodney. Those ships had brilliant war records. Carriers like Illustrious and Furious should have likewise been retained. Maybe the battlecruiser Renown.
Warspite would of been my number 1 choice by sure, a ship with such an amazing history, she collected more battle honours than any ship in any navy ever!
I didn't see anything that I thought might have been a Colorado class battleship. I believe only 3 were completed all in the early 1920's. All were decommissioned in 1947, struck and sold for scrap in 1959. At time mark 3:10 I don't see what looks like a Colorado class? 4 turrets and 2 masts.
these ships are fantastic love the video but they are of no use whatsoever they are for scrap surely, you wouldn't get them fit to sail for years, where would you get the crew, what would they do??
Problem is in order to scrapping them you have to remove all asbestos that operation alone would cost a staggering amount of money . So for the time being it is cheaper to have them rot away. Somebody else may take care of that.
granskare Iowa is in LA now, I believe. Wisconsin is in Norfolk VA, New Jersey is in New Jersey, Missouri is in Pearl Harbor. It would be difficult mooring it in Iowa anyways, due to the fact there might not be a suitable port for her.
How are you going to get the Iowa up the Mississippi? Beam Me Up Scotty? I don't think current Transporter tech is up to the task. Otherwise you'll have to raise all the bridges and dredge a channel from Venice, LA to Iowa. Not to mention widen and deepen several Locks. Most of the traffic on the River is 9 foot draft, How much water does the Iowa draw? Put your thinking cap back on, you missed the boat on this one.
Doubt she'd fit in all the locks along the way. And the river probably isn't deep enough. But it would be a fitting port for her in her namesake state, and the RI arsenal next door.
It's a shame MARAD scrapped nearly the entire NDRF. Irreplaceable vessels and living monuments of our naval history. James River and Suisan Bay have reduced the number of vessels from over 2,000 to less than 20 now. I don't understand why these magnificent ships weren't hauled and mothballed on the hard. Such a waste.
Many years ago, when I was in the Navy, I had the honor to work aboard the Mothball Fleet, including the USS Iowa and her twin sister the USS Wisconsin and many others. As a fan of naval history, it was a marvelous experience.
My Dad served on the Iowa in the early 50s. He could be hard to deal with but damned, was he proud of that ship. He's gone now but seeing her there gave me a reason to smile when thinking of my Dad. He'd be happy to know she's in LA as a museum now. There are some true works of are tied up there...waiting for a chance to serve again.
When I was a kid, we use to pass by the bay and see the old fleet and I'm talking hundreds of ships. They are all gone, including my two destroyers I served on in the US Navy.
Just for the record. I helped set the first Buoy marker to establish the Mothball Fleet. It was a cold windy morning and I was setting on a side hill in Benicia with a surveyor at my side. It was his job to establish the spot to set the Buoy, and my job to radio the information to a Navy ship setting in the bay waiting for my call. The job was done, and that was the begging o f the Mothball Fleet. I do not remember the date, but it had to be in the late forties. I was around 19 and the time, and now I am ninety-one.
Thank you for your service sir
Great story!
A treasure to send you this. Thank God for you sir.. I have a question for you, how many of these ships could be put back to battle ready condition if the need should happen?
sorrynapa Thank you for your service
may you live forever
Used to spend many, many weekends out here in Suisun Bay with my Dad back in the 70's fishing for sturgeon just off the mothball fleet. My Dad is long since gone and so is the old fleet---only pleasant memories remain.
In the early 80s I was riding a motorcycle in California and came upon the mothballed ships off Almeda in a bay and the pictures I have been able to find on the net don't do it any justice ! The scale and size of all those weapons of war was for me an incredible eye opener it was just mind boggling !! In a quiet bay it felt almost hidden and was in fact frightening and reassuring at the same time it is something I haven't nor will I ever forget !! Does anyone e!we remember that ??
I may be an 11 year old boy but I love battleships and warships and I visit my grandma in danville,"bay area",CA once a year but we had to go over the bridge and I always loved looking and asking about the"mothball" fleet.
Shawna Michele Marsh r
There's nothing more important than being educated kiddo👍🇺🇸
I wish all those BB’s and men were not lost at Pearl. That would be a superb mothball fleet! Bless them all
Nicely done. Appropriate soundtrack as well. Thanks for sharing.
Thankfully, the Iowa now stands proudly in the harbor as a museum ship. My grandfather actually served just after WWII on the Iowa's sister ship, the USS New Jersey.
+Armagon Armagon that is very cool how old was your grandfather and where is the uss new jersey
+Brenden Zatorski He was about 18 or 19 years old when he enlisted in August of 1945. Of course, the war ended before he actually got much of anywhere in the Navy. The USS New Jersey is currently moored in Camden, NJ, as a museum ship.
Armagon Armagon
The four battleships that were the last to be retired in the early 90s are still on a type of "stand by" in case we ever need their awesome might again. They carried "tomahawk" cruise missiles and still have the "sea wiz" ship defence guns in place.
readyforduty24 actually they are fully retired now, and are permanent musem ships
During WW2, I was with 3rd and 5th fleets in the Pacific. It was a sight to behold to see this tiny spec on the horizon and watch it grow as the NJ approached, and grew to full size. From the deck of USS Twining, the horizon was about 20 miles away.
My wife and I were riding the California Zephyr ,from Emeryville Ca. to Denver Co.and when the train crossed the bridge I looked down and saw the "mothball fleet'' it was thrilling! In 2011!
They are almost majestic in a way, the awesome, Iowa Class, Battleships...!!!!! Not taking anything away from the ships that came before, and after them, of course. Love 'em all and I am gratefully indebted to each of them, and the sailors that served on them!!!!!
The USS Iowa is no longer there. Her new home is San Pedro, CA.
I was lucky enough to get a full tour of the U.S.S. Missouri before it was decommissioned. It was really something to see the insides of a working, living battleship and I cherish all the pictures I took of it.
They may be mothballed now but these fought many battles and were victorious many times and carried on board brave and courageous Anericans some of whom gave their lives to keep this country and indeed the world free. Hand salute!!! Ready two!!!
Thank you for a glimpse, perhaps the last glimpse of some fine old war horses.
I saw my Navy ship transfered from the James River ghost fleet by tugs and go on her way to the scrappers. Such a sad thing to see them go.
I was on USS John Hancock at Pascagoula when the Iowa was being reactivated. I went on board a few times and was climbed up thru the center barrel of the #1 turret. Amazing strong ship. Tons of history.
So many old ships like one I was on ! LPD-8 70-72. GO NAVY !!
I REALLY appreciate this vid and a big thanks to you for posting it! I saw USS Sperry, AS-12, a submarine tender that I was on 1976-1980. First time in 31 years that I saw the Sperry in such detail. It's the one with the Fulton bow and 2 giant cranes on either side of the ship.
I did notice the AS style ship, I was on USS Proteus. I’m from Northern California and used to drive by there all the time going home on the weekends from naval hospital Oakland California
In the early 70 I was in the Navy at San Diego, saw several WWII vintage warships being towed out to scrap. There were cruisers, CAs and CLs and some carriers I imagined what those ships must have been through in the war then to meet such a sad ending as derelicts, scrap steel.
A few years ago I was on a tug down near Haiti and saw the carrier Constellation being towed to Texas to be scrapped. That hit home as I had friends on the Constellation. My ship the Chicago CG 11 (formerly CA 136) often tied up by the Constellation and Kitty Hawk at North Island NAS. Felt like part of my youth was passing to the scrap yard. The Chicago had been scrapped some years before. In the 90s the ex USS Cabot an escort carrier from WWII was tied up for months while a group tried to raise funds to preserve it as a memorial, unsuccessfully. The Cabot was the last straight deck carrier existing.
This video is a number of years old and there are very few ships there in the bay anymore non of which are military ships.. Most them went to Texas for dismanteling. The one ship that surviver was the USS Iowa, BB61. It is now used as a museum in Southern California.
We still have a mothball fleet with some fairly new ships. The original or first 3 CG-47s are part of that.
Another ship that was in the fleet that is now a museum is a Fleet tug that survived Pearl Harbor
The preserved USS The Sullivans is in a park in Buffalo,NY. It is a Fletcher Class destroyer ,and happens to be fitted out exactly like my old ship, USS Twining DD540, at end of WW2. Worth a visit, and close to Niagra Falls, as a bonus site.
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.
Maybe this old fleet is just what we need now, all analog no computers.
So say we all.
The Iowa is now a museum in San Pedro CA. I have toured her and it was a great experience. I recommend the tour.
I used to live in Benicia and drove past that fleet twice a day for years. Used to keep the Glomar Explorer there also (Howard Hugh's boat- look it up). One morning it was gone- that was pretty cool.
I remember the Explorer....closer to the bridge...built to salvage a sub.
This video was produced in 2010. I wonder - now in 2020 - how many of these ships have been scrapped and what newer ships have replaced them in the mothball fleet? A 2020 update video would be nice to see.
The first ship with the large black exposed is Thomaston class LSD. I served on one of those for 3 and a half years.Really grew up on the USS Plymouth Rock.
Holy cow! I would like to see Germany and Japans mothball fleet but I do not own a submarine
Good One! Ha,ha!
**LOL**
Hahahaha! Very underrated comment
The fleet is gone. California said it was polluting the water. As a boy upstream from the fleet my aunt and uncle were care tackers of a duck club on a game reserve on Grizzly Island. Mare Island in Vallejo once used to build nuclear subs had 2 dry docks. What was left of the fleet was scraped. In stead of towing these ships to the Vallejo dry docks California re painted the hales and had them towed to Brownsville Texas and had them scraped. Vallejo is my home town. When Clinton shut down the base he shut down Vallejo. California put in the last coffin nail. That so call polluting the water, you could see no effects to the fish or game.
I can believe the USS IOWA IS IN MOTHBALLS THAT SHIP HAS SO MUCH HISTORY I'M TEARING UP IT SHOULD BE THERE IT SHOULD BE HONOR AND TOLD THE HISTORY OF THAT Beautiful ship and it's crew I salute you.Thank you
its been a museum since 2012.... where have you been for the last 4 years? this video was made in 2010...
All sealed up ready to go.
When I lived in Richmond CA., Contra Costa County, I used to fish for Sturgeon and Striped Bass around the Moth Ball fleet. A friend use to have a small, 24' fishing boat that was berthed across from Mare Island. We were working on his boat the day that the USS Nautilus was being decommissioned. That was a memoriable occasion for me
This coming March 18 th, I'll be joining some family down in San Pedro to tour and have dinner aboard the USS Iowa. The CRPA (CA Rifle and Pistol Association), will be hosting the event. If any CRPA members happen to read this, be sure to attend this great opportunity to tour a legend.
Stan
Toxic waters
The battleships the star..very glad she,s been saved.
Nice to see that some of them survived the scrap heap. Shame that the stories that go along with these ships is lost to a great extent. Many men served long tours on these old ladies of the sea. I'm sure there is a book and a movie in every one of them.
Turning U.S.S. IOWA Into a museumship, is a great idea. She is so elegant,and deserves to live on. I will personally donate some Dollars to the project.👍🇺🇸👩🏻🚀🇩🇰✌🏻
There’s only, like, five ships left in Suisun Bay. All of the other ships were carted off for scrap, except the Iowa, which is a museum in Los Angeles. They still fire blanks from her 16-inch guns occasionally.
1:29 center ship is the USS Proteus AS19. It was turned into a berthing barge in 1992….then towed to Brownsville for scrap.
ive driven across the bridge so many times, almost see that fleet everyday
I have been by the mothball fleet may many times before on my way past the Martinez area to visit releatives, I really never knew there is a tour that takes you right out to the ships, is that tour still running today and if so, would you be able to advise me please where and how I can find information on the tour(s), Thank you so very much....
great soundtrack
i hate to see all these beautiful ships rotting in these shallow waters, just clinging to life. they deserve better
so the iowa was just fuckinh abandoned and let the other 3 be renewed and restored?!
Read the comments above.She is a museum now.
been a museum since 2012.... Iowa is perfectly able to go back to sea, they already determined that turret 2 is fully repairable, the gun is still usable, they have replacement parts for the range finder, compartment bulk heads, doors, lights, wiring, rammer chain, powder and shell hoists. They have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere and was ready to be installed in 1989, but for some reason they decided not to, most likely victim of the budget cuts. The turret looks fine in the interior, according to the Navy and the press that was allowed a private tour in 1989, besides the dented bulk heads from the blast, the crew did so well repairing and repainting that it looks perfectly normal in there to the untrained eye.
No one gets out of this world alive. That little adage applies to inanimate objects too.
BB Iowa class, most handsome fighting ships !
Um, I think it was proven that 16 inch guns still have a useful purpose as recently as Desert Storm.
Those guns can kick some serious ass from a ship that's safe and sound miles offshore.
Still useful in my opinion.
I think that's what Congress wanted to convince the Navy and that's why they didn't finally retire the Iowa until, I think, 2006? Something like that. They are certainly less expensive than launching freaking missiles everywhere. I'd LOVE to see those ships sail again. I'm very happy they were saved from scrapping at least.
Navy will not operate them again since the turret explosion. Spares have all been disposed of now.
When fired in the Gulf War, thefirst shots fell way too short. The powder bags were leftovers from WW2, and had lost a lot of power due to deterioration. They had to reset the firecontrol computers.I wouldthink a few bombers would have been cheaper and quicker. The cost of taking a BB out of mothballs, and the expense of thousands of crew members must have been staggering.
@@kenworthNH There are very few shells left to fire from the big guns now , and remember it was a hit or miss with them , missiles do not miss there targets these days Duncan from Bonnie Scotland
@@andrewnoonan4044 Once railguns arrive, can throw a shell 90 miles.
sturgeon fishing in the area is outstanding!
The Iowa is now at Long beach Calif, and I had the privilege of going on it, what a ship.
I have been on all 4. Iowa is good but her sisters are in better shape. If you get the chance, check them out. They are will worth a trip to one of their cities.
USS Iowa is at San Pedro, Ca today as a museum ship
Most, if not all, are scrapped. We found out just how hard it is to return one of these ships to operational condition: extremely hard and very expensive. Most are outdated technologically from stem to stern. Can't be sad about it; it's just the way it is....technology marches on, and these ships were left in the dust.
Yes this is Suison Bay but this was taken a number of years ago and it doesn't look at all like that today. Wayne
Not sure the name of the music. Was part of a library of music I had purchased with the license to use it. Wayne
Love the Iowa class battleships they are so elegant in outline-what was the music title please-sounds similar to Aaron Copeland.
Regards
Glad to see the Iowa finally got a home! Now she just needs som.....ALOT of TLC! I wish I lived closer (ie the other side of the flippin country) I'd volunteer for her. Great video though!
Sad. When once before if Chief found some dust he was calling battle stations. Now these ships are rusting away. I get it cost wise we cant save them all but we should preserve some of the most historic ships.
Exept for the Iowa, it looks like mostly supply ships to me!
and to think all of those ships are there waiting to either be bought, recommissioned, or scraped.
Where is this? Never heard of Martinez.....California...I also heard of a fleet outside of Philly.
I'm looking for some record of the "General Langfit" I was 13 when my Parents and I got on that Ship in May of 1956..Everyone on that Ship was immigrating to the USA. I remember leaving Bremmer Haven..everyone on the Ship was crying . I wonder how everyone did once they got to the US.Are there any Records of names left???
Where is this? It's not Suison Bay is it?
It would be nice if you could have named some of the other ships, too...I served on the USS Fort Fisher LSD-40...I did recognize a well deck on one of them...
There’s always something sad about retired men o war.
Ex RAN CPO
My former ship, ex-USS Wabash (AOR-5) is in the same row as the ex-Iowa, 3rd ship from the big BB.
Thankfully, some ships have been preserved as museums, although not nearly enough. For BB fans the U.S.S. Texas is a must see as it is the oldest dreadnought still existing.
The Texas is an historical jewel permanently moored in San Jacinto, (I think. Definitely on the Texas gulf coast.) If you want to see it, don't tarry. Despite valiant attempts to preserve it, the hull is in really bad shape and the ship's long term future is questionable at best. Also in bad shape, from what I read, is the USS Olympia, Admiral Dewey's flagship from the Spanish-American War. It is moored in Philadelphia harbor. I plan to visit it within the next twelve months, mostly just to pay my respects. Olympia is actually a Pre-dreadnaught battleship, or armored cruiser, which as part of the Great White Fleet circled the globe when Teddy Roosevelt was president. It has to be one of the oldest steel warship's in existence. In the world.
Of those ships, excluding the Iowa, I wonder how many will be scrapped, how many refitted and sold to foreign navies, how many will be sunk as targets in live fire exercises, how many sunk as artificial reefs and how many preserved as museum ships?
Mostly Cargo and Supply ships w/a few Troop Transports. The USS IOWA is no longer there, as it is now a museum in San Pedro, Calif.
Is the General Lanfit in there???
The ships can be put into action much quicker with refits and the Navy, if need be, can spend more resources on new ships if need be... If SHTF...
now there is a possible effort to refit and recommission it. all this time we thought it was waiting to be scraped. and then the city of long beach bought it, and at that point we were waiting for it to fall apart and sink. ( l say this because the foxtrot class b-427 attack submarine known as the scorpion was recently permanently closed off to the city of long beach because it was unmaintained and the hull is damaged beyond repair, it is likely to be removed and scraped fairly soon. the RMS queen mary is also in long beach in critical shape, there is a very large list of things wrong with the ship including rooms that were recently closed off because of risk ofthe floor caving in on itself. there is some very serious hull deterioration that has sprung many leaks that are spreading and WILL cause the ship to sink if not repaired in the next year or so.) but now there is a chance the iowa will get away from long beach where it is no longer in danger of falling apart.
The first ship I served on was the USS Oxford at Liberty Hall a gtr1 it was old always broken down the boilers the bricks in the boilers were always falling out something was always broke down to my surprise after I got off of it it was scrapped out in Japan lot of these old ships have holes coming in the bottoms and sides and can never be repaired to where they can be seaworthy again it would be best to melt them down and make some new battleships or new Destroyers
Can you go on board any of these fine vessels?
What is the ship at 03:05 with the name "Green" on the stern?
The SS Green Mountain State was a cargo vessel that served with the Merchant Marine. It was later refitted as a crane ship by the navy and placed in ready reserve.
The truth is they should go for scrap.Cost a fortune to upgrade to a standard to be any use.Most USN ships were on there last legs when mothballed.
Where did the Tarawa go?
Too bad they don't provide on board tours. Sad to see it all go even though it is probably for the better.
Thanks for checking out my video. I understand how you feel about these ships. Hopefully the video might help in the effort to turn the USS iowa into a museum housed here in the Bay Area. Thank you for taking the time to write a comment. Wayne Fogle
Wayne..was the Canopus AS34 there? One of those ships sure looked like the old tender. I served aboard her in Holy Loch, Scotland in 70-71.
Old soldiers that still stand ready to fight.
+Wayne fogle what music did you use for the video??
Had the same question. Vaguely recall it: perhaps from National Geographic.
@novawow212 well they can always melt them and make bigger and better 1s
The old fleet isn't what it was when I was a kid.
The Glomar Explorer is gone. All the big guns boats are gone or stripped.
Seems a shame.
Like everyone forgot what these ships and the men who served on them did to defend the World from evil.
Now, we have a new evil.
And a war we are losing on home soil.
Now we have these smart Bombs that can knock on your front Door when you open off she Go,s Boom ?
+goldwingman1500 You mean suicide bombers?
Yes they all are trying to get the black eyed Virgins up or down there hard way to make a living boom your dead .
I did not disrespect my Father was HMAS Melbourne in Australia .
RedRider1600 He probably means the roughly 13,000 Americans that are shot dead a year,and the tens of thousands that are injured......
The USS Iowa. She's still Beautiful.
One of the best looking battleships to serve in the U.S. or any other navy.
All ships are gone from Mothball Fleet in Suisun Bay near Martinez
Most of what I saw here was auxiliary fleet. If it ever comes down to another World War, this is where a large portion of the floating gas cans are coming from.
I wonder if the USS Ashtabula is sitting in there. I was part of the decommissioning process back in the 80's.
No, Ashtabula was sunk in 2000
@@timothycook2917 copy
this is a 1 min. video TOPS
it nice to keep old ship in mothball of as museum piece. My father always said we in the UK should of keep HMS Vanguard.
but on the other hand one just as to except that the cost of keeping sometimes is just not worth it. If a ship is not Sea worthy then it has to be scraped.
The Royal Navy should have kept Queen Elizabeth, Warspite, Duke of York or Rodney. Those ships had brilliant war records. Carriers like Illustrious and Furious should have likewise been retained. Maybe the battlecruiser Renown.
Warspite would of been my number 1 choice by sure, a ship with such an amazing history, she collected more battle honours than any ship in any navy ever!
That was a long tour to see only one capital ship. Everything else were supply and transport.
3:10 that looks awfully a lot like the stern of a Colorado class battleship!
I didn't see anything that I thought might have been a Colorado class battleship. I believe only 3 were completed all in the early 1920's. All were decommissioned in 1947, struck and sold for scrap in 1959. At time mark 3:10 I don't see what looks like a Colorado class? 4 turrets and 2 masts.
Im well aware of the time that all of the standard types were scrapped, im just saying the profile of the stern looks similar.
The one on the left is the Green Mountain. The one to the left of the Cape Breton doesn't look anything like a Colorado.
Excellent music! Should be credited . What is it? Sounds like an American composer of the last century.
Kenneth H I think it is Aaron Copland.
these ships are fantastic love the video but they are of no use whatsoever they are for scrap surely,
you wouldn't get them fit to sail for years, where would you get the crew, what would they do??
Problem is in order to scrapping them you have to remove all asbestos that operation alone would cost a staggering amount of money . So for the time being it is cheaper to have them rot away. Somebody else may take care of that.
I think the Iowa should be taken up the Mississippi and moored at Davenport, Iowa!!
granskare Iowa is in LA now, I believe. Wisconsin is in Norfolk VA, New Jersey is in New Jersey, Missouri is in Pearl Harbor. It would be difficult mooring it in Iowa anyways, due to the fact there might not be a suitable port for her.
+kkofthefunkoffv3 a port can alway be made 4 a ship like those . but its hard to keep the bottom free from the muck . unless then penned her in.
How are you going to get the Iowa up the Mississippi? Beam Me Up Scotty? I don't think current Transporter tech is up to the task. Otherwise you'll have to raise all the bridges and dredge a channel from Venice, LA to Iowa. Not to mention widen and deepen several Locks. Most of the traffic on the River is 9 foot draft, How much water does the Iowa draw? Put your thinking cap back on, you missed the boat on this one.
Doubt she'd fit in all the locks along the way. And the river probably isn't deep enough. But it would be a fitting port for her in her namesake state, and the RI arsenal next door.
Most of those look like support ships. They should move them to fresh water like the Great Lakes so the hulls don't rot.
They are not there anymore. Most all have been scrapped or sunk as targets
I live a few miles from the fleet,watch them slowly rust away
Right now there are about five ships left. Once they are gone there will be no more mothball fleet.
I want one! Phil S in California
Most are gone now. Only 4 or 5 left
Almost all gone now in early 2017.
most are support ships !
It's a shame MARAD scrapped nearly the entire NDRF. Irreplaceable vessels and living monuments of our naval history. James River and Suisan Bay have reduced the number of vessels from over 2,000 to less than 20 now. I don't understand why these magnificent ships weren't hauled and mothballed on the hard.
Such a waste.
I never new before this video the Iowa was in the fleet
Emphasis on Was... Its now a museum ship
only 5or6 ships there now!