"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
09/01/2014 at 23:26 • Filed to: Fleets
4
1|
"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
09/01/2014 at 23:26 • Filed to: Fleets | 4
| 1 |
Well, not literally. This is !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! where the US Navy anchors a large chunk of its "mothball" fleet. Ships are sealed and then left to bask in the California sun until needed for future use. Often that "future use" is to be sent to the scrappers, or !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . However, many get sold to foreign allies or on rare occasion even re-activated for service back in the US Navy.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Image by "Centpacrr" via Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons License
The USS Iowa was mothballed here before being transformed into a museum in kind-of sort-of nearby Los Angeles. Behind the Iowa is what appears to be a tanker or supply ship and some sort of...uh, ferry? Various oil/fuel tankers, munitions ships and dry cargo (i.e., foodstuffs and other consumables) supply ships lie anchored in the distance. Most of the ships are actually various cargo-carrying auxiliaries of this nature - the US Navy tends to go through a lot of 'em. When you have over a thousand people serving on a single carrier, it takes a lot to keep them fed and happy. Each Carrier Battle Group (CVBG) in effect represents a small floating city, and a major component of the CVBG are the ships that keep that small floating city running and functioning on the same level as their landlocked civilian counterparts.
Image by Ingrid Taylar via Flickr by way of Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons License
Here we have more auxiliaries - by the looks of it, oil tankers of WWII vintage, or at least no later than the 50s or maybe very early 60s. The distinctive design with its midships island superstructure and sloping, almost clipper-like main deck fell out of favor in place of more efficient "flush-deck" designs with a single "block" island superstructure at the very aft end of the ship (this basic ship design is fairly common among all US Navy supply ships, or for that matter civilian cargo ships, most notably container ships and tankers). The tankers are flanked by tugs of likely similar vintage. Many ships built during and leftover from WWII are still lying in Suisun Bay, a few waiting for museum/donation hold but many of them likely to be sent to the breakers in the future.
NotUnlessRoundIsFunny
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
09/01/2014 at 23:49 |
|
Thanks for posting this. I always wonder about these when I drive by...knew they were mothballed but not much else.