Ship graveyard
Encyclopedia
A ship graveyard or ship cemetery is a location where the hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
s of scrapped
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
s are left to decay and disintegrate, or left in reserve
Reserve fleet
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....
. Such a practice is now less common due to waste regulations and so some dry docks where ships are dismantled (to recycle their metal and remove dangerous materials like asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
) are also known as ship graveyards.
By analogy, the phrase can also refer to a large number of shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
s which have accumulated in a single area but not been removed by human agency, instead being left to disintegrate naturally. These can form in places where navigation is difficult or dangerous (such as the Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...
or Blackpool
Blackpool shipwrecks
Blackpool and the Fylde coast has become a ship graveyard to a number of vessels over the years. Most of the shipwrecks occurred at or near Blackpool, whilst a few happened a little further afield but have strong connections with the Blackpool area...
), where a large number of ships have been deliberately scuttled
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
together (as with the Kaiserliche Marine
Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow
The scuttling of the German fleet took place at the Royal Navy's base at Scapa Flow, in Scotland, after the end of the First World War. The High Seas Fleet had been interned there under the terms of the Armistice whilst negotiations took place over the fate of the ships...
at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
), or where a large number of ships have been sunk in battle.
France
- GuilvinecGuilvinecGuilvinec or Le Guilvinec is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Population:Inhabitants of Guilvinec are called in FrenchGuilvinistes.-Breton language:...
-LechiagatTreffiagatTreffiagat is a commune in the Finistère department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-References:** -External links:* *... - On the River RanceRanceis a series of Japan-exclusive eroge computer role-playing games by Alice Soft featuring the title character, Rance. Starting in 1989, the series has lasted for 20 years, making it one of the longest running adult themed games ever.-Rance:...
- Magouër (Plouhinec, MorbihanPlouhinec, MorbihanPlouhinec is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France.-References:* * -External links:* * *...
) - Plouhinec, Finistère
- LandévennecLandévennecLandévennec is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Ship graveyard:Shortly before entering the roadstead of Brest, the river Aulne forms a bend around the Île de Térénez then the pointe de Pen Forn near Landévennec, where there is 10m depth of water regardless...
United States
- The US Navy "phantom fleet" at Suisun BaySuisun BaySuisun Bay is a shallow tidal estuary at in northern California, USA. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, forming the entrance to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an inverted river delta...
, to the north of San Francisco BaySan Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean... - Witte's Marine Salvage - the Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
boat graveyard - Bikini AtollBikini AtollBikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
was designated as a ship graveyard for the U.S. Pacific fleet; it later became known as a nuclear testing facility.
Asia
- Several locations near the Aral SeaAral SeaThe Aral Sea was a lake that lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south...
- The ship-breaking yards of Alang (India), Chittagong (Bangladesh), and Gadani Beach (Pakistan)
Australia
All states and territories of Australia have ships' graveyardsNew South Wales:
- Stockton Breakwater (Newcastle)
- Homebush Bay Ships' Graveyard (Sydney)
- Pindimar Bay Ships' Graveyard/The Duckhole (Myall Lakes)
Northern Territory:
- Darwin Harbour East Arm
Queensland:
- Bishop Island Ships' Graveyard (Brisbane)
- Tangalooma Ships' Graveyard (Moreton Island)
- The Bulwer Wrecks (Moreton Island)
- Curtin Artificial Reef
South Australia:
- North Arm/Garden Island Ships' Graveyard (Port Adelaide)
- Broad Creek Abandonment Complex (Port Adelaide)
- Jervois Basin Ships' Graveyard (Port Adelaide)
Tasmania:
- Little Betsey Island Ships' Graveyard (Hobart)
- East Risdon Ships' Graveyard (Hobart)
- Strahan Ships' Graveyard (Strahan)
- Tamar Island Ships' Graveyard (Launceston)
Victoria:
- Barwon Heads Ships' Graveyard (Port Phillip Bay)
Western Australia:
- Careening Bay Ships' Graveyard
- Rottnest Island Ships' Graveyard
- Jervoise Bay Ships' Graveyard
- Albany Ships' Graveyard (Albany)
- There is a ship's graveyard located on the North Arm of Adelaide's Port River, with a number of wrecks dating from 1909 to 1945.