Our nation?s waterways have many uses and interesting sites for us boaters to enjoy. Here?s a Plaque that recalls one of the uses that is perhaps not seen often, ship storage. The ?Mothball Fleet? was the outcome of a committee that was first set-up in 1943, during WW II. The last ship on the Hudson River from Jones Point and on down to Tompins Cove left in 1971, but I remember such craft having presence into the 1990?s on the Hudson.
Up to 189 ships were anchored along the West shore of the Hudson River for more than twenty five years. Similar anchorages were set up in Oregon, Washington, California, Alabama, Texas, North Carolina, and Virginia.
These ships were not just ?Mothballed?, they went back into service over time as well as having a simple end at some breaker?s yard. A few are now just offshore, in the Atlantic ocean, underwater as artificial reefs to make a place for fish to congregate.
