The homeowners at the old Kaiser shipyard might object to your plan. 
Posted on 10/29/2007 12:42:56 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Several environmental groups have announced they are suing the federal government over a fleet of mothballed warships floating east of San Francisco Bay.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups are demanding the U.S. Maritime Administration curb pollution they say the vessels are causing in regional waterways.
More than 70 ships comprise the Suisun (suh soon) Bay Reserve Fleet, some dating back to World War II.
The old ships were once kept afloat in case of war, but many have fallen into disrepair.
A congressional order set a 2006 deadline to scrap more than 50 ships, but a regulatory quagmire has kept the fleet anchored in place.
A study has suggested that paint flaking off the ships is shedding tons of toxic heavy metals into the estuary.
Like we sold scrap metal to Japan before WW2, we will likely sell these mothballed ships and such to China for scrap metal, only to see it shot back at us in a few years.
"Unintended consequences"?
Yeah ... they did such a wonderful job with the underbrush in So Ca.
Yeah ... they did such a wonderful job with the underbrush in So Ca.
Wonder why they can’t be stripped and sunk for reef purposes? They already do that in the Gulf of Mexico...provided a wonderful home for a multitude of undersea wildlife.
Dang, good catch! Thanks!
I meant to say
Ya got to love the enviro groups and their persistent efforts to help the environment.
By the way, check a map and find this fleet in the Bay Area “East” of San Francisco.
Finally, considering the softest targets in this nation for Terrorists, you would think San Francisco would be a little more interested in having security close than they are. Guess who would be crying and demonizing the military for not protecting them if they were the next big target of terrorism. Of course it would be Bush’s fault for not protecting them. They will drone on about how San Francisco should have been better protected since it is an obvious soft target from land, sea and air. They will say we should have had assets closer to aid in rescue..... But they will just have to wait until the military can get to them from Southern California and Oregon.
Explore it on Google Earth.
The centre of the “fleet” is roughly 38º 04’ 17” N 122º 05’ 48” W
It is also one of the best sturgeon fishing spots on the delta
One reason is that where these ships are and where they could reasonably be towed to is not in need of any reefs! They are up in the Suisun Bay in somewhat shallow water. I guess they could be towed to SF Bay, but the SF Bay is overwhelmingly not very deep, believe it or not. Shippers would yell about possible interference w/shipping channels. Outside the Golden Gate, the ocean floor slants off abruptly to a couple thousand feet deep. They could be sunk there without any ill efects, except they’d probably puncture all the barrels of toxic stuff that has been sunk out there for 100 years! The most practical solution I’ve heard of (IMO) is to tow the ships to the old Kaiser shipyards at the north end of SF Bay where they could be broken up. That’s where many of the WW2 Liberty ships were built. But that idea obviously makes far too much sense. Those shipyards are old, decrepit, and would need lots of remedial work to get them functional. The TX boyz who want the ships (means towing thru the Panama Canal, and 1/3rd of these would just rust out, fall apart, and sink if that was done. Most of these are seriously ratted out.)
And of course, the SF Bay Area folks are just batty over the fumes and gunk that would be generated from torching apart the ships. As they are, they are rusting pretty badly and of course dropping all manner of evil metals and oils into Suisun Bay. It’s actually a wonderful bonanza for the enviros because they can sue, sue, sue, complain, complian, whine, whine endlessly about the horrible damages being created and never have to come up with anything constructive.
The idea that any of these ship could be reused is probably pretty far fetched, although I believe the Iowa (or one of her sisters) is there. Most of them are utterly decrepit, I’m sure about 1/3rd would just break up and sink if they were towed any great distance.
If you have ever been up close to these ships you would realize what a bunch of junkers they are. It is like watching the history channel. I would imagine it would take years to get some of these ships working. The ready reserve fleet in Alameda is in far better shape.
If you have ever been up close to these ships you would realize what a bunch of junkers they are. It is like watching the history channel. I would imagine it would take years to get some of these ships working. The ready reserve fleet in Alameda is in far better shape.
If you have ever been up close to these ships you would realize what a bunch of junkers they are. It is like watching the history channel. I would imagine it would take years to get some of these ships working. The ready reserve fleet in Alameda is in far better shape.
“Wonder why they can’t be stripped and sunk for reef purposes? They already do that in the Gulf of Mexico...provided a wonderful home for a multitude of undersea wildlife.”
For the same reason no one can drill for oil off the California coast, but they can in the Gulf.
The homeowners at the old Kaiser shipyard might object to your plan.
Hey. I’m looking for a new place to live. If they’d let me buy one and anchor it in Petaluma I’d fix it up on the weekends...
I used to go by there frequently, there ain’t as many as there used to be.. We built one heck of a lot of ships there for awhile WW2 and beyond, .. most all of these in question are ready for the final trip having served their purpose and usefulness. I haven’t been by Alameda for awhile.
There are indeed those toney residences near Pt. Richmond, but there are also a couple of old dry docks remaining, I sailed right by them a few weeks ago. They’re in about the same shape as most of the surplus ships, quite ratty. But the space is there, the big concrete drydocks are there. There’s reasonable distance between the drydocks and the homes you’ve pictured. Of course, the very idea of breaking up the ships at the old Kaiser docks would send the liberal enviros in that area into screaming convulsions. As I said, some fraction of those ships could not IMO withstand just normal streses being towed through the SF Bay, which has some fierce tides and rip currents.
I was out that way two years ago and watched a S. Korean tanker unload a cargo of California spec unleaded gasoline into one of the tank terminals. This tank farm is within 30 minutes of at least three refineries.
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