National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.

The NDRF is managed by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD). It is a different entity from the United States Navy reserve fleets, which consist largely of warships.

NDRF vessels are at the fleet sites at James River, Virginia – the 'James River Reserve Fleet'; Beaumont, Texas- the 'Beaumont Reserve Fleet'; and Suisun Bay, California; and at designated outported berths. Former anchorage sites included Stony Point, New York; Wilmington, North Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; Astoria, Oregon; and Olympia, Washington.

Through the 2010s, the oldest, most decrepit hulls at Suisun Bay will be stripped of toxic materials, then broken up in Texas, California or Asia. Twenty of the most polluting mothball ships are slated for recycling by 2012, as are 32 more by 2017. Unaffected will be the battleship USS Iowa which has been relocated to the Port of Los Angeles to become a museum ship.

At its peak in 1950, the NDRF had 2,277 ships in lay-up. In 2003, it had 274. In July 2007, it held 230 ships, primarily dry cargo ships with some tankers, military auxiliaries and other types.