National Defense Reserve Fleet
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The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) was established under Section 11 of the Merchant Ship Sales Act of 1946 to serve as a reserve of ships for national defense and national emergency purposes. It is a different entity than the United States Navy reserve fleets—the NDRF consists primarily of merchant ships, while the Navy version consists of warships.
NDRF anchorage sites were originally located at Stony Point in New York, Fort Eustis in the James River in Virginia, Wilmington, North Carolina, Mobile, Alabama, Beaumont, Texas, Benicia in Suisun Bay in California, Astoria, Oregon and Olympia, Washington. At its peak in 1950, the NDRF had 2,277 ships in lay-up.
NDRF vessels are now located at the James River, Beaumont and Suisun Bay fleet sites and at designated outported berths. As of January 1, 2003, the NDRF consisted of 274 vessels, which are primarily dry cargo ships with some tankers, military auxiliaries and other types. On August 31, 2006, it consisted of 251 ships. A Ready Reserve Fleet component was established in 1976 as a subset of the NDRF to provide rapid deployment of military equipment and later became known as the Ready Reserve Force, which numbers 72 vessels. An additional 28 ships are held under United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) custody for other Government agencies on a cost-reimbursable basis.
Vessels with military utility or logistic value are held in retention status and are in a preservation program that is designed to keep them in the same condition as when they enter the fleet. Dehumidification of the internal spaces is an effective means of controlling the corrosion of metal and the growth of mold or mildew. A cathodic protection system uses an impressed current where DC power is distributed through anodes to the exterior underwater portions of the hull, resulting in an electric field that suppresses corrosion and preserves the surface of the hull. External painting and other cosmetic-appearance work is generally deferred since it is not detrimental to the ability to activate and operate the vessel.
MARAD is authorized as the government’s disposal agent through the NDRF program for merchant type vessels equal to or greater than 1500 gross tons. A state agency can file an application to request title to a vessel "as-is where-is" from the NDRF for the purpose of creating an Artificial Fish Reef. A total of 51 vessels have been transferred to 10 states under the program including: Texas (12), Florida (10), North Carolina (7), Virginia (6), Alabama (5), Mississippi (5), Georgia (2), South Carolina (2), California (1) and New Jersey (1). Of the 132 non-retention vessels in the NDRF, there are 117 that are being prepared for disposal.
Through an authority to transfer government property to United States memorial ships, the NDRF program has been able to support ships to enhance U.S. maritime heritage with items that are no longer commercially available. Additionally, historic artifacts are loaned to worthy organizations so they can display items that are reminiscent of this rich heritage. Entire ships have also been donated for memorial purposes through special legislation.
Prior to RRF operations, NDRF vessels supported emergency shipping requirements in seven wars and crises. During the Korean War, 540 vessels were broken out to support military forces. A worldwide tonnage shortfall in 1951-1953 required over 600 ships to be reactivated to lift coal to Northern Europe and grain to India. From 1955 through 1964, another 600 ships were used to store grain for the Department of Agriculture. Another tonnage shortfall following the Suez Canal closing in 1956 saw 223 cargo ships and 29 tankers activated from the NDRF. During the Berlin crisis of 1961, 18 vessels were activated and remained in service until 1970. The Vietnam conflict caused 172 vessels to be activated.
[edit] References
- MARAD Fact Sheet: The National Defense Reserve Fleet
- U.S. Maritime Administration, a division of the US Department of Transportation. (This article incorporates material taken from that public domain website.)
- National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) at the Federation of American Scientists' website.
[edit] Images
- Photographs of ships stored at Suisun Bay
- Satellite image of the Reserve Fleet in the James River near Fort Eustis, Virginia (courtesy of Google Maps)
- Aerial image of the Reserve Fleet in the Suisun Bay near Benicia, California (courtesy of Google Maps)
- Satellite image of the Reserve Fleet in the Neches River near Beaumont, Texas (courtesy of Google Maps)
