James River - James River Reserve Fleet

James River Reserve Fleet

The James River is the anchorage (37°07′13″N 76°38′47″W / 37.120393°N 76.646469°W / 37.120393; -76.646469) for a large portion of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, called the "James River Fleet" or the "Ghost Fleet," consisting 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 fleet 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.

Read more about this topic:  James River

Famous quotes containing the words james, river, reserve and/or fleet:

    It is not women’s fault if we are so tender. It is in the nature of the lives we live. And further, it would be a terrible catastrophe if men had to live men’s lives and women’s also. Which is precisely what has happened today—to women.
    —Selma James (b. 1930)

    In order to get to East Russet you take the Vermont Central as far as Twitchell’s Falls and change there for Torpid River Junction, where a spur line takes you right into Gormley. At Gormley you are met by a buckboard which takes you back to Torpid River Junction again.
    Robert Benchley (1889–1945)

    I understood that all the material of a literary work was in my past life, I understood that I had acquired it in the midst of frivolous amusements, in idleness, in tenderness and in pain, stored up by me without my divining its destination or even its survival, as the seed has in reserve all the ingredients which will nourish the plant.
    Marcel Proust (1871–1922)

    On the middle of that quiet floor
    sits a fleet of small black ships,
    square-rigged, sails furled, motionless,
    their spars like burned matchsticks.
    Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)