Mothball Fleet Revealed

For sailors who’ve ventured beyond the Benicia Bridge, the Mothball Fleet in Suisun Bay is part landmark, part history and part mystery. Ostensibly part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, the Ghost Fleet doesn’t appear, at least when you’re sailing by, to be ready to do much of anything but become a happy habitat to nesting birds. Though they look like rusting hulks from the outside, how had their interiors fared after decades of disuse?

Adventure photographers Scott Haefner, Jon Haeber and Stephen Freskos decided to find out. Over the course of 18 months, the trio visited the fleet five times — occasionally for a few days — and photographed what they discovered. Haefner’s website details their experiences of sneaking aboard and avoiding security patrols while documenting the fleet with some spectacular — and revealing — photos. Unfortunately, their presentation ‘Mothball Fleet Revealed’ was held back in May, but the photos are available for viewing (and purchase) on Haefner’s site.

Now the next time you sail by, the Ghost Fleet will be just a little less mysterious — and we can’t decide if that’s such a good thing after all.