Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk South Gate Annex South Gate Annex Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility | |
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Part of Norfolk Naval Shipyard | |
Portsmouth, Virginia, United States | |
Coordinates | 36°48′09″N76°17′41″W / 36.802400°N 76.294702°W Coordinates: 36°48′09″N76°17′41″W / 36.802400°N 76.294702°W |
Type | Reserve Fleet |
Site information | |
Owner | United States |
Operator | United States Navy |
Site history | |
Built | 1946 |
Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk was a part of the United States Navy reserve fleets, also called a mothball fleet, and was used to store the many surplus ships after World War II. The Atlantic Reserve Fleet was just south of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, called the South Gate Annex in Portsmouth, Virginia, 2 mi (3.2 km) south of Norfolk, Virginia. The reserve fleet was stored in the freshwater of the Elizabeth River, Southern Branch near the Jordan Bridge. The freshwater was good for long-term storage for ships. Some ships in the fleet were reactivated for the Korean War and Vietnam War. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard's Hampton Roads Facilities at Portsmouth includes: the South Gate Annex, Scott Center Annex, St. Helena Annex and St. Julien's Creek Annex. [5] [6] [7] [8]
South Gate Annex Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is at the former Atlantic Reserve Fleet site. The South Gate Annex Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility is used as temporary storage of inactivated nuclear-powered ships, with the fuel removed. [17] [18]
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries.
USS Wisconsin (BB-64) is an Iowa-class battleship and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. She was built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and launched on 7 December 1943, sponsored by Margaret Goodland, wife of Governor Walter Goodland of Wisconsin.
The third USS Northampton (CLC-1) was a US Navy command light cruiser. She was laid down as an Oregon City-class heavy cruiser (CA–125), on 31 August 1944 by the Fore River Yard, Bethlehem Steel Corp., Quincy, Massachusetts. Work suspended between 11 August 1945 and 1 July 1948; she was launched as CLC–1, on 27 January 1951; sponsored by Mrs. Edmond J. Lampron; and commissioned as CLC–1, on 7 March 1953.
The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and sufficiently working as to be reactivated quickly in an emergency.
USS Vermillion Bay (CVE-108) was an Commencement Bay-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was renamed Kula Gulf on 6 November 1943; laid down by Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, Wash. on 16 December 1943; launched on 15 August 1944; sponsored by Miss Dorothy Mott; completed by Willamette Iron & Steel Corp., Portland, Oregon; and commissioned at Portland on 12 May 1945, Captain J. W. King in command.
The third USS Adirondack (AGC-15) was laid down on 18 November 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington, North Carolina; launched on 13 January 1945, sponsored by Mrs. E. L. White; transferred to the Navy on 4 February 1945; towed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for conversion; and commissioned on 2 September 1945, the day Japan surrendered on board the battleship Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay, with Captain R. O. Myers in command.
USS Des Moines (CA-134) was the lead ship of the class of United States Navy heavy cruisers. She was the first ship in the United States Navy to feature the auto loading Mark 16 8-inch/55 caliber gun, the first of its type in the world. She was the second ship of the US Navy to be commissioned with the name of the capitol of Iowa, Des Moines.
USS Douglas H. Fox (DD-779) was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer of the United States Navy.
USS Vermilion (AKA-107/LKA-107), was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship of the United States Navy, named after a parish in southern Louisiana and a county in eastern Illinois. She served as a commissioned ship for 25 years and 9 months.
A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the United States Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate. All ships in these facilities are inactive, but some are still on the Naval Vessel Register (NVR), while others have been struck from that Register.
USS Deuel (APA-160) was a Haskell-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1956. She was scrapped in 1974.
USS Shubrick (TB-31) was laid down on 11 March 1899 by William R. Trigg Co., Richmond, Virginia; launched on 31 October 1899;it was named for William Branford Shubrick and sponsored by Miss Caroline Shubrick; and commissioned during 1901.
USS Menelaus (ARL-13) was laid down as a United States Navy LST-542-class tank landing ship but converted to one of 39 Achelous-class repair ships that were used for repairing landing craft during World War II. Named for Menelaus, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Sphinx (ARL-24) was laid down as a United States Navy LST-542-class tank landing ship but converted to one of 39 Achelous-class repair ships that were used for repairing landing craft during World War II. Named for the Sphinx, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Briareus was originally the cargo ship SS Hawaiian Planter laid down as a Maritime Commission type C3 Mod. at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company for the Matson Line and delivered 15 May 1941. After a brief pre-war commercial service and allocation to the Army for transport the ship was purchased by the United States Navy in February 1943 and converted to a repair ship.
USS Greenwood (DE-679) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1962. She was scrapped in 1968.
USS Loeser was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Arthur E. Loeser (1903–1942).
USS Earle B. Hall (APD-107), ex-DE-597, was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1945 to 1946, 1950 to 1957 and 1961 to 1965.
The South Boston Naval Annex, was a 167-acre (68 ha) United States Navy shipyard annex located in South Boston. It was the annex of the Boston Navy Yard, and was operational from the 1920 to 1974, when it was closed along with the main shipyard. The annex is also home to Dry Dock Number 3, one of the largest dry docks on the East Coast. Most of the former annex site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022.
Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New London opened in 1946 at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut on the Thames River. The New London Reserve Fleet was 3 miles north of the city New London, Connecticut. Naval Submarine Base New London opened in 1868. The freshwater port became a good site to store both submarines and ships after World War II as part of the United States Navy reserve fleets. Three submarine tender ships were given the task of mothballing the submarines. The three ships: USS Apollo, USS Anthedon, USS Proteus (AS-19) cleaned the ship and sealed the subs with preservatives. It took a few years to process the over 50 submarines in the New London Reserve fleet. Some submarines there were reactivated for Korean War. By 1965 the fleet of World War II submarine were obsolete and the fleet had been scrapped.