How is it that the US Navy can preserve their ships so well and at such relatively low cost that so many museum ships have such a hard time doing it? I understand that in the case of museum ships you likely have more people going in and out but a nice revolving door or just entirely closing of sections of the ship that people will normally not come should be quite doable i think, am i missing something here?
I have read a in german literature that the function of the triple 28cm (11 Inch) turrets of the of the Deutschland- and Scharnhorst- Class were one of the best kept military secrets of the Wehrmacht. This implies to me that they were functioning i a somewhat special manner. Could you specify what made those Turrets special in comparison to any other Battle ship grade gun?
I grew near the Suisun Bay Mothball fleet---back in the 70's there were rows and rows of warships.....was in my boat watching as they brought in USS Iowa 20 years ago....all gone now. Used to anchor right off the Iowa to fish and just stare in amazement.....got up the nerve to accidently drift close enough to touch the hull once :)
Jeff Lantz......... I was hoping to see Suisun Bay Mothball fleet. My former U.S. Navy ship, USS FOX (DLG-33) was at Suisun before it was decommissioned and dismantled. Spent nine months on FOX in Vietnam 1968-1969.
I had the dubious honor of being "in charge" of the mothballed fleet in Philly when the government shut down for 3 weeks at the end of '95 when they sent all the civilians home. And by "in charge", I mean I'd be the guy they pointed fingers at if any of the ships started burning, exploding, sinking or being disagreeable. As a retired CPO, I still think I shoulda gotten a command pin or something for having my neck on the block like that... :) Though it was kinda neat having Des Moines as my personal flagship.
I was on the reserve destroyer USS Holder and while in drydock in Philly in 75 me and another hull tech got to go over to the USS Sullivan's, (now in Buffalo, NY) engine room to forage parts for our ship. It was not in mothballs but lined up with many other ships. And while I was on the USS Anchorage in 74 in either Sasebo or Iwakuni Japan, I remember all the WW2 LST's lined up in mothball in the harbor. Wish I'd got a picture of that.
I was stationed on a USNS sea going salvage / tug boat back in the early 2000s. We did a number of tow jobs along the East coast with mothball ships. What surprised me the most is how badly the outside of these ships was deteriorating. Having spent three years on a ship forward deployed I knew from personal experience how much effort went into corrosion prevention. There is never a work day that grinders and needle guns aren't on use on a ship somewhere. To think any of these ships would be taken out of mothball and put back to service is just crazy to me. It would take months of dry dock time to get them back to a point where they were operational and safe to use. On a side note, I have actually stepped foot on the USS Forrestal. Arguably the most haunted ship in the United States Navy. (Look up its history if you want to know why.) I forget which mothball fleet that ship was in at the time. Or if it is even still in mothball. But you couldn't pay me enough money to spend the night on that ship and then shut off the lights. Hell to the naw.
As someone who has had to remove Cosmoline from old Russian rifles the thought of having to remove it from an entire ship causes me melancholy that I thought hitherto impossible.
First, xylene is great for that. Second, my buddy can tell the date and country of origin by the smell texture and color of the cosmoline it’s kind of amazing. 3rd, my grandfather would talk about how in the pacific they would coat the 20mm guns in the stuff and as they fired the heat would make it liquify and the gunners would get absolutely covered in the stuff.
In the mid 1960s, I was part of a crew that reactivated a Fletcher class destroyer to be sold to Turkey. The ship had been in reserve since 1946, or about 20 years. The interior was much like it had been in 1946. Outside there was a lot of light rust and some deeper rust in decks where water had collected. Some ships still in reserve had much more rust. The navy didn't do any rust maintenance I could see on ships smaller than cruisers. In 1970 I saw several troop transports scrapped. On the outside, it was difficult to find paint. Everything was rust.
I had a chance to go aboard Missouri, in 1985, when the ship was being prepared for towing to Long Beach CA. for reactivation. Closed since 1955, we found Plan of the Day sheets taped to bulkheads dated 1955 and they were as fresh as when posted. The galleys were rust free too. The only signs of long closure were some patches of peeling paint due to dryness. After photographing the departure of the ship for Long Beach, I followed it down to become part of the recommissioning crew. I appreciate the care that was taken to keep my battleship in such fine condition. To quote Margaret Truman who spoke at the recommisioning banquet in San Francisco, "Take care of my baby." We did with pleasure.
I was so excited to see the Missouri right after you "escorted" her to Long Beach before she left for her much deserved rest-- one of the most incredible experiences of my life, to be followed up when I went into the Navy myself in 1992 & after boot camp & my training for being a non-deeignated airman then reported to Supply Dept on the base on Coronado Island in San Diego. They "Salts" thought it would be funny to send me on docking parties when our aircraft carriers were coming in after their trips out to sea- docked the Kitty Hawk, Constellation, Ranger, Independence, & the Nimitz right before it was decommissioned! It was absolutely fantastic & just as exciting as seeing the lovely Missouri!!! To put the cherry on top, my oldest boy has been in for @15yrs now, sonar tech,has been on several notable submarines & is now teaching at submarines school at Point Loma in San Diego- getting ready to test to wear those khakis & be a chief petty officer:) so grateful & proud to have been a tiny part of our proud navy's history!
I was aboard the USS THACH FFG-43 when our C.O. came over the 1MC. He told our crew that they were towing the USS Missouri. She would be crossing our bow. It seemed really erry because it was somewhat foggy. The ship just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Still remember that after all these years.
The US Navy has not forgotten how to fool Congress into thinking that they are just modifying existing equipment. The F-18E/F Super Hornet is the F-18C/D cockpit forward attached to a entirely new airframe that sort of looks like the original.
Yep, it looks like the original so long as you don't have an original F/A-18 nearby to compare. Or an F-15 Eagle nearby to see that the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is actually *bigger.* Fortunately F-15 Eagles aren't common sights on aircraft carriers.
Not to mention the Zumwalt class "destroyer" which displaces 16,000 tons and has 6" guns. A cruiser by any measure. But that deception didn't work, because congress canned it for cost overruns anyway.
@@simonoconnor7759 In fairness, I think they pulled an even bigger fast one on Congress by getting them to unwittingly authorize a technology demonstrator, something they’ve never wanted to allow.
@@jamesharding3459 actually, if you look at recent history, the Zumwalts are a repeat of the Seawolf-class, just without the Cold War ending to stop the production run.
@@TheTrueAdept Seawolf wasnt just a technology demonstrator, it was the final word in nuclear attack sub design. The zumwalt is questionably comperable in impact.
I was a member of the decommissioning crew for 2 USN ships- USS Henry B Wilson and USS Barbey. Although the basic procedures were the same for both ships, there were some differences due to what the Navy planned to do with them. The Wilson was used as a target ship, while the Barbey was sold to a foreign navy. Oddly enough, we did far more to the Wilson in cleaning her up than we did for the Barbey. The EPA had to inspect the ship and certify that it could be sunk without being an environmental hazard.
Thank you for that bit of history. I bet that you could go into length about cleaning the Wilson, here, and many would appreciate it since it is so pertinent to Drach's video. "Henry B. Wilson was decommissioned on 2 October 1989, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 January 1990 and sold for scrap on 15 April 1994. The scrap contract was terminated on 23 March 1999 and the ship was resold on 6 April 2002. She was re-acquired and sunk as a target ship 15 August 2003."
@@alexsis1778 Ownership of asbestos, PCBs and similar hazmat can no longer be transferred. If you're stuck with it, your only option is to have it stored in an APPROVED hazardous waste facility. You continue to retain ownership and responsibility in perpetuity. You can no longer get rid of it by selling it to someone else. Reserve vessels that are sold for scrap must be remediated of all hazmat before they can be exported. This typically happens in Brownsville, TX.
I loved the mention of the point system. I was one of the points that got my father home from the US Navy ahead of so many others. I'm not sure but it had to be the autumn of 1945.
@@taterater1052 You could write a book like that. Instead of letter from something name it comments to the future. Lotta people say never forget and then repeat history. Maybe instead of a book make it a UA-cam series.
Shangri La was tied up in Philadelphia for many years until they towed down the Delaware River and sold her for scrap. My dad served aboard her and watched them tow her away from the New Jersey side of the river. He wasn't happy.
@@RCAvhstape My remark was meant as a joke, but you're right. One flattop broke the mold when it came to carrier names, its origins not the annals of naval history, but by the pen of a British novelist and the subterfuge of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On April 18, 1942, 16 Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell medium bombers under the command of Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet (CV 8) to attack the Japanese Home Islands, a highly secret and unconventional operation that provided American morale a much-needed boost. When asked by the press about the location from which the bombers launched, Roosevelt replied “Shangri-La” in reference to a mythical Himalayan kingdom created by James Hilton in his novel Lost Horizon published in 1933, the same year Roosevelt took office. The ship from which the Doolittle Raiders actually launched continued in service until October 1942, when she was sunk at the Battle of Santa Cruz. Honoring her service, the Navy christened a new carrier Hornet (CV 12), which was placed in commission in November 1943. Subsequently, on Feb. 24, 1944, Mrs. Doolittle slammed a bottle of champagne against the hull of another flattop at the Norfolk Navy Yard, christening her Shangri-La. On Sept. 15, 1944, with work having been completed, the carrier was commissioned and headed to the Pacific, spending much of 1945 steaming with the Pacific Fleet in the final campaigns against Japan. Ironically, she launched planes to attack Tokyo, just as the Doolittle Raiders had done, and joined other U.S. Navy ships entering Tokyo Bay for the surrender ending World War II.
I used to go check out the mothball fleet in San Diego when I was a teenager in the 70's...was pretty cool over a mile of ships sitting side by side...
I grew up inSD. I’ve always loved WWII naval history. Every weekend I’d pester my dad to take me to see whichever navy ship had an “open house” for visitors. I also Remember looking over the SanDiego mothball fleet in ca. 1970 (I was probably about 10).I distinctly recall a row of escort carriers. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.
Back in 1984, I was working on an ocean going tug USNS Powhaton T-ATF 166 and had the opportunity to spend much time on some vessels towed out of mothballs and used as targets. One ship had been laid up since 1946 and had books, magazines and love letters from that time. There was cosmoline on on everything in those ships, the sink valves were disassembled and greased too. I have a nice porthole and some other artifacts from those days, it was sad to see perfectly sealed time capsules with new machinery, being sunk as targets.
Interesting how the Korean war proved the Navy's reserve system worked and how the Army's didn't (since they didn't have one) and how they had to raid war memorials to get enough Shermans to reactivate
To be fair, you can build a tank from scratch faster than a ship and for a lot cheaper. Not that the Army didn't learn the lesson or that it wasn't a mistake but at least it wasn't the Air Force or Navy.
To be more fair, the Army didn't want to disarm itself like it did after WW2, but President Harry Truman had a long history, going back to his days as a frugal artilleryman, of not trusting the US Army to spend money well, so he aggressively used his position as Commander-in-Chief to make the Army prove that it was only paying for necessities, not extravagances. However, Truman had some logic to his apparent madness. The US Navy, as noted in the video, was not denied the money to maintain the largest fleet in the world. Why? Because Truman, like many, was expecting the next great war to play out like the World Wars had: the US Navy would keep the USA itself safe while the necessary armies were raised to finish the war. Instead of paying a fortune to keep a largish army with modern weapons for wars that may never happen, constantly replacing obsolete equipment, why not just raise 10,000,000 men with the latest weapons newly-made when no enemy can reach your shores without getting past the US Navy first? What that plan didn't account for was a small war too big for a few battalions of Marines to handle happening on the wrong side of the globe from where the US Army had all its active heavy weapons. Thus, much of the "Korean Crisis" had to do with the desire to not strip the US armies in Germany of their tanks and artillery, because it was possible that the Soviet Union might invade Germany. Also, we must note the poor leadership of the Army in Japan meant those US troops were far less well-trained and armed than they should have been. THe Japanese just didn't seem threatening enough to justify keeping the tanks. So if you really look at it, the US Army in 1950 did quite well. Yes, poorly-trained troops without heavy weapons hastily pulled from Japan were really scared for the first few weeks, but then they quickly turned the tides of war against the North Koreans. Yes, some people panicked back home and yanked tanks off monuments to send them to Korea, but the war was already turned in America's favor before they arrived in significant numbers. Even before Inchon, the North Koreans were running out of weapons and men as America's airpower and growing artillery park grew overwhelming. Only the arrival of hundreds-of-thousands of Chinese troops kept the war going, and by that point, the USA was sending new-made tanks and dropping more bombs than it had at times during WW2. So long story short, the US Army was not as bad off as it looks. A lot of the apparent problems were not with the lack of weapons, it was with the placement of those weapons. This is why we developed the grand system of magazines that we still have today, with thousands of guns and hundreds of tanks just sitting in warehouses all over the world so we only need to ship the crews to them.
@@demonprinces17 tbf, Reagan reactivated too many hulls just to have a paper navy of extremely obsolete hulls requiring a decade or more of upgrading just to get them to modern standards instead of spending that money on the ships the navy needed for the future.
Very well done, sir. As a 21 year veteran of the US Navy I very much appreciate the effort and time you put into documenting the history of forces afloat.
As a teenager in the 70s, I was in the Sea Scouts. Our ship was a 65ft converted ice breaker we bought from the navy for a dollar. Complete with radar. Granted it was obsolete but it worked for our use. Slept 12 in the crews quarters and 4 officer's quarters forward. The skipper and executive officer had quarters on the quarter deck just aft of the bridge. Was fitted with two 970hp diesel engines. In our downtime we would take the quarter boat over to the mothboll fleet And " tour " the old ships and B class subs. There was a Dolfin class boomer there for a short time. That was a daunting boat. Even then I was aware of the power it possessed.
The zoomed-out, black and white pictures of all those ships stacked together brings to mind those plastic model sheets that you have to pull all the pieces off of before you use them. Which just brings to mind the idea of Yamamoto's "Waking the Giant" quote with an American giant just ripping Clemson and Wickes destroyers off of a disposable plastic sheet.
And today, China can produce 10X as many ships as the USA did at its height of WWII and 100X greater than the USA can produce today or Europe and USA/Europe thinks they will still be the worlds dominant super power.... Just putting things in perspective
@@w8stral Statements like these always beg the question of what that even means. 10X as many ships means about as much as 10X as many vehicles when comparing cars to uranium-armored main battle tanks. A supercontainer ship is a lot easier to build than a nuclear submarine or a fleet carrier. I also like the idea that the US (or EU) *can't* build 1% of China's shipbuilding program.
My father, a naval aviator, was part of the recommissioning crew of the USS Kula Gulf, CVE108, an escort carrier at the start of the Korean War. One of the things he told me later was the mistake they made in having the seamen scrape the whole ship down and start out with new paint. Their paint job didn't hold up well. They discovered is was preferable to attack peeling paint but anything that was staying put was kept as a base and simply painted over. He spent most of the war on the Kula Gulf, patrolling the North Atlantic, weeks on (and weeks off) out of Norfolk, Virginia, looking for Soviet ships. He flew F4U Corsairs, and launched and recovered them as Catapult and Arresting Gear Officer. My own very first memories, starting at age 3 1/2, are going out to his ship when it was in port and he was duty officer. My mother, older brother and I would ride a small launch out, climb up the long stairway up the side of the ship and have dinner with him. Clark (three years older) and I were free to wander about and explore. The sills of the watertight doors were a major barrier for my small stature, and I always emerged from our forays greased up.
The preservation of the Mothball fleet in the long run would turn out to be crucial for the US Navy. If the ships had been scrapped, then there would have not been so many cruisers to convert into missile cruisers, destroyers to be turned into FRAM ASW ships, and submarines to be turned into improved, long-duration, sonar-equipped GUPPY subs
Don't forget "museum" ship USS Missouri that was recommissioned in '91 for the first gulf war. Had the British royal navy copied this then HMS Vanguard would probably still exist as a massive missile battleship. It seems only the US navy understand that even a ship from the 40s can be refit and modernized.
@@Searly255 there is such a thing as metal fatigue. Given enough time, the hull itself deteriorates on atomic level, and loosing its atomic bonds. This is effectively negated by building a vessel hull from titanium, or modern composites. But that's relatively modern technology. In other words, USS Missouri was beyond recovery, by the time it was reactivated, and its fate sealed.
@@theflame5919 I recall the Iowas were decommissioned primarily because of the sheer cost of replacing the boilers, which would warrant a deep refit since you are literally going quite deep into a ship, yanking out its heart, installing a new set, and putting the stuff you took out back where it was supposed to be. If you're going to do that, you'd effectively be rebuilding the ship. Which would cost about as much as a new ship.
In 1967, after having been drafted, I was sent to the US Army's Transportation School at Ft Eustis, VA on the James River. There I received training on operating LCM8 and LCU landing craft as well as tug boats up to 105'. Just outside of the channel from Ft Eustis there were a large number of reserve ships in the river - many being Victory cargo ships. Later, during 1968, I was at the munitions port near Sattahip Thailand. Almost all of the ships that came into the port carrying munitions were Victory ships that had been brought back to operational status.
Back when the Iowa was still in Suisun bay reserve fleet I went with my uncle and a bunch of other vets to go visit it. A bunch of the vets pulled some bits of paint from the hull of the ship as keepsakes (the fate of the ship hadn’t been decided yet) and he gave me one. I still have that piece of paint to this day.
My father took me to see the Missouri in reserve at Bremerton around '66. Even as a kid, was kinda disappointed that we couldn't go inside at all. Didn't get any piece of it, though.
I had a friend i served in the USN with back in 86-89. He became a MCPO before retirement. He managed to get me a small 6x6 in piece of her teak foredeck before she was moved to Alameda for refit to Long Beach as a museum. I still have it displayed with my other enlisted momentos.
No, they're filled with mothballs, to keep the navy's brass' uniforms in their closets, moth free. An ordering mistake, signed off by a general while he was getting a blowjob, caused the ordering of 10 million gross cases of the stuff, instead of 10 boxes.
A random late-night click on a 43 minute long video thumbnail that held my interest and taught me significantly more than I knew about the USN fleets. I've watched plenty of popular war movies, yet had not considered that there were so many ships active at the same time... and to see the amazing photos of them gathered together is very cool. Thank You for sharing your knowledge.
The "repair work" actually leading to a new vessel reminds me of the shenanigans the Royal Navy was pulling off in the 17th and early 18th centuries; it's why you get ships like HMS Prince with such long service lives, despite having actually effectively separate iterations.
I've been on the "Big Wisky" . It's an amazing sight to turn a corner while driving through Norfolk and come face to face with the bow of this Battleship... It's moored about 20 meters from a major city street. You can tour parts of it as a museum. Very cool sight.
Regarding the Four Stackers given to the British, It's was actually a sampling of destroyers handed over, not just hulls pulled from reserve. Some were practically unused and freshly overhauled. Some had seen 20 years of continuous service in the Asiatic fleet. Some had been taken out and put back into reserve two or three times. Most spent another 3-6 months in British yards getting boilers removed and hedgehogs and AA guns installed regardless. Some lasted in Soviet service into the 1950s.
38:20 The USS Sproston DD-577 sitting proudly in mothballs. During WW2, my father manned one of the 5 inch guns, from the shakedown cruise until the end of the war. Lot's of action.
Funny how I was just about to search for videos on the mothball fleet, and find this on my feed, perfectly timed to suit my interests. Good timing, great content!
Very interesting discussion! My mum grew up near one of the rivers where the reserve ships were kept in New England, and talked about biking down to see them from time to time!
could you possibly do a short continuation about the various heavy cruisers and light cruiser that were taken out of reserve and converted in guided missile cruisers
@@MrChickennugget360 I think you have it there. As an outsider (I'm English). It seems the huge amount of money that's thrown around by lobbyists really do cause you huge problems (and wastage). Interest groups have an impact here. But nothing like you chaps have. And they have to sell their stories using the media and public relations. If they just throw money around, our media tends to quickly destroy politicians who take said money. It probably helps we don't just have 2 parties as well. Interest groups can't latch onto a party and know they have a 50% chance of getting what they want. Not to mention we don't have a president that belongs to a party who can also be "bought"
@William Mulvaney its not even a matter of bribing the media. they are already bought and paid for or otherwise in the service of various special interests, ideologies or agendas.
@William Mulvaney such a shame. I know you guys had a rough start with the indians and the slavery and racism and suchlike. But you really did try democracy didn't you. I wonder if being such a wealthy nation corrupted (much like power in general)
Being a truck driver here in America. I've seen both Philadelphia and Maire River mothball fleets. I've seen the USS Salem in Philadelphia navel yard before becoming a museum ship
The photos of the “ship of the line” wing used as a building is the USS Vermont. Laid down in 1818, not commissioned until 1862 but was outdated by then. Was in place in the NY Naval Yard as a ”stores and receiving ship” from 1864 until 1901 when she was struck off the navy list.
I remember seeing a quote attributed to a British crew on one of the "50" (the destroyer for bases DDs WERE fully supplied before handing over, which meant they had a LOT of creature comforts that were darn scarce in Britain by then). "I know we've smoked all their Camels. But, if we gave them a thousand Players, do you think the Yanks would take this bloody sieve back?"
@freebeerfordworkers It was a bit more cunning than that, congress was opposed to any loans (or especially lend-lease) to Britain reasoning that despite Britain's protests that they were almost broke they had many corporations and territories that they could sell to the United States. Congress wanted to use the war for force them to sell their western hemisphere territories to the US. The destroyers for bases deal placated congress and opened them up to new financing options. Though, in hindsight, given that British just gave all these territories independence after the war anyway, it would have probably been better had Congress forced Britain to sell them them the US.
@freebeerfordworkers It was the corvettes that were said to roll on wet grass, but those WW1 destroyers were narrow-gutted and certainly unsuitable for escort work. Most of them had half their boilers taken out to create extra bunkerage, since they didn't need the speed, and the beam guns landed to reduce top-hamper and allow for more depth-charges.
You forgot the Zincs! Lots and lots of zinc tabs that were mounted to the hulls to act as sacrificial anodes so that the hull and coatings didn't deteriorate too quickly.
@@hithere7382 particularly when the soil doesn't quite have a neutral pH. But it is done a lot on ships, zinc tabs are very useful when a structure spends most of its time floating in salt water.
When I was a kid the Mothball Fleet was still docked side by side in Orange Texas. By about 1982 or so all had been removed, but I suspect there were about 100 big ships and lots of smaller ones. Very cool to see them up close and I recall the guns being very impressive.
Same can be said for the Royal Navy (and Royal Australian Navy). I once heard someone say that the only enemy Anglo-Saxon armed forces cannot vanquish are their own governments.
I had opportunity to visit the reserve fleet at Bremerton, WA while I was stationed there (during the cold war). It amazed me how many vessels were being kept from WWII, and how well kept they were. Thanks for doing this video. It sure brought back memories for this old man.
Used to do a lot of fishing around martinez/carquinez I've seen the old fleet shrink a lot over the years. Had a great. Great ? Uncle that sailed with the great white fleet. One nice momentous that's been passed down is a 70mm Photo of part of the fleet in a Chinese harbor lined up with a large French warship interesting how at the harbor entrance were a couple Chinese gun boats anchored with their bows/guns pointed towards the "colonial" warships. A sort of protest per the uncles notes.
On the US west coast, a large mothball fleet was parked in the estuary just upstream (on the huge Sacramento River Delta) of the San Francisco Bay (Suisun Bay). In recent years, it's been largely dismantled by the USN because some of the ships were leaking oil and fuel, flaking lead paint, and most all were horribly obsolete. I used to drive by, then later fly over, that fleet many times. Watched it slowly shrink as ships were removed and disposed of.
This was a very interesting video subject. The depths of insight into putting (U.S.) naval warships into "mothballs" was not only intriguing and informative, but, as Drachinifel always does, entertainingly, or better yet, humorously explained so that land-lovers could more easily understand. ... As is, at one point, I had this image of groups of massive warships covered by multiple igloos. 😄⛄🚢⚓
I was stationed at Philadelphia Atlantic Reserve Fleet 1961-62. We had in storage (as described herein) the Iowa, Tarawa CVA 40 and many destroyers. I would estimate 150 ships. In addition to the prep work described, we used a series of electrical devices placed around the hull to create a magnetic field. This was presumed to limit deterioration of the outer hull. Security teams were placed in strategic locations throughout the working day to stand watch. Teams of electricians serviced the mag field devices and massive dehumidifiers on each ship. The Rosevelt presidential yacht was among the group. For a young sailor, it was a real adventure to see all this naval history in one place.
Awesome video as always. I still remember the old transports (Liberty ships) moored side by side in St. Andrews Bay (Panama City, Fla.) when I was a kid in the 1960s. I didn't realize that desiccant dehumidifiers had been around for as long as that. There are more efficient ways to employ the same principle in one machine without having to change out the silica gel. A wheel packed with silica rotates within the unit taking in the moist air in the top, expelling the dry air, then rotating to the bottom where the silica is dried by a blower with that moist air sent out via a duct outside the contained area, and then rolls the wheel back to the top where the process continues. This method works over a wider range of temperatures than most modern dehumidifiers which are LGRs (low grain refrigeration models). Cheers!
This has been absolutely incredible! Navy veteran here w son teaching at submarine school in San Diego & carrying on the fine, fine Navy traditions!!! I've never heard this stuff & really enjoyed watching & learning, will definitely be sending the link to my boy so he can share w his shipmates as well!!! Thank you over & over, will totally be subscribing & watching!!!!
I lived in Davis while my wife attended UC Davis Vet school in the 1980's. Her parents lived in Pleasant Grove and we drove by those ships practically every other weekend. I was always curious about their history, now I know. Thank you for this in depth video presentation.
The funny thing is the US Army had (at least when I was stationed at Fort Monroe, VA through 1987) a huge mothballed fleet of ships (including troop transport ships) docked in the James River near Fort Eustis (The Army's Transportation Corps headquarters). At the time, the US Army had more naval vessels than the US Navy and more aircraft than the US Air Force.
At 30:16 of this video is the reserve fleet at Grassy Point NY on the Hudson River. I remember those ships well growing up in West Haverstraw, just a few miles away. We’d pass them on our way up to Bear Mountain State park. By the mid 70s they were all gone. There is still a pair of anchors with a plaque off of RT 9W.
I don’t know, exactly recent. When I was a boy in the ‘50’s there was a big mothball fleet in Glen cove Springs, F! Mostly destroyers and destroyer escorts. This was right down the St. John’s River from a big USN base at Mayport, FL. They were still there all the way through the 1950’s and I always enjoyed looking at them when we went that way. I guess there were close to 100 ships stored there.
Absolutely fascinating! I never actually gave much thought to mothballing ships and thought that all they’d require was a shed load of WD40 and not much else! Thank you for straightening out such a wild misconception (obviously the WD40 was a wild ass guess, but not so far off the mark with later ships) but even so, it was still quite the eye opener to learn of the actual extent of preparations necessary if a ship was to ever be used again. You will have no idea how much my recently deceased father in law (merchant marine, chief engineer) loved your channel, and so, permit me to say on his behalf how much he’d enjoyed all the video’s he’d seen to date (until a couple of months ago) and was looking forward to viewing the rest. With a nickname like Hawkeye Lucas you can probably guess what he was like (I could tell some tales…) as his attention to detail was second to none, and that’s even allowing for my near thirty year stint as a Royal Marine Commando Officer! He might have been small in stature but he could scare the pants off those that didn’t meet his standards - and I was used to our NCOs and the like! Thank you so much for all that you do, bringing these oldish bits of history, back into the spotlight and engaging a whole new class of engineers, amongst other things. As I’m overdue to join my eccentric old father in law quite soon (long story) might I just say thank you so much for all that you do. I don’t have the slightest notion about the time, effort, and research that is necessary for such documentaries but I can easily imagine that it’s quite substantial. Well worth the effort of all that you do. Hopefully I’ll time my attempt at a Patreon payment before the bloody morphine pump goes off again?
When I was a kid we’d pull our 17 foot boat in between the ships of the James River Reserve Fleet and fish there. There were huge spot and croaker there. Was scary seeing that the only thing separating the ships was a single 30 foot tall inflatable fender very eerie to hearing noises in the hulls.
Of all the research material and documentaries I have read or watched of the New Guinea campaign, this is by far the best. Congratulations on a great documentary.
I remember seeing the Reserve fleet moored near Wilmington when my family was driving to Florida for vacation. They were moored near the Delaware bridge (I think?). If my memory is correct, many of them were supply vessels. Given the advent of container ships and roll-on/roll-off ship, I wonder if they kept them around or what happened to them.
I have had the great pleasure of watching most of your presentations over the last 6 months since I found you on line. What amazes me is not so much the information / research you have gotten but more the actual photo's ! I never knew so many existed. Of course the information is also first rate, but having the visual references as well is the icing on the cake. As an old Navy man (USN 75 to 85) BZ to you.
Real history for all to learn from. Liberty doesn't come from cutting taxes. Thanks for all you're doing. This needs to be a major part of reoccurring educational history. May more eyes and ears see and listen so Lessons learned of the past can Improve the future.
Outstanding presentation. All 20th Century info sounds familiar and no errors apparent! In the 80's and 90's I regularly flew over the James River (Virginia) 'Dead Fleet". During Desert Storm in 1990, the majority of them were activated and sailed. A testament to good preservation and crews. The WWII generation of sailors both family and neighbors inculcated the preservation methods to me as a boy. The terms and materials were all familiar to me when I entered the USN in the late 70's.
@@justaguynamedmax8207 its quite a bit more complicated today than even 50 years ago. every now and then a presidential candidate prattles on about a 300,400,500 ship navy but even regan wasting cash to reactivate every floating hull in the 80s couldn't make an effective force
@@justaguynamedmax8207 Depends upon if you count by number of "vessels" or gross tonnage displacement of vessels. China and North Koreas Navy are mostly small craft, so they're more of a coast guard then navy.
@@justaguynamedmax8207 By number of ships sure, but over double the tonnage of China. Having lots of corvettes, subchasers, and gunboats does not make a navy stronger than another that operates larger warships.
In the 60s my mother took us to what I think was the Philadelphia Naval Yard and we were able to go aboard several of the moth balled ships. Very Sad all those ships laid up. Great video Drach
I used to live in the Bay Area. Every time I drove over the Benicia bridge I'd look down at the reserve fleet in Suisun Bay near Mare Island and wondered just how much longer those ships could be maintained.
Reminds me of a story from an old cartoon mag, " Weird War ", about the mothball fleet in Sausalito, California - near Frisco. These two old naval vets were fishing off one of the hulks,talking about the days when they served and one starts getting a flashback about an incident were he neglected or betrayed his fellow crewmen in some way and caused several deaths. Anyways, hooks a big fish which pulls him over, drags him under into the hull to join his long-dead companions. Weird ? Indeed. True ? Probably not but it makes for a good campfire-story.
I grew up in Green Cove Springs and hearing stories about the mothball fleet that had been over at the port, is what helped get me interested in naval history. Most of the what was mothballed there was the smaller ships. Things like destroyer escorts and LSTs. More of which ended sinking in the Florida Keys when they were being towed to Texas for scrapping in the late 60s.
I spent 6 years as a deck ape (Boatswain's Mate) on USN destroyers. 90% of our time was designated toward 'painting, preservation, surface maintenance', so I got to be very familiar with ALL the procedures you have talked about. P.S. a lot of the amphibious ships are STILL in mothballs in San Diego
I love the amount of research and detail you put into these, it gives me even more appreciation for the few ships that are still around as museums. I was kind of hoping you would get around to how a ship transitions from reserve to museum ship though. :)
When the time comes, Nimitz will be a fine addition to the reserve fleet. Her relatively recent shipyard work means even though she's been in service a long time, she could be of use in a major conflict.
I saw the mothball fleet in Northern California, lots and lots of ships of all kinds and types. Read stories that some of the ships had been there for over 70 years.
Yep. Sad really. And the irony is that it seems American history teaches that in the first 3 years of the war that the USA wasn't an active combatant that really they were fighting the axis on the side.... Which is true. But in ways that were profitable to the us government or us companies. There is nothing wrong with this of course. It's call real politik . But surely history should be taught with its positives and negatives?
@@cleveland2286 that wasn't just something that happened in America you know? Also. I happen to live in what was county Cleveland in England. So that's interesting for some reason
"Various of them would pop in and out of commission for many years to come, and some of them are still with us today." USS Iowa: *somebody ring the dinkster?*
2:45 is cruel to think that they didnt let the sailors off board when they took all the ammonition and supplys off it! but i guess it was the earliest form of a cryosleep :,D
@@J-1410 there is some guy trying to sucker investors into buying an Aircraft Carrier Turkey wants to scrap. If he can scam investors through two or three bankruptcies after the first includes the purchase, he may be able to re-outfit as a low overhead vessel and get it for free. Run or rent it for a year(s) then sale to a billionaire as Long Term Capital Gains, while the investors lost everything in bankruptcies. It's just business...
I wish you would do a story about how the mechanics would have to make do with what they had, and I’m sure there are some stores where they took parts from enemy rigs, to get back in the fight!! Call it battle field machine!
He said 2 dozen Essex class. The US built 160 carriers during the war. Most of these were small carriers. CVE's, many used to form hunter killer groups in the Atlantic.
Pinned post for Q&A :)
Why is it not pinned than?
Edit: re loaded page it is now pinned.
In this current decade, is the USN now going up or going down, funding wise? Seems to be a trend to me when im watching this mothballing topic video
How is it that the US Navy can preserve their ships so well and at such relatively low cost that so many museum ships have such a hard time doing it?
I understand that in the case of museum ships you likely have more people going in and out but a nice revolving door or just entirely closing of sections of the ship that people will normally not come should be quite doable i think, am i missing something here?
I have read a in german literature that the function of the triple 28cm (11 Inch) turrets of the of the Deutschland- and Scharnhorst- Class were one of the best kept military secrets of the Wehrmacht. This implies to me that they were functioning i a somewhat special manner. Could you specify what made those Turrets special in comparison to any other Battle ship grade gun?
@Brian Barrigar you can look it up yourself
I grew near the Suisun Bay Mothball fleet---back in the 70's there were rows and rows of warships.....was in my boat watching as they brought in USS Iowa 20 years ago....all gone now. Used to anchor right off the Iowa to fish and just stare in amazement.....got up the nerve to accidently drift close enough to touch the hull once :)
Sounds sexy.
I grew up in Benicia and loved starting out at the Suisun Bay Mothball Fleet to look at USS Iowa.
Jeff Lantz......... I was hoping to see Suisun Bay Mothball fleet. My former U.S. Navy ship, USS FOX (DLG-33) was at Suisun before it was decommissioned and dismantled. Spent nine months on FOX in Vietnam 1968-1969.
that was a sight to see,,,,
,,, all those ships ,,,,
dern ,, if only i had taken more pics!
Accidentally on purpose?
I had the dubious honor of being "in charge" of the mothballed fleet in Philly when the government shut down for 3 weeks at the end of '95 when they sent all the civilians home. And by "in charge", I mean I'd be the guy they pointed fingers at if any of the ships started burning, exploding, sinking or being disagreeable. As a retired CPO, I still think I shoulda gotten a command pin or something for having my neck on the block like that... :) Though it was kinda neat having Des Moines as my personal flagship.
I was on the reserve destroyer USS Holder and while in drydock in Philly in 75 me and another hull tech got to go over to the USS Sullivan's, (now in Buffalo, NY) engine room to forage parts for our ship. It was not in mothballs but lined up with many other ships. And while I was on the USS Anchorage in 74 in either Sasebo or Iwakuni Japan, I remember all the WW2 LST's lined up in mothball in the harbor. Wish I'd got a picture of that.
I was stationed on a USNS sea going salvage / tug boat back in the early 2000s. We did a number of tow jobs along the East coast with mothball ships. What surprised me the most is how badly the outside of these ships was deteriorating. Having spent three years on a ship forward deployed I knew from personal experience how much effort went into corrosion prevention. There is never a work day that grinders and needle guns aren't on use on a ship somewhere. To think any of these ships would be taken out of mothball and put back to service is just crazy to me. It would take months of dry dock time to get them back to a point where they were operational and safe to use.
On a side note, I have actually stepped foot on the USS Forrestal. Arguably the most haunted ship in the United States Navy. (Look up its history if you want to know why.) I forget which mothball fleet that ship was in at the time. Or if it is even still in mothball. But you couldn't pay me enough money to spend the night on that ship and then shut off the lights. Hell to the naw.
@@superdave8248 Scrapped in 2015
I certainly hope there were no "dodgy boiler" incidents on your watch!!
The Des Moines? The biggest US heavy cruiser class?
Right off the bat you give the reason that the United States Coast Guard is the US's oldest continuously serving sea service! Kudos!
Me: how cute. Without the masts, they look like hotels.
French navy: *Furiously takes le notes*
Or prison barges.
How many rooms do you want? We have as many as we do portholes, minus a dozen or so, our boss likes throwing spyglasses out in frustration
Yamato: crying in the corner.
In an alternate timeline, they continued this trend and eventually created the first hive city.
Cartmann, Drach previously did a video entitled "when hotels go to war" referencing the Frogs. Watch it and enjoy a chuckle.
As someone who has had to remove Cosmoline from old Russian rifles the thought of having to remove it from an entire ship causes me melancholy that I thought hitherto impossible.
I've literally had to bake surplus Mosin's to loosen the concrete cosmoline. Amazingly the wife was not happy about the oven...
@@darrellsmith4204 It had to be done.
Some sacrifices just have to be made the Mosins came out fine though right?
It must be hard to boil a ship like a lobster and where are you going to get that much gasoline.
First, xylene is great for that. Second, my buddy can tell the date and country of origin by the smell texture and color of the cosmoline it’s kind of amazing. 3rd, my grandfather would talk about how in the pacific they would coat the 20mm guns in the stuff and as they fired the heat would make it liquify and the gunners would get absolutely covered in the stuff.
In the mid 1960s, I was part of a crew that reactivated a Fletcher class destroyer to be sold to Turkey. The ship had been in reserve since 1946, or about 20 years. The interior was much like it had been in 1946. Outside there was a lot of light rust and some deeper rust in decks where water had collected. Some ships still in reserve had much more rust. The navy didn't do any rust maintenance I could see on ships smaller than cruisers. In 1970 I saw several troop transports scrapped. On the outside, it was difficult to find paint. Everything was rust.
I had a chance to go aboard Missouri, in 1985, when the ship was being prepared for towing to Long Beach CA. for reactivation. Closed since 1955, we found Plan of the Day sheets taped to bulkheads dated 1955 and they were as fresh as when posted. The galleys were rust free too. The only signs of long closure were some patches of peeling paint due to dryness. After photographing the departure of the ship for Long Beach, I followed it down to become part of the recommissioning crew. I appreciate the care that was taken to keep my battleship in such fine condition. To quote Margaret Truman who spoke at the recommisioning banquet in San Francisco, "Take care of my baby." We did with pleasure.
Very cool story.
I was so excited to see the Missouri right after you "escorted" her to Long Beach before she left for her much deserved rest-- one of the most incredible experiences of my life, to be followed up when I went into the Navy myself in 1992 & after boot camp & my training for being a non-deeignated airman then reported to Supply Dept on the base on Coronado Island in San Diego. They "Salts" thought it would be funny to send me on docking parties when our aircraft carriers were coming in after their trips out to sea- docked the Kitty Hawk, Constellation, Ranger, Independence, & the Nimitz right before it was decommissioned! It was absolutely fantastic & just as exciting as seeing the lovely Missouri!!! To put the cherry on top, my oldest boy has been in for @15yrs now, sonar tech,has been on several notable submarines & is now teaching at submarines school at Point Loma in San Diego- getting ready to test to wear those khakis & be a chief petty officer:) so grateful & proud to have been a tiny part of our proud navy's history!
I was aboard the USS THACH FFG-43 when our C.O. came over the 1MC. He told our crew that they were towing the USS Missouri. She would be crossing our bow. It seemed really erry because it was somewhat foggy. The ship just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Still remember that after all these years.
The US Navy has not forgotten how to fool Congress into thinking that they are just modifying existing equipment. The F-18E/F Super Hornet is the F-18C/D cockpit forward attached to a entirely new airframe that sort of looks like the original.
Yep, it looks like the original so long as you don't have an original F/A-18 nearby to compare. Or an F-15 Eagle nearby to see that the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is actually *bigger.* Fortunately F-15 Eagles aren't common sights on aircraft carriers.
Not to mention the Zumwalt class "destroyer" which displaces 16,000 tons and has 6" guns. A cruiser by any measure. But that deception didn't work, because congress canned it for cost overruns anyway.
@@simonoconnor7759 In fairness, I think they pulled an even bigger fast one on Congress by getting them to unwittingly authorize a technology demonstrator, something they’ve never wanted to allow.
@@jamesharding3459 actually, if you look at recent history, the Zumwalts are a repeat of the Seawolf-class, just without the Cold War ending to stop the production run.
@@TheTrueAdept Seawolf wasnt just a technology demonstrator, it was the final word in nuclear attack sub design. The zumwalt is questionably comperable in impact.
I was a member of the decommissioning crew for 2 USN ships- USS Henry B Wilson and USS Barbey. Although the basic procedures were the same for both ships, there were some differences due to what the Navy planned to do with them. The Wilson was used as a target ship, while the Barbey was sold to a foreign navy. Oddly enough, we did far more to the Wilson in cleaning her up than we did for the Barbey. The EPA had to inspect the ship and certify that it could be sunk without being an environmental hazard.
Not at all surprised. Haven't you ever sold something to someone else before? Any issues are now their problem!
And that's where we got second hand car salesmen.
Thank you for that bit of history. I bet that you could go into length about cleaning the Wilson, here, and many would appreciate it since it is so pertinent to Drach's video.
"Henry B. Wilson was decommissioned on 2 October 1989, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 January 1990 and sold for scrap on 15 April 1994. The scrap contract was terminated on 23 March 1999 and the ship was resold on 6 April 2002. She was re-acquired and sunk as a target ship 15 August 2003."
@@alexsis1778 Ownership of asbestos, PCBs and similar hazmat can no longer be transferred. If you're stuck with it, your only option is to have it stored in an APPROVED hazardous waste facility. You continue to retain ownership and responsibility in perpetuity. You can no longer get rid of it by selling it to someone else.
Reserve vessels that are sold for scrap must be remediated of all hazmat before they can be exported. This typically happens in Brownsville, TX.
Why is that odd? It would be odd if it was the other way around
I loved the mention of the point system. I was one of the points that got my father home from the US Navy ahead of so many others. I'm not sure but it had to be the autumn of 1945.
I screenshot comments and stories like this, they are really heartwarming and nice to read years later when you’ve forgotten a lot
@@taterater1052 You could write a book like that. Instead of letter from something name it comments to the future. Lotta people say never forget and then repeat history. Maybe instead of a book make it a UA-cam series.
As a child, I remember seeing the USS Shangri La in mothball at anchor, in or near Norfolk, Virginia.
Shangri La was tied up in Philadelphia for many years until they towed down the Delaware River and sold her for scrap. My dad served aboard her and watched them tow her away from the New Jersey side of the river. He wasn't happy.
my good friend served on her during the Vietnam war...Yankee Station....the ole number 38
The fact that they decided to name a ship Shangri La is telling. When you reach a certain number of hulls you have to get creative
@@simonfrederiksen104 It was based on a smart remark by FDR IIRC.
@@RCAvhstape
My remark was meant as a joke, but you're right.
One flattop broke the mold when it came to carrier names, its origins not the annals of naval history, but by the pen of a British novelist and the subterfuge of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
On April 18, 1942, 16 Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell medium bombers under the command of Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet (CV 8) to attack the Japanese Home Islands, a highly secret and unconventional operation that provided American morale a much-needed boost.
When asked by the press about the location from which the bombers launched, Roosevelt replied “Shangri-La” in reference to a mythical Himalayan kingdom created by James Hilton in his novel Lost Horizon published in 1933, the same year Roosevelt took office.
The ship from which the Doolittle Raiders actually launched continued in service until October 1942, when she was sunk at the Battle of Santa Cruz. Honoring her service, the Navy christened a new carrier Hornet (CV 12), which was placed in commission in November 1943.
Subsequently, on Feb. 24, 1944, Mrs. Doolittle slammed a bottle of champagne against the hull of another flattop at the Norfolk Navy Yard, christening her Shangri-La. On Sept. 15, 1944, with work having been completed, the carrier was commissioned and headed to the Pacific, spending much of 1945 steaming with the Pacific Fleet in the final campaigns against Japan.
Ironically, she launched planes to attack Tokyo, just as the Doolittle Raiders had done, and joined other U.S. Navy ships entering Tokyo Bay for the surrender ending World War II.
I used to go check out the mothball fleet in San Diego when I was a teenager in the 70's...was pretty cool over a mile of ships sitting side by side...
I had a similar experience seeing the mothballed ships at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in the '70s.
We used to take Sunday drives and watch them unload the tuna seiners, I remember going home to Chula Vista and seeing this massive fleet.
Back when America was able to do amazing things. I miss 1970's America so much. Sniff Sniff ....
@@DiogenesOfCa my uncle was 1st mate on one of the tuna boats...yep it was cool stuff..
I grew up inSD. I’ve always loved WWII naval history. Every weekend I’d pester my dad to take me to see whichever navy ship had an “open house” for visitors. I also Remember looking over the SanDiego mothball fleet in ca. 1970 (I was probably about 10).I distinctly recall a row of escort carriers. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.
Back in 1984, I was working on an ocean going tug USNS Powhaton T-ATF 166 and had the opportunity to spend much time on some vessels towed out of mothballs and used as targets. One ship had been laid up since 1946 and had books, magazines and love letters from that time. There was cosmoline on on everything in those ships, the sink valves were disassembled and greased too. I have a nice porthole and some other artifacts from those days, it was sad to see perfectly sealed time capsules with new machinery, being sunk as targets.
SINKEX actually gave us some useful info on how designs withstood battle damage.
Interesting how the Korean war proved the Navy's reserve system worked and how the Army's didn't (since they didn't have one) and how they had to raid war memorials to get enough Shermans to reactivate
To be fair, you can build a tank from scratch faster than a ship and for a lot cheaper.
Not that the Army didn't learn the lesson or that it wasn't a mistake but at least it wasn't the Air Force or Navy.
To be more fair, the Army didn't want to disarm itself like it did after WW2, but President Harry Truman had a long history, going back to his days as a frugal artilleryman, of not trusting the US Army to spend money well, so he aggressively used his position as Commander-in-Chief to make the Army prove that it was only paying for necessities, not extravagances.
However, Truman had some logic to his apparent madness. The US Navy, as noted in the video, was not denied the money to maintain the largest fleet in the world. Why? Because Truman, like many, was expecting the next great war to play out like the World Wars had: the US Navy would keep the USA itself safe while the necessary armies were raised to finish the war. Instead of paying a fortune to keep a largish army with modern weapons for wars that may never happen, constantly replacing obsolete equipment, why not just raise 10,000,000 men with the latest weapons newly-made when no enemy can reach your shores without getting past the US Navy first?
What that plan didn't account for was a small war too big for a few battalions of Marines to handle happening on the wrong side of the globe from where the US Army had all its active heavy weapons. Thus, much of the "Korean Crisis" had to do with the desire to not strip the US armies in Germany of their tanks and artillery, because it was possible that the Soviet Union might invade Germany. Also, we must note the poor leadership of the Army in Japan meant those US troops were far less well-trained and armed than they should have been. THe Japanese just didn't seem threatening enough to justify keeping the tanks.
So if you really look at it, the US Army in 1950 did quite well. Yes, poorly-trained troops without heavy weapons hastily pulled from Japan were really scared for the first few weeks, but then they quickly turned the tides of war against the North Koreans. Yes, some people panicked back home and yanked tanks off monuments to send them to Korea, but the war was already turned in America's favor before they arrived in significant numbers. Even before Inchon, the North Koreans were running out of weapons and men as America's airpower and growing artillery park grew overwhelming. Only the arrival of hundreds-of-thousands of Chinese troops kept the war going, and by that point, the USA was sending new-made tanks and dropping more bombs than it had at times during WW2.
So long story short, the US Army was not as bad off as it looks. A lot of the apparent problems were not with the lack of weapons, it was with the placement of those weapons. This is why we developed the grand system of magazines that we still have today, with thousands of guns and hundreds of tanks just sitting in warehouses all over the world so we only need to ship the crews to them.
@@genericpersonx333 then had the Clintons peace dividend and bush#2 had no weopons no ammo no equipment
@@demonprinces17 tbf, Reagan reactivated too many hulls just to have a paper navy of extremely obsolete hulls requiring a decade or more of upgrading just to get them to modern standards instead of spending that money on the ships the navy needed for the future.
@@AsbestosMuffins and defeated the Russians and made america #1 after Carter and post veitnam drawdowns
Very well done, sir. As a 21 year veteran of the US Navy I very much appreciate the effort and time you put into documenting the history of forces afloat.
Thank you for your service.
24 here. Remember the Philadelphia Naval fleet in the 60/70s.
As a teenager in the 70s, I was in the Sea Scouts. Our ship was a 65ft converted ice breaker we bought from the navy for a dollar. Complete with radar. Granted it was obsolete but it worked for our use. Slept 12 in the crews quarters and 4 officer's quarters forward. The skipper and executive officer had quarters on the quarter deck just aft of the bridge. Was fitted with two 970hp diesel engines.
In our downtime we would take the quarter boat over to the mothboll fleet And " tour " the old ships and B class subs. There was a Dolfin class boomer there for a short time. That was a daunting boat. Even then I was aware of the power it possessed.
So, would you call the reactivation of the Red Lead fleet a Red Lead Redemption?
Everyone on the ground! He's coming in low.
Well played sir!
One of the better puns I've seen lately, and it doesn't rely on a bunch of stupid fake dialog.
👏...👏...👏
Ah, Red Lead, some of the hardest shit to get off the human body without taking a few layers of skin with it. From experience.
The zoomed-out, black and white pictures of all those ships stacked together brings to mind those plastic model sheets that you have to pull all the pieces off of before you use them.
Which just brings to mind the idea of Yamamoto's "Waking the Giant" quote with an American giant just ripping Clemson and Wickes destroyers off of a disposable plastic sheet.
Or popping the destroyers into a giant magazine with a giant thumb and firing them at Japan like rifle rounds.
@@RCAvhstape I think that was a 1942 cartoon by Warner Bros....
That’s what I thought the thumbnail was, a bunch of plastic ship models still on their sprues
And today, China can produce 10X as many ships as the USA did at its height of WWII and 100X greater than the USA can produce today or Europe and USA/Europe thinks they will still be the worlds dominant super power.... Just putting things in perspective
@@w8stral Statements like these always beg the question of what that even means. 10X as many ships means about as much as 10X as many vehicles when comparing cars to uranium-armored main battle tanks. A supercontainer ship is a lot easier to build than a nuclear submarine or a fleet carrier.
I also like the idea that the US (or EU) *can't* build 1% of China's shipbuilding program.
Thank you for defining the term "laid up in ordinary". I have seen the phrase many times in histories and fiction, but never eally knew what it meant.
My father, a naval aviator, was part of the recommissioning crew of the USS Kula Gulf, CVE108, an escort carrier at the start of the Korean War. One of the things he told me later was the mistake they made in having the seamen scrape the whole ship down and start out with new paint. Their paint job didn't hold up well. They discovered is was preferable to attack peeling paint but anything that was staying put was kept as a base and simply painted over.
He spent most of the war on the Kula Gulf, patrolling the North Atlantic, weeks on (and weeks off) out of Norfolk, Virginia, looking for Soviet ships. He flew F4U Corsairs, and launched and recovered them as Catapult and Arresting Gear Officer.
My own very first memories, starting at age 3 1/2, are going out to his ship when it was in port and he was duty officer. My mother, older brother and I would ride a small launch out, climb up the long stairway up the side of the ship and have dinner with him. Clark (three years older) and I were free to wander about and explore. The sills of the watertight doors were a major barrier for my small stature, and I always emerged from our forays greased up.
Storing warships for a rainy day? Cloudy, with a chance of 16inch AP shells?
And scattered Shiites...
That's some heavy rain.
hale sail
🙈🤪🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😈
Afaik only Iowa's had guns that big
The preservation of the Mothball fleet in the long run would turn out to be crucial for the US Navy. If the ships had been scrapped, then there would have not been so many cruisers to convert into missile cruisers, destroyers to be turned into FRAM ASW ships, and submarines to be turned into improved, long-duration, sonar-equipped GUPPY subs
Don't forget "museum" ship USS Missouri that was recommissioned in '91 for the first gulf war. Had the British royal navy copied this then HMS Vanguard would probably still exist as a massive missile battleship. It seems only the US navy understand that even a ship from the 40s can be refit and modernized.
@@Searly255 THAT IS WHY THEY WERE CALLED BATTLE WAGONS
@@Searly255 there is such a thing as metal fatigue. Given enough time, the hull itself deteriorates on atomic level, and loosing its atomic bonds. This is effectively negated by building a vessel hull from titanium, or modern composites. But that's relatively modern technology. In other words, USS Missouri was beyond recovery, by the time it was reactivated, and its fate sealed.
@@theflame5919 I recall the Iowas were decommissioned primarily because of the sheer cost of replacing the boilers, which would warrant a deep refit since you are literally going quite deep into a ship, yanking out its heart, installing a new set, and putting the stuff you took out back where it was supposed to be.
If you're going to do that, you'd effectively be rebuilding the ship. Which would cost about as much as a new ship.
"Dodgy boiler" -sounds like some very British slang word insult.
I refer you to the song 'VD Boiler' by Johnny Moped.
Or maybe a punk band.
I think I dated her, the usual, 3am and any old boiler will do
Dodgy associated with pressurized steam is some bad news.
@@PadraigTomas
Nothing in this thread disagrees.
In 1967, after having been drafted, I was sent to the US Army's Transportation School at Ft Eustis, VA on the James River. There I received training on operating LCM8 and LCU landing craft as well as tug boats up to 105'. Just outside of the channel from Ft Eustis there were a large number of reserve ships in the river - many being Victory cargo ships.
Later, during 1968, I was at the munitions port near Sattahip Thailand. Almost all of the ships that came into the port carrying munitions were Victory ships that had been brought back to operational status.
Back when the Iowa was still in Suisun bay reserve fleet I went with my uncle and a bunch of other vets to go visit it. A bunch of the vets pulled some bits of paint from the hull of the ship as keepsakes (the fate of the ship hadn’t been decided yet) and he gave me one. I still have that piece of paint to this day.
My father took me to see the Missouri in reserve at Bremerton around '66. Even as a kid, was kinda disappointed that we couldn't go inside at all. Didn't get any piece of it, though.
I had a friend i served in the USN with back in 86-89.
He became a MCPO before retirement.
He managed to get me a small 6x6 in piece of her teak foredeck before she was moved to Alameda for refit to Long Beach as a museum.
I still have it displayed with my other enlisted momentos.
How could you get this so wrong? The USN Mothball Fleet exists to keep Mothra away.
Gojira approves this post.
@Daniel Large It's turtled up in a hidden corner of the world
So THAT is why it always attacks the other side of the planet!
No, they're filled with mothballs, to keep the navy's brass' uniforms in their closets, moth free. An ordering mistake, signed off by a general while he was getting a blowjob, caused the ordering of 10 million gross cases of the stuff, instead of 10 boxes.
@@d.e.b.b5788 Oh c'mon! No Army General could ever get it up for a Navy expenditure.
A random late-night click on a 43 minute long video thumbnail that held my interest and taught me significantly more than I knew about the USN fleets. I've watched plenty of popular war movies, yet had not considered that there were so many ships active at the same time... and to see the amazing photos of them gathered together is very cool.
Thank You for sharing your knowledge.
The "repair work" actually leading to a new vessel reminds me of the shenanigans the Royal Navy was pulling off in the 17th and early 18th centuries; it's why you get ships like HMS Prince with such long service lives, despite having actually effectively separate iterations.
Stuck up
I've been on the "Big Wisky" . It's an amazing sight to turn a corner while driving through Norfolk and come face to face with the bow of this Battleship... It's moored about 20 meters from a major city street. You can tour parts of it as a museum. Very cool sight.
I went to the US for that ship especially. Best two days of my life. A lovely museum and great people there!
Regarding the Four Stackers given to the British, It's was actually a sampling of destroyers handed over, not just hulls pulled from reserve. Some were practically unused and freshly overhauled. Some had seen 20 years of continuous service in the Asiatic fleet. Some had been taken out and put back into reserve two or three times. Most spent another 3-6 months in British yards getting boilers removed and hedgehogs and AA guns installed regardless. Some lasted in Soviet service into the 1950s.
38:20 The USS Sproston DD-577 sitting proudly in mothballs. During WW2, my father manned one of the 5 inch guns, from the shakedown cruise until the end of the war. Lot's of action.
Funny how I was just about to search for videos on the mothball fleet, and find this on my feed, perfectly timed to suit my interests. Good timing, great content!
One of us
One of us
One of us
If u put on ur aluminum foil hat goggle won't be able to do that to you. 😳
Very interesting discussion! My mum grew up near one of the rivers where the reserve ships were kept in New England, and talked about biking down to see them from time to time!
could you possibly do a short continuation about the various heavy cruisers and light cruiser that were taken out of reserve and converted in guided missile cruisers
That would go past the timeline Drach typically features.
@@jamesjarrait2231 he has done a video on post war Essex uses and the Iowa’s post war service so it is possible
@@crazylemonz1957 only as a brief wrap up of those classes. Much as he did for vanguard.
I dare say he has enough content to go through anyway 🤣
@@AdamMGTF true lol
true that but it would still be cool
This is why funding for USN and the DOD in general is sooooooo convoluted. The push and pull between the services and congress.
and it only gets worse once defense lobbyists get involved.
@@MrChickennugget360 I think you have it there. As an outsider (I'm English). It seems the huge amount of money that's thrown around by lobbyists really do cause you huge problems (and wastage).
Interest groups have an impact here. But nothing like you chaps have. And they have to sell their stories using the media and public relations. If they just throw money around, our media tends to quickly destroy politicians who take said money.
It probably helps we don't just have 2 parties as well. Interest groups can't latch onto a party and know they have a 50% chance of getting what they want.
Not to mention we don't have a president that belongs to a party who can also be "bought"
@William Mulvaney its not even a matter of bribing the media. they are already bought and paid for or otherwise in the service of various special interests, ideologies or agendas.
@@MrChickennugget360 at this point the two parties are just the opposing pawns of the same conglomerate
@William Mulvaney such a shame. I know you guys had a rough start with the indians and the slavery and racism and suchlike. But you really did try democracy didn't you.
I wonder if being such a wealthy nation corrupted (much like power in general)
Being a truck driver here in America. I've seen both Philadelphia and Maire River mothball fleets. I've seen the USS Salem in Philadelphia navel yard before becoming a museum ship
Absolutely fascinating history of "mothballing" the USN. Top work Drach!
My first duty station out of bootcamp in 1962 was the mothball fleet at Rough & Ready Island, Stockton, CA. It was later moved to Suisun Bay, CA.
I really enjoy your thoughtful, well made and well narrated films!
I live near one of the reserve fleet anchorages so this'll be neat.
The photos of the “ship of the line” wing used as a building is the USS Vermont.
Laid down in 1818, not commissioned until 1862 but was outdated by then.
Was in place in the NY Naval Yard as a ”stores and receiving ship” from 1864 until 1901 when she was struck off the navy list.
I remember seeing a quote attributed to a British crew on one of the "50" (the destroyer for bases DDs WERE fully supplied before handing over, which meant they had a LOT of creature comforts that were darn scarce in Britain by then).
"I know we've smoked all their Camels. But, if we gave them a thousand Players, do you think the Yanks would take this bloody sieve back?"
@freebeerfordworkers It was a bit more cunning than that, congress was opposed to any loans (or especially lend-lease) to Britain reasoning that despite Britain's protests that they were almost broke they had many corporations and territories that they could sell to the United States. Congress wanted to use the war for force them to sell their western hemisphere territories to the US. The destroyers for bases deal placated congress and opened them up to new financing options.
Though, in hindsight, given that British just gave all these territories independence after the war anyway, it would have probably been better had Congress forced Britain to sell them them the US.
A good compromise is one that leaves both parties equally dissatisfied.
@freebeerfordworkers It was the corvettes that were said to roll on wet grass, but those WW1 destroyers were narrow-gutted and certainly unsuitable for escort work. Most of them had half their boilers taken out to create extra bunkerage, since they didn't need the speed, and the beam guns landed to reduce top-hamper and allow for more depth-charges.
Were WW1 ships 20 years mothballed
@@costakeith9048 then we would have to support them like Porto Rico
You forgot the Zincs! Lots and lots of zinc tabs that were mounted to the hulls to act as sacrificial anodes so that the hull and coatings didn't deteriorate too quickly.
People still do that for buried tanks (like propane tanks and diesel tanks)
@@hithere7382 particularly when the soil doesn't quite have a neutral pH. But it is done a lot on ships, zinc tabs are very useful when a structure spends most of its time floating in salt water.
@@adamdubin1276 We use anode bags not tabs on the tanks. Same idea just a little more convenient to change except it's cooler by the water.
When I was a kid the Mothball Fleet was still docked side by side in Orange Texas. By about 1982 or so all had been removed, but I suspect there were about 100 big ships and lots of smaller ones. Very cool to see them up close and I recall the guns being very impressive.
Ah, the US Congress. For most of it's existence, the US Navy's worst enemy. sm
Now it's every American's worst enemy.
Same can be said for the Royal Navy (and Royal Australian Navy). I once heard someone say that the only enemy Anglo-Saxon armed forces cannot vanquish are their own governments.
I though the navy’s worst enemy was the bureau of ordnance?
As philosoraptor once said, con-gress is the opposite of pro-gress
@@ThraceVega You're thinking of white supremacists
I had opportunity to visit the reserve fleet at Bremerton, WA while I was stationed there (during the cold war). It amazed me how many vessels were being kept from WWII, and how well kept they were. Thanks for doing this video. It sure brought back memories for this old man.
Used to do a lot of fishing around martinez/carquinez
I've seen the old fleet shrink a lot over the years.
Had a great. Great ? Uncle that sailed with the great white fleet.
One nice momentous that's been passed down is a 70mm
Photo of part of the fleet in a Chinese harbor lined up with a large French warship interesting how at the harbor entrance were a couple Chinese gun boats anchored with their bows/guns pointed towards the "colonial" warships. A sort of protest per the uncles notes.
That would be a great picture to see!
Please get a notated* copy of the photo to school master Drach.
*who where what and when.
On the US west coast, a large mothball fleet was parked in the estuary just upstream (on the huge Sacramento River Delta) of the San Francisco Bay (Suisun Bay). In recent years, it's been largely dismantled by the USN because some of the ships were leaking oil and fuel, flaking lead paint, and most all were horribly obsolete. I used to drive by, then later fly over, that fleet many times. Watched it slowly shrink as ships were removed and disposed of.
This was a very interesting video subject. The depths of insight into putting (U.S.) naval warships into "mothballs" was not only intriguing and informative, but, as Drachinifel always does, entertainingly, or better yet, humorously explained so that land-lovers could more easily understand. ... As is, at one point, I had this image of groups of massive warships covered by multiple igloos. 😄⛄🚢⚓
I was stationed at Philadelphia Atlantic Reserve Fleet 1961-62. We had in storage
(as described herein) the Iowa, Tarawa CVA 40 and many destroyers. I would estimate 150 ships.
In addition to the prep work described, we used a series of electrical devices placed around the hull to create a magnetic field.
This was presumed to limit deterioration of the outer hull. Security teams were placed in strategic locations throughout the working day to stand watch. Teams of electricians serviced the mag field devices and massive dehumidifiers on each ship.
The Rosevelt presidential yacht was among the group. For a young sailor, it was a real adventure to see all this naval history in one place.
I was mentored by an old navy chief. Once upon a time the navy was manned by men of steel. Now ....not so much. I love the 🍹 rum reference. Good work.
Awesome video as always. I still remember the old transports (Liberty ships) moored side by side in St. Andrews Bay (Panama City, Fla.) when I was a kid in the 1960s. I didn't realize that desiccant dehumidifiers had been around for as long as that. There are more efficient ways to employ the same principle in one machine without having to change out the silica gel. A wheel packed with silica rotates within the unit taking in the moist air in the top, expelling the dry air, then rotating to the bottom where the silica is dried by a blower with that moist air sent out via a duct outside the contained area, and then rolls the wheel back to the top where the process continues. This method works over a wider range of temperatures than most modern dehumidifiers which are LGRs (low grain refrigeration models). Cheers!
Thank you, Drachinifel.
Sitting on the beach with a new episode of my favorite navy expert, this vacation has been the greatest
My great uncle was a gunners mate on the Missouri in Korea. By his account she was a pretty great ship despite her age.
This has been absolutely incredible! Navy veteran here w son teaching at submarine school in San Diego & carrying on the fine, fine Navy traditions!!! I've never heard this stuff & really enjoyed watching & learning, will definitely be sending the link to my boy so he can share w his shipmates as well!!! Thank you over & over, will totally be subscribing & watching!!!!
Very diligent and informative handling of this topic.
I lived in Davis while my wife attended UC Davis Vet school in the 1980's. Her parents lived in Pleasant Grove and we drove by those ships practically every other weekend. I was always curious about their history, now I know. Thank you for this in depth video presentation.
The funny thing is the US Army had (at least when I was stationed at Fort Monroe, VA through 1987) a huge mothballed fleet of ships (including troop transport ships) docked in the James River near Fort Eustis (The Army's Transportation Corps headquarters). At the time, the US Army had more naval vessels than the US Navy and more aircraft than the US Air Force.
At 30:16 of this video is the reserve fleet at Grassy Point NY on the Hudson River. I remember those ships well growing up in West Haverstraw, just a few miles away. We’d pass them on our way up to Bear Mountain State park. By the mid 70s they were all gone. There is still a pair of anchors with a plaque off of RT 9W.
I don’t know, exactly recent. When I was a boy in the ‘50’s there was a big mothball fleet in Glen cove Springs, F! Mostly destroyers and destroyer escorts. This was right down the St. John’s River from a big USN base at Mayport, FL. They were still there all the way through the 1950’s and I always enjoyed looking at them when we went that way. I guess there were close to 100 ships stored there.
Absolutely fascinating! I never actually gave much thought to mothballing ships and thought that all they’d require was a shed load of WD40 and not much else! Thank you for straightening out such a wild misconception (obviously the WD40 was a wild ass guess, but not so far off the mark with later ships) but even so, it was still quite the eye opener to learn of the actual extent of preparations necessary if a ship was to ever be used again.
You will have no idea how much my recently deceased father in law (merchant marine, chief engineer) loved your channel, and so, permit me to say on his behalf how much he’d enjoyed all the video’s he’d seen to date (until a couple of months ago) and was looking forward to viewing the rest. With a nickname like Hawkeye Lucas you can probably guess what he was like (I could tell some tales…) as his attention to detail was second to none, and that’s even allowing for my near thirty year stint as a Royal Marine Commando Officer! He might have been small in stature but he could scare the pants off those that didn’t meet his standards - and I was used to our NCOs and the like!
Thank you so much for all that you do, bringing these oldish bits of history, back into the spotlight and engaging a whole new class of engineers, amongst other things. As I’m overdue to join my eccentric old father in law quite soon (long story) might I just say thank you so much for all that you do. I don’t have the slightest notion about the time, effort, and research that is necessary for such documentaries but I can easily imagine that it’s quite substantial. Well worth the effort of all that you do. Hopefully I’ll time my attempt at a Patreon payment before the bloody morphine pump goes off again?
I lived in No. Cal and worked at SFO when I left the USAF...The mothball fleet in person is amazing...
Excellent ! Very interesting. Back in the 1950’s I used to catch a glimpse of US Mothball Fleet in Banica Bay in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I have seen the remnants of the dehumidification system deep in BB35 USS Texas.
Absolutely brilliant video. Thank you from my retired chief engineer heart
When I was a kid we’d pull our 17 foot boat in between the ships of the James River Reserve Fleet and fish there. There were huge spot and croaker there. Was scary seeing that the only thing separating the ships was a single 30 foot tall inflatable fender very eerie to hearing noises in the hulls.
Of all the research material and documentaries I have read or watched of the New Guinea campaign, this is by far the best. Congratulations on a great documentary.
I remember seeing the Reserve fleet moored near Wilmington when my family was driving to Florida for vacation. They were moored near the Delaware bridge (I think?). If my memory is correct, many of them were supply vessels. Given the advent of container ships and roll-on/roll-off ship, I wonder if they kept them around or what happened to them.
Gone.
I have had the great pleasure of watching most of your presentations over the last 6 months since I found you on line. What amazes me is not so much the information / research you have gotten but more the actual photo's ! I never knew so many existed. Of course the information is also first rate, but having the visual references as well is the icing on the cake. As an old Navy man (USN 75 to 85) BZ to you.
I never knew a video about ship preservation would be this interesting, thanks, Drach!
Real history for all to learn from. Liberty doesn't come from cutting taxes. Thanks for all you're doing. This needs to be a major part of reoccurring educational history.
May more eyes and ears see and listen so
Lessons learned of the past can Improve the future.
Far more interesting than ever imagined!
Outstanding presentation. All 20th Century info sounds familiar and no errors apparent! In the 80's and 90's I regularly flew over the James River (Virginia) 'Dead Fleet". During Desert Storm in 1990, the majority of them were activated and sailed. A testament to good preservation and crews. The WWII generation of sailors both family and neighbors inculcated the preservation methods to me as a boy. The terms and materials were all familiar to me when I entered the USN in the late 70's.
Ooooh, always wanted to know how the reserve fleets work
Nice one indeed Drach! I now know a lot more about the USN Mothball Fleet than I did previously! Thanks Mate! Much obliged indeed!
Ahh, the US Reserve Fleet, the second largest navy on earth.
The US navy is the second largest navy in the world.
@@justaguynamedmax8207 its quite a bit more complicated today than even 50 years ago. every now and then a presidential candidate prattles on about a 300,400,500 ship navy but even regan wasting cash to reactivate every floating hull in the 80s couldn't make an effective force
@@justaguynamedmax8207 Depends upon if you count by number of "vessels" or gross tonnage displacement of vessels. China and North Koreas Navy are mostly small craft, so they're more of a coast guard then navy.
@@justaguynamedmax8207 By numbers, the RN in the 1800’s would be the largest in earth. But no one’s saying it’s relevant.
@@justaguynamedmax8207 By number of ships sure, but over double the tonnage of China. Having lots of corvettes, subchasers, and gunboats does not make a navy stronger than another that operates larger warships.
In the 60s my mother took us to what I think was the Philadelphia Naval Yard and we were able to go aboard several of the moth balled ships. Very Sad all those ships laid up. Great video Drach
I used to live in the Bay Area. Every time I drove over the Benicia bridge I'd look down at the reserve fleet in Suisun Bay near Mare Island and wondered just how much longer those ships could be maintained.
I was born at the Newport News shipyard .A few miles upriver near Fort Eustis they used to have many ships rafted across most of the James River.
Reminds me of a story from an old cartoon mag, " Weird War ", about the mothball fleet in Sausalito, California - near Frisco. These two old naval vets were fishing off one of the hulks,talking about the days when they served and one starts getting a flashback about an incident were he neglected or betrayed his fellow crewmen in some way and caused several deaths. Anyways, hooks a big fish which pulls him over, drags him under into the hull to join his long-dead companions. Weird ? Indeed. True ? Probably not but it makes for a good campfire-story.
I grew up in Green Cove Springs and hearing stories about the mothball fleet that had been over at the port, is what helped get me interested in naval history. Most of the what was mothballed there was the smaller ships. Things like destroyer escorts and LSTs. More of which ended sinking in the Florida Keys when they were being towed to Texas for scrapping in the late 60s.
The name for the "grease" that you're referring to is Cosmoline.
I spent 6 years as a deck ape (Boatswain's Mate) on USN destroyers. 90% of our time was designated toward 'painting, preservation, surface maintenance', so I got to be very familiar with ALL the procedures you have talked about. P.S. a lot of the amphibious ships are STILL in mothballs in San Diego
I love the amount of research and detail you put into these, it gives me even more appreciation for the few ships that are still around as museums. I was kind of hoping you would get around to how a ship transitions from reserve to museum ship though. :)
Have you tried looking at the Battleship New Jersey channel? It's a museum ship and a number of the videos address what goes in to running one.
No better video to fall asleep to. Voice over is so soothing. Thank you.
When the time comes, Nimitz will be a fine addition to the reserve fleet.
Her relatively recent shipyard work means even though she's been in service a long time, she could be of use in a major conflict.
I saw the mothball fleet in Northern California, lots and lots of ships of all kinds and types. Read stories that some of the ships had been there for over 70 years.
21:45 So you are telling me the US navy basicly acted like Honest Ed's Used Battleship?
Yep. Sad really. And the irony is that it seems American history teaches that in the first 3 years of the war that the USA wasn't an active combatant that really they were fighting the axis on the side.... Which is true. But in ways that were profitable to the us government or us companies.
There is nothing wrong with this of course. It's call real politik . But surely history should be taught with its positives and negatives?
@@AdamMGTF After the great depression I do not blame them.
@Landon Littrell A socialist country!!? Back to (a real ) school for you mate.
Honest Ed's Used Destroyers - for Sale or Lend/Lease...
@@cleveland2286 that wasn't just something that happened in America you know?
Also. I happen to live in what was county Cleveland in England. So that's interesting for some reason
I love that picture around 19:30 it looks like a video game where you put units on auto build and forgot to turn it off for a while...
"Various of them would pop in and out of commission for many years to come, and some of them are still with us today."
USS Iowa: *somebody ring the dinkster?*
Fascinating! **Thank You**
2:45 is cruel to think that they didnt let the sailors off board when they took all the ammonition and supplys off it! but i guess it was the earliest form of a cryosleep :,D
occasionally for maintenance purposes they'd throw some surplus rations onto the ships for the feral sailors
@@AsbestosMuffins that gives the meaning of "skeleton crew" an entire new meaning! :)
An excellent video and educational lesson for Navy history Buffs like me
USA: First world problems - When your museum fleet has more Aircraft Carriers then most, or all, other countries combined.
Why they didn't just repurpose them as shipping/charter vessels to earn income during peacetime is beyond me.
@@dowskivisionmagicaloracle8593 you'd have to be shipping gold that's light as helium to make a profit. They were not built for economy.
Sweden: when your museums has more firepower than the defence forces
@@J-1410 there is some guy trying to sucker investors into buying an Aircraft Carrier Turkey wants to scrap. If he can scam investors through two or three bankruptcies after the first includes the purchase, he may be able to re-outfit as a low overhead vessel and get it for free. Run or rent it for a year(s) then sale to a billionaire as Long Term Capital Gains, while the investors lost everything in bankruptcies.
It's just business...
UA-cam at times creates a gem of a video...this is that gem...wow
I wish you would do a story about how the mechanics would have to make do with what they had, and I’m sure there are some stores where they took parts from enemy rigs, to get back in the fight!! Call it battle field machine!
I call it “field expediency “!
An excellent article. Very comprehensive and well written, worthy of prime time TV.
at the end of WWII, US had 98 carriers (not "two dozens"), light and heavy. what to do with all that, was the question
He said 2 dozen Essex class. The US built 160 carriers during the war. Most of these were small carriers. CVE's, many used to form hunter killer groups in the Atlantic.
@@karlhumes6110 98, for real were operational in August 1945. only three had sunk.