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 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 . History . The NDRF was established under Section 11 of the Merchant Ship Sales Act of 1946 to serve as a reserve of ships for national defense and national emergencies . NDRF vessels were used in seven wars and crises . During the Korean War , 540 vessels were broken out to move military forces . During a worldwide tonnage shortfall in 1951 – 53 , more than 600 ships were reactivated to carry coal to Northern Europe and grain to India . From 1955 through 1964 , another 600 ships were used to store grain for the Department of Agriculture . Another 223 cargo ships and 29 tankers were activated during a tonnage shortfall after the Suez Canal was closed in 1956 . During the Berlin crisis of 1961 , 18 vessels were activated and remained in service until 1970 . Another 172 vessels were activated for the Vietnam War . Ready Reserve Force . In 1976 , a Ready Reserve Fleet component was established as a subset of the NDRF to provide rapid deployment of military equipment and later became known as the Ready Reserve Force , which numbers 72 vessels . These are crewed with a reduced crew but kept available for activation within four , five , ten or twenty days . An additional 28 ships are held under United States Maritime Administration ( MARAD ) custody for other Government agencies on a cost - reimbursable basis . Operations . Vessels with military utility or logistic value are held in retention status and are in a preservation program that is designed to keep them in the same condition as when they enter the fleet . The internal spaces are dehumidified to slow the corrosion of metal and the growth of mold and mildew . DC power is distributed through anodes to the exterior underwater portions of the hull , creating an electric field that suppresses corrosion and preserves the surface of the hull . External painting and other cosmetic work is generally deferred since it does not affect the ability to activate and operate the vessel . MARAD is authorized as the government ’ s disposal agent through the NDRF program for merchant type vessels equal to or greater than 1 , 500 gross tons . A state agency can file an application to request title to a vessel " as - is where - is " from the NDRF for the purpose of creating an artificial reef . A total of 51 vessels have been transferred to 10 states under the program including : Texas ( 12 ) , Florida ( 10 ) , North Carolina ( 7 ) , Virginia ( 6 ) , Alabama ( 5 ) , Mississippi ( 5 ) , Georgia ( 2 ) , South Carolina ( 2 ) , California ( 1 ) and New Jersey ( 1 ) . Of the 132 non - retention vessels in the NDRF , there are 117 that are being prepared for disposal . The NDRF program can give and lend historic artifacts to maritime - heritage organizations and transfer entire ships to memorial associations through special legislation . Initially , these ships will be transferred to MARAD for caretaking in accordance with the Economy Act of 1932 . Ships transferred to the NDRF may be retained in Navy Mobilization Plans and maintained by MARAD under priorities set by the Department of the Navy . If the navy decides it no longer needs the ship , the secretary of the navy strikes the ship from the Naval Vessel Register and transfers the title to MARAD . When possible , MARAD gets first disposition rights , which allows it to convert merchant ships to the Ready Reserve Force ( RRF ) or to sell the ship for scrapping in connection with the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 , Sec . 508 and use the proceeds to buy more supply ships . Fleet reduction . The Suisun Bay location contained 324 ships in 1959 . Forty years later , the number was down by about 250 , but pollutants had begun to accumulate in the area . Paint containing toxins such as lead , copper , zinc and barium had been flaking off of many of the ships ' hulls and superstructures . By June 2007 , some 21 tons of toxic paint debris was estimated to have been shed from the ships , to settle in the bay sediment . A further 65 tons of paint was estimated to be in danger of flaking off . David Matsuda , acting administrator of MARAD , said in March 2010 " We are moving expeditiously to remove the worst - polluting ships first and diligently moving to clean the rest . " Some 52 ships were identified as problematic , and were scheduled for removal and recycling by September 2017 . As of October 2012 , 36 ships had been removed , that process beginning in November 2009 . One such vessel , the SS " Winthrop " , the last Victory ship of the California mothball fleet , was towed in March 2010 to BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair dock to be cleaned of barnacles and plant matter before its final journey to ship breakers in Brownsville , Texas . The hull cleaning was prescribed by the U . S . Coast Guard to prevent the spread of California species to other locations . Some of the recycling work may be completed in the San Francisco Bay Area , specifically at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard — an application for such work is under permit review . Some $ 38 million in federal funds will be used to complete the dismantling project .