A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S. naval usage is "ghost fleet". In earlier times, and especially in British usage, these ships were said to be laid up in ordinary.
Read more about Reserve Fleet: Overview, Principal Reserve Fleets, Alternatives, Environmental Concerns
Famous quotes containing the words reserve and/or fleet:
“Her face had the seamed reserve of the old in this country [Japan]. It was a neighborhood poignantly rich in old ladies.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“They ... fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden world.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)