The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay (Maryland Ship Graveyard)



Install Raid for Free ✅ IOS/ANDROID/PC: https://clcr.me/ITSHISTORYRAID and get a special starter pack 💥 Available only for the next 30 days

The “Ghost Fleet” of Mallows Bay is a reference to the hundreds of ships whose remains still rest in its relatively shallow waters. It is the largest collection of wrecks in the Western hemisphere, 230 United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation ships sunk in the river.

It is without a doubt that the US is the strongest military power in the world, possessing the most extensive and advanced Armed Forces by some distance. As new military technologies are developed every day and the landscape of modern warfare seemingly changing faster than most are able to keep up with, it is a perfectly reasonable question to wonder what happens to the older military hardware that is now obsolete. As we have looked at on this channel before, old planes are often sent to Aircraft Maintenance facilities to be scrapped or kept in storage with the Tucson Boneyard being a good example of this. But what happens to the warships that are no longer needed? Well, there are numerous paths that an outdated ship can follow, but one popular destination for ships that the US Navy has no immediate use for is the Mallows Bay in the Potomac River. Here, there are hundreds of vessels laying dormant in the water waiting to be scrapped or sunk. This is commonly known as the Ghost Fleet of the Mallows. But just like each ship that is stored here, there exists an interesting and extensive history of this location that deserves to be explored.

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzIZ8HrzDgc-pNQDUG6avBA/join

IT’S HISTORY – Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.

» CONTACT
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/ITshistoryX
https://www.instagram.com/ryansocash/

» CREDIT
Scriptwriter – Brandon Evans
Editor – Sebastian Ripoll

» SOURCES
https://www.facebook.com/groups/itshistory/
Photo source by Amaury Laporte

» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only – always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes – retractions will be published in this section.

source

31 thoughts on “The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay (Maryland Ship Graveyard)”

  1. 8:19 this is just factually incorrect, the number US soldier who fought was tiny, combined to France, Italy and the British Empire. What ended WW1, was combined arms tactics and the Royal navy blockade. Not the USA that at the end of the war was still well behind in it's military capability as it had 3 and 4 years less training.

    Reply
  2. Growing up, my dad would take us to Kiptopeke State Park on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, where I'd marvel at the concrete ships just sitting out in the water. I lived right across the Potomac from Mallows Bay but never visited, unfortunately.

    Reply
  3. In 1915, the year the Lusitania was sunk, Winston Churchill was Lord of the Admiralty. He instructed that the Royal Navy ship that normally escorted and protected the Lusitania be withdrawn. He was a war monger and wanted the U.S. in the war.

    Reply
  4. Mallows bay is a wonderful place, and it was a resting place for vessels even before the never used Navy ships. They found smaller boats resting on the bottom from as far back as the revolutionary war they think. The floating town that grew up around the ships to harvest metal was amazing, with Shanty boats providing everything from stores to brothels. An Amazing story and the car ferry Acomack is very cool to paddle around,

    Reply

Leave a Comment