About the Fleet:
All too often, people everywhere pass by history without giving it a giving it a second though, and even without realizing it. Rather, they focus on displays in museums and similar organizations. *In no way this is bad* you are supporting a museum that exists for that particular cause, and helping to preserve it for future generations. I am indebted to such fine institutions for preserving vessels that without a doubt have been scrapped.
However, visiting the museum is like visiting the zoo: you can see the objects in a preserved state with knowledgeable volunteers (or paid employees) and it's safer than what is next. There's a place for everything and it's a great setup.
If the Museum is like the Zoo, then then the not preserved (but ought to be) ships are to Safari. You'll usually have some sort of idea what's there (it usually changes more often than a zoo), the ships are in a general poorer state, and somewhat to quite it's riskier to visit. One such 'safari' is the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (SBRF), one of three anchorages of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. These ships are reserve ships, to be used in a national emergency or defense purposes, however judging by their condition, it'd take awhile to make them seaworthy.
The vast majority of the ships, from its opening in 1946 to today, have been or will be scrapped. Two notable exceptions are the Iowa-class Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) which left in 2012 and is now preserved in the Pacific Battleship Museum, and the Tug USS Hoga, which is now in a Museum in Arkansas.
Today, in our present day and age, these warriors are endangered, I would say on the verge of extinction however the fine Museums of the San Francisco Bay Area have the SS Jeremiah O' Brien (Liberty Ship), the SS Red Oak Victory (Victory Ship), the USS Hornet (Essex Class Carrier), just to name a few.
By March 2017, this safari park will be gone, due to flaking paint hazardous to marine life, lawsuits over that, among other reasons.
However, visiting the museum is like visiting the zoo: you can see the objects in a preserved state with knowledgeable volunteers (or paid employees) and it's safer than what is next. There's a place for everything and it's a great setup.
If the Museum is like the Zoo, then then the not preserved (but ought to be) ships are to Safari. You'll usually have some sort of idea what's there (it usually changes more often than a zoo), the ships are in a general poorer state, and somewhat to quite it's riskier to visit. One such 'safari' is the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (SBRF), one of three anchorages of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. These ships are reserve ships, to be used in a national emergency or defense purposes, however judging by their condition, it'd take awhile to make them seaworthy.
The vast majority of the ships, from its opening in 1946 to today, have been or will be scrapped. Two notable exceptions are the Iowa-class Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) which left in 2012 and is now preserved in the Pacific Battleship Museum, and the Tug USS Hoga, which is now in a Museum in Arkansas.
Today, in our present day and age, these warriors are endangered, I would say on the verge of extinction however the fine Museums of the San Francisco Bay Area have the SS Jeremiah O' Brien (Liberty Ship), the SS Red Oak Victory (Victory Ship), the USS Hornet (Essex Class Carrier), just to name a few.
By March 2017, this safari park will be gone, due to flaking paint hazardous to marine life, lawsuits over that, among other reasons.
About the (Main) Author:
I'm Andy Payne, a transportation enthusiast, model railroader, and nautical and aeronautical historian. My main focus areas for maritime history are WWII: Battle of the Atlantic and the Island Hopping Campaign, and the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, while my main focus area for aviation history is the San Francisco Bay Area, from the dawn of Mills Field, San Francisco Airport to the present day (1927-2016).
My site on Bay Area Aviation is Bay Area Spotters: www.bayareaspotters.com
My site on Bay Area Aviation is Bay Area Spotters: www.bayareaspotters.com
About the Site:
I've been itching to make a site on ships that are related to the Bay Area and full of history. A man who used to take trips to see them (Ron Patterson) remarked, "Every ship was like a little textbook of history." And indeed they were.
The site was created in 2016.
The site was created in 2016.
Page Last Updated: 11/23/16
