Bayonne (2)

On Michelson's first visit (yes, there was more than one!) to Bayonne an impressive pair of naval vessels ships were our neighbors. Two old Essex class aircraft carriers relegated to the "mothball fleet" were moored side by side to the pier, secured with steel cables. 

Next to the pier was USS Leyte (ex-CV-32), commissioned in 1946, a veteran of the Korean war, projecting American air power during 1950-51. After her war service, Leyte operated in the Atlantic and Caribbean until 1959 when it was decommissioned. 

"Big Ben", USS Franklin (ex-CV-13) the renown "ship that wouldn't be sunk" was outboard of Leyte. In October 1944, south of the Philippines, Franklin was attacked by suicide bombers, one crashing into the flight deck and another struck the ship's starboard side. Franklin then returned to the US for repairs. By March 1945 the war had moved closer to Japan and Franklin was back in service. On March 19 the ship was again attacked by Japanese bombers, nearly sinking it. Over 800 were killed and nearly 500 wounded. Franklin was able to restore engine room power and return to the US but was decommissioned in 1947.

USS Franklin moves to new berth at Bayonne in 1964.
Ships in the "ready reserve" or "mothball fleet" were mostly headed for the scrap yard while they were scavenged for reusable parts. Leyte was scrapped in 1970. Franklin's turbo generators were harvested before its 1966 trip to the ship breakers.

Back in the mid 1950s I once saw the reserve fleet, including rows of retired Victory ships moored in the Hudson River, north of New York city. One of those was SS Joliet Victory, later USNS Michelson.

Ghost Fleet, by P.W. Singer and August Cole, is a recent novel about a war in the near future that is won by obsolete naval vessels from the mothball reserves. Unencumbered by modern technology the authors' ships were oblivious to electronic countermeasures, unhackable and nearly invisible to the aggressors. A good read.