Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

Aircraft carriers stored at the NISMF in Bremerton, 2012. From left to right: Independence, Kitty Hawk, Constellation and Ranger.

A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the U.S. 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, while others have been struck from that Register.

The ships that have been stricken from the NVR are disposed of by one of several means, including foreign military sale transfer, ship donation as a museum or memorial, domestic dismantling and recycling, artificial reefing, or use as a target vessel. Others are retention assets for possible future reactivation, which have been laid up for long-term preservation and are maintained with minimal maintenance (humidity control, corrosion control, flood/fire watch) should they need to be recalled to active duty.

The Navy has been actively reducing the number of inactive ships, which numbered as many as 195 in 1997, but was down to 49 by the end of 2014.^[1]

The Naval Sea Systems Command's Inactive Ships Management Office (INACTSHIPOFF) is based in Portsmouth, Virginia.^[2]

There are NISMFs in:

• Bremerton, WA,
• Pearl Harbor, HI and
• Philadelphia, PA,^[3]

In addition, parts of Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard are designated for the storage of inactive nuclear powered vessels.

Inactive ship facilities in Suisun Bay, James River and Beaumont, Texas are owned and operated by the Maritime Administration under the Department of Transportation.

Vessels Moored at NISMFs

Following is a short list of vessels currently being stored at the facilities:

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia NISMF in 1955.

Philadelphia NISMF in 1995.

The mothball fleet at Bremerton, Washington, in 1974.

View of the ships in the Middle Loch, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 2016.

As of April 8, 2013:^[4]

• USNS Hayes (T-AG-195) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USNS Mohawk (T-ATF-170) – Inactive, out of service, in reserve
• USS Boone (FFG-28) – Inactive, out of commission, in reserve
• USS Boulder (LST-1190) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Canon (PG-90) – Stricken, available for donation as a museum and memorial
• USS Carr (FFG-52) – Possible foreign sale
• USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2) – Stricken, available for donation as a museum and memorial
• USS Charleston (LKA-113) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Doyle (FFG-39) – Stricken, to be disposed of by the Security Assistance Program
• USS El Paso (LKA-117) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Hawes (FFG-53) – Inactive, out of commission
• USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) – To Be Determined
• USS John L. Hall (FFG-32) – Inactive, out of commission, in reserve
• USS Klakring (FFG-42) – Possible foreign sale
• USS Mobile (LKA-115) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Nashville (LPD-13) – Inactive, out of commission, in reserve
• USS Shreveport (LPD-12) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG-29) – Inactive, out of commission, in reserve
• USS Thomas S. Gates (CG-51) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) – Stricken, available for donation as a museum and memorial
• USS Underwood (FFG-36) – Possible foreign sale
• USS Yorktown (CG-48) – Being scrapped

Bremerton, WA

• USS Dubuque (LPD-8) – Inactive, out of service, in reserve.
• USS George Philip (FFG-12) – Stricken, to be disposed of via foreign military sales^[5]
• USS Independence (CV-62) – Stricken, to be disposed of^[6]
• USS Jarrett (FFG-33) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) – Inactive reserve, out of commission^[7]
• USS Sides (FFG-14) – Stricken, to be disposed of via foreign military sales^[8]

Pearl Harbor, HI

• USS Duluth (LPD-6) – Stricken, retain as logistics support asset^[9]
• USS Durham (LKA-114) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Juneau (LPD-10) – Inactive, out of commission, in reserve^[10]
• USS San Jose (AFS-7) – Stricken, to be disposed of^[11]
• USS St. Louis (LKA-116) – Stricken, to be disposed of
• USS Tarawa (LHA-1) – Inactive, out of commission, in reserve

Ships previously held

• USNS Able (T-AGOS-20) – Military Sealift Command, Special Mission Ships^[12]
• USS America (CV-66) – Used as a live-fire and evaluation platform, sunk in a controlled scuttle on 14 May 2005^[13][14][15]
• USS Austin (LPD-4) – International Shipbreaking Ltd, Brownsville, TX – Scrapping completed: 2010-09-10^[16]
• USS Conolly (DD-979) – Sunk as a target on 29 April 2009 as part of a joint fleet exercise^[17]
• USS Coronado (AGF-11) – Sunk as a reef in the Pacific^[18]
• USS Edson (DD-946) – Stricken, Donated as a museum/memorial; now museum in Bay City, Michigan^[19]
• USS Forrestal (CV-59) – Sold for scrap for 1 cent to All Star Metals, Brownsville, Texas^[20]
• USS Fort Fisher (LSD-40) – Dismantled as of 01/14/2011^[21]
• USS Fresno (LST-1182) – Sunk as target 15 September 2014^[22]
• USS Kilauea (AE-26) – Sunk in live-fire exercise^[23]
• USS Niagara Falls (AFS-3) – Sunk in live-fire exercise^[24]
• USS O'Bannon (DD-987) – Sunk as training target on 6 October 2008^[25][26]
• USS Puget Sound (AD-38) – Esco Marine, Brownsville, Texas – Scrapping completed: 2009-03-03^[27]
• USS Racine (LST-1191) – Awaiting disposal^[28]
• USS Ranger (CV-61) – Sold for scrap in 2015
• USS Saipan (LHA-2) – Scrapped as of 02/23/2011^[29]
• USS Trout (SS-566) – Esco Marine, Brownsville, Texas – Scrapping completed: 2009-02-27^[30]
• USS Vincennes (CG-49) – Disposed of by scrapping, dismantling (status changed 11/23/2011)^[31]

See also

• National Defense Reserve Fleet

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

External links

• U.S. Navy Inactive Ships Program Office
• Official List of Inactive U.S. Navy Ships
• Official List of Stricken U.S. Navy Ships
• NavSource Online