Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Wilmington

34°13′46″N 77°58′58″W / 34.229479°N 77.982916°W / 34.229479; -77.982916

Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Wilmington was part of the United States Navy reserve fleets in Wilmington, North Carolina. The reserve fleet was at and overflowed out of the former North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in the dredged out Brunswick River. The ships lined both sides of the Brunswick River. The freshwater of the river made a good spot to store ships. The reserve fleet was opened in 1946 to store the now many surplus ships after World War II. The mothball fleet was mostly cargo ships used in the merchant marine navy. When opened it had mostly cargo ships and a few troop ships. At its peak it had 300 Victory ships and Liberty ships, many of which had been built at the nearby former North Carolina Shipbuilding Company Shipyard. Some ships in the fleet were reactivated for the Korean War and Vietnam War. Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Wilmington closed in 1962, with the last ship removed in February 27, 1970. The ships in the fleet were either scrapped, used as targets or move to the James River Reserve Fleet and Beaumont Reserve Fleet.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Notable former ships

USS Boulder Victory (AK-227) became one of many Seagoing cowboys ships doing livestock war relief, late in life the University of California conducted thermal stress tests on her.
SS Edward W. Burton removed and converted to USS Interceptor (AGR-8) a Guardian-class radar picket ship for the US Navy in 1955.
SS James F. Harrell removed and converted to USS Picket (YAGR-7) a Guardian radar picket ship for the US Navy in 1955.
SS William J. Riddle removed and converted to USS Tracer (AGR-15) a Guardian radar picket ship for the US Navy in 1955.
SS James W. Wheeler removed and converted to USS Searcher (AGR-4) a Guardian radar picket ship for the US Navy in 1955.
SS Dwight W. Morrow was the last ship to depart Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, she was scrapped in February 1970.^[6]^[7]

References

^ Staff, Scott Nunn StarNews. "Liberty ships big part of local history". Wilmington Star-News.
^ "A river runs through her". July 2, 2014.
^ "Historical Photographs | MARAD". www.maritime.dot.gov.
^ youtube.com, The Mothball Fleet
^ The USN Mothball Fleet - Storing up for a rainy day
^ Alan D. Watson, Wilmington: Port of North Carolina (1992).
^ Steelman, Ben. What was the ‘Mothball Fleet’ MyReporter.com, StarNews

[1] Staff, Scott Nunn StarNews. "Liberty ships big part of local history". Wilmington Star-News.

[2] "A river runs through her". July 2, 2014.

[3] "Historical Photographs | MARAD". www.maritime.dot.gov.

[4] youtube.com, The Mothball Fleet

[5] The USN Mothball Fleet - Storing up for a rainy day

[6] Alan D. Watson, Wilmington: Port of North Carolina (1992).

[7] Steelman, Ben. What was the ‘Mothball Fleet’ MyReporter.com, StarNews

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v t e Liberty ships
Lists	A-F G-Je Je-L M-R S-Z
Subtypes	Acubens-class general stores issue ship Armadillo class tanker Crater-class cargo ship Guardian-class radar picket ship List of Subtypes
Survivors	SS John W. Brown SS Jeremiah O'Brien SS Arthur M. Huddell SS Albert M. Boe
Other	Liberty Fleet Day Port Chicago disaster Project Liberty Ship
See also	Park ship (Canadian equivalent) Fort ship (British equivalent) Ocean ship (Anglo-American predecessor) Victory ship (American follow-on) Empire ship (British ships owned by the Ministry of War Transport)
Category List

v t e World War II Maritime Commission ship designs
Cargo designs	Type C1 Type C2 Type C3 Type C4 Type C5 (Type C6) (Type C7) (Type C8) (Type C9) Type N3
Emergency cargo	Liberty ship ("EC2-S-C1") Victory ship ("VC2-S-AP1")
Tanker	T1 tanker T2 tanker T3 tanker Liberty ship ("Z-ET1-S-C3")
Special-purpose	Type S2 ("Tacoma-class frigate") Type S3-S2-BP ("Landing Ship, Tank") Type S3-S2-BP1 ("Neptune-class cable layer") Type S4-S2-BB3 ("Casablanca-class escort carrier") Type S4-SE2-BD1 ("Gilliam-class attack transport") Type S4-SE2-BE1 ("Artemis-class attack cargo ship") "Crane vessel-Derrick Barge"
Miscellaneous-cargo	Type L6 ("Lakers") Type N ("Coastal Cargo") Type P1 ("Passenger") Type P2 ("Passenger") Type R ("Refrigerated") Type B ("Barge")
Tugs	Type V ("Tugs")
See also:- Empire ship, Fort ship, Park ship, Ocean ship.

v t e United States naval ship classes of World War II
Aircraft carriers	Lexington Ranger^S Yorktown Wasp^S Essex Midway^C
Light aircraft carriers	Independence Saipan^C
Escort carriers	Long Island Charger Bogue Sangamon Casablanca Commencement Bay
Battleships	Wyoming New York Nevada Pennsylvania New Mexico Tennessee Colorado North Carolina South Dakota Iowa Montana^X
Large cruisers	Alaska
Heavy cruisers	Pensacola Northampton Portland New Orleans Wichita^S Baltimore Oregon City^C Des Moines^C
Light cruisers	Omaha Brooklyn Atlanta Cleveland Fargo^C Juneau^C Worcester^C CL-154^X
Gunboats	Dubuque Sacramento^S Asheville Plymouth^S Williamsburg^S St. Augustine^S Vixen^S Erie PGM-1 PGM-9
Destroyers	Sampson Caldwell Wickes Clemson Farragut Porter Mahan Gridley Bagley Somers Benham Sims Benson Stevenson^X Gleaves Fletcher Allen M. Sumner Robert H. Smith Gearing
Destroyer escorts	Evarts Buckley Cannon Edsall Rudderow John C. Butler
Patrol frigates	Asheville Tacoma
Patrol boats	Action PT boat
Minelayers	Oglala^S Wassuc^S Monadnock^S Miantonomah^S Terror^S Keokuk^S Salem^S Weehawken^S Camanche Chimo
Minesweepers	Lapwing Raven Auk Eagle^S Hawk Admirable
Submarines	O R S Barracuda Argonaut^S Narwhal Dolphin^S Cachalot Porpoise Salmon Sargo Tambor Mackerel Gato Balao Tench
Tankers	T1 tanker T2 tanker T3 tanker
Cargo ships	Liberty Victory Haskell Andromeda Arcturus Artemis Tolland Alstede Aldebaran Adria Acubens Arctic Denebola Hyades Mizar
Auxiliary ships	Ammunition Floating drydock Repair dock Barracks Collier Combat stores Destroyer tender Depot High-speed transport Hospital Ice cream barge Net laying Motor torpedo boat tender Reefer Oiler Repair Seaplane tender Submarine tender Underway replenishment
C Completed after the war S Single ship of class X Cancelled

v t e United States Navy fleets
Current geographical fleets	Fleet Forces Command (Atlantic) Pacific Fleet
Current numbered fleets	Second Fleet Third Fleet Fourth Fleet Fifth Fleet Sixth Fleet Seventh Fleet Tenth Fleet Reserve fleets
Historic geographical fleets	Great White Fleet North Atlantic Fleet United States Asiatic Fleet
Historic numbered fleets	First Fleet Eighth Fleet Ninth Fleet Eleventh Fleet Twelfth Fleet Sixteenth Fleet(reserve) Nineteenth Fleet(reserve)

Notable former ships

See also

References