Listing Ship

The sky is beautiful. The day looked gorgeous. I think it would be cool to go out there on a dreary, overcast day. It would set a really cool mood.

Wonderful photos of the ol' workhorses of a old era.

I need a tranquelizer after this!

If it's foggy and you want to go Motts, I'll drive and buy beer, lunch, and rent the fucking kayak!

I KNEW that beer would make its way into the conversation at some point. 8`-)

now fog shots would be totally awsome motts, DO IT DO IT DO IT

Radical Ed, if I can go, I'll kick in on the lunch, and beer !!

Let's do it dude. I'll send out the limo to Oregon and you grab the beer.
You know what they say...
Two Ed's are better than one!!!

Two Ed's HaHa!
Heads oughta roll for that one!

Depth of field is pretty impressive here!

Depth of jokes is horribly low, however . . . . .

[groaning and seasick after those bad jokes]

I found a neat map of the area on google.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.5 .... 010343&t=k&hl=en

This is a fantastic set. I've always been fascinated by shipping. Dead ones are not something us landlubbers often get to see at close quarters.

I was fascinated by this page:

http://members.aol.com/ssus2/more3.html

It would be so cool to see your take on a really, REALLY big wreck, like this one...

Just a passing internet denizen.

Your use of color vs. b&w in various shots really shows off your talent. As for the shots themselves... they're amazing. You really should put these together in a book.

great shots, this ship looks to be a steel hulled sub chaser from ww2

For the love of god man, won't ye leave us alone... So shallow, so alone, so quiet. Let us rest and in turn we will let you remember us in our grandeur. For we do not haunt you ...Please do not haunt us. We simply need to rest.
(fine pics - thanks)

Great photo set.
This link is to a photo set of the SS. Amercan Star, which lays rotting on a beach in the Canary Islands.
http://www.hyperfinch.de/gallery/ssas/

I really like this set, also do I like boats and stuff, but there are nosuch things like these ship-graveyard's in the Netherlands

Motts, any hints as to where these hulks are on Staten Island? Is it at least cool (if not legal) to go paddling through here?

How accessible are these beauties?

SeanMurray, I've been paddling through these wrecks for years.

[Directions edited out as per site policy]

Warning! The waters of the Kill Van Kull (the body of water these wrecks lie in) are extremely dangerous. The currents are strong and unpredictable. large boats traverse through the channel leaving huge swells in their wake. I've almost been swamped a few times.
Please dont attempt this unless youre a strong, experienced paddler.

great gallery. i just woke up from a dream about abandoned orange groves only to have it accented by these beautiful shots of rusted sinking ships. good job.

Thanks for that link Jerry! That is a real tragedy - a sad end for one of the queens of the Atlantic. Her sister ship the SS United States is apparently in slightly better condition (ie still afloat) but is also a derelict hulk - at Philadelpia I believe.

There's an interesting 'wreck' in North Wales, UK 'The Duke Of Lancaster' also marooned on a remote beach and facing an uncertain future. There are rumours that someone lives on board (the owner?) and more than one would-be explorer has been chased off the ship. It's a very surreal sight.

http://www.merseyshipp ... ancaster020905.htm

It is sad to see these old ships abandoned like this. Sometimes they take old ships like these and sink them to form reefs. Are these too heavy to move, or what? Can anyone give me info on this subject? Thanks! Thanks for the links, guys.

Once a ship is up on a reef like that, you get so many holes in the bottom that it is both incredibly expensive and dangerous to attempt to move it. You have to have a number of powerd pumps on board and to plug or weld each hole. Also, as you move the ship, it will twist and continue to break apart. As it floats, new holes will open. Add time and deterioration of the hull structure and you can forget it.

Finally, once it's been there a while, it gets so deeply buried that it becomes even harder to move.

Unless it is a hazard to navigation or to the environment , I don't think it will get moved. The only way to remove this would be to cut it up a piece at a time by hand and haul it away ... Bangladesh style. And there, the ships dry out at low tide. I don't know if this one does.

Absolutely captivating, beautful photographs, and great subject matter.

rich edwards, yes the SS United States is in Philly,she can be seen from the street but there are private guards to keep you from getting too close.

WONDERFUL gallery!!!

Dean, that figures, and I guess it's a good thing for preservationists, because a ship of that size would burn very spectacularly if some teenage arsonist managed to gain entry, or sink very expensively if someone opened the seacocks 'for a laugh'.

It's so sad to see so many of these old liners in such bad shape. They were after all the height of luxury and technology when new and are still probably the biggest moving objects ever built by humans. As with so much, we should show them more respect.

Only the Queen Mary's story seems to have had a happy ending, as the Norway (formerly the France, herself the replacement for the famed Normandie) has just been decommissioned as uneconomic.

It's amazing how people fuss over the Titanic, which lies in bits at the bottom of the North Altlantic, and talk every so often of raising her, when these ships are still living and could have a future if anyone cared enough.

Even if nothing else can be found to do with these liners than turn them into floating hotels or universities, surely that's a better fate than ending up as Coke cans or Toyotas...

amazing set, i will have to explore the rest of your site.

A very nice shot to finish off the amazing gallery.

I agree with J. Grant, Mott, you really should put together a big coffee table book...

Really amazing pictures. I've been intrigued by the Staten Island Ship Graveyard since I first read about it in Weird NJ back in 2001. Last year I wrote an essay about it for my writing class, after having visited the site. I've been there only once since then, but I've never had the cojones (or the equipment!) to get so close as you.

Really, I would be interested in how you got that close. Ciao.

Iborn in brooklyn, put to rest in staten island. ironic. us navy atr-4
see: http://www.navsource.o...rchives/09/40004.htm

Seems I do this alot.
nau-sea. No doubt this is an ATR. How do you identify it as ATR-4? Your link had pictures for sure but how do you distinguish it fromanyother vessel of the time? Thanks.

is worth a shot in the dark or the fog, could set the mood

This boat is " HILA" ex USS ATR 89 Built North Bend Or. 10-1944 Wood Hull, steam powered. The scrapyard had two others that were Meseck boats after Navy.

This ship was built in North Bend OR, cool, Thats where I live!!

Hey Ed, if you want more info on the North Bend boat let me know.

FB Jim, Any info you have would be greatly appreciated-Thanks!!

HILA EX USS Atr 89 Single screw , wood, oil fired, 155 ft. long 34ft. wide, draft 17 ft. 8 3/4 inches. built by Kruse & Banks Shipbuilding Co. North Bend Or. Oct. 1944. one Prescott 4 cylinder triple expansion engine, two foster wheeler boilers.

An amazing series...one I found to be extremely captivating. Well done...no matter what "Pro Photographer says. ;]

I sailed past these wrecks all the time in 2004 when I took time off from college to take a job as a tug and barge crewman.......... if they could only talk.

Here's this one in better days!http://www.nafts.net/i...ics/ATR/19Sept44.jpg

Great pictoral as always, absolutely. It seems all the crap in the water around Staten Island has attracted attention and some other sites have some very good pictorals also. A tour around the island with Google Earth revealed ALOT of crap dumped in the water. It sure looks like a trash heap in alot of places, wotta mess! The EPA must be getting some good payoffs to turn their head! :oD

the ship looks rusty id love to go there on a different ship

these ships were not there for a long time and you people should show what the inside of it looked like after it sank so go find another ship under water pull it up with a crane then show what the whole ship looks like mabye even show the boat under the water.

Put together a book so that I can buy it!!

wow, this gallery was amazing. I've seen it before, but now I really took the time to look at the pics. call me morbid, but the sad, lonely shots like these on this site are the ones I find the most amazing. I ought to go there on a foggy day myself, even if just from a distance. after all, I only live about an hour away...

OUSTANDING! These are the best photos of ship decay I've ever seen. Your tallent has yet to be matched. Once in Glory forever in Memory. Good job.

IT MAKES YOU WONDER WHAT NASTY CHEMICALS WERE LEFT IN THESE HULKS THAT MAY CONTINUE TO POLLUTE

This boat is PC-1264, a WW2 submarine chaser. Creepy but sad to see an old vet go out like this.

This is a former Navy ATR Rescue tug. It was ATR 89 later named HILA. The USS PC 1264 was closer to shore. That is the truth.

great photos. There has always been something that attracts me to old ships left to decay. Perhaps it is the mystery that they retain within their rotting walls that holds in the many secrets of their pasts. If you are interested in this type of subject, there is a sunken light ship in Lower New York harbor, in Red Hook Brooklyn. It's name is lightship number 84. It was left to rot there by an owner who could not afford to care for it. It has sunk within the last few years, and all you can really see are its masts sticking out of the water. What is awesome about it is that it is located next to an abandoned grain siloh, which makes the entire landscape, chilling yet beautiful. you should really chec it out some day, with your talent I'm sure you'd snap some great pictures! click the link below!!!

Looks like most of the ship is still above water . the deck still looks safe enough to walk on.

I would like to explore the ship. I wounder what the rooms inside the ship looks like.
It would be cool to explore the ship.

Cassie, The light ship in Red Hook is GONE. Weeks is removing it as we speak. The siloh behind it was a sugar processing plant. Sugar came in by ship and was unloaded and processed bagged and shipped. They are building a Ikea (I think) there where the old ship yard was. The history of Brooklyn is rapidly falling to parking lots and discount stores. It is great that people, like here are recording our history. Keep up the good work. Jim

If what your saying about the ship is true FB Jim then that would explain whay the silo is covered on top. It looks like the ship has been there for a while. It also looks like the ship has some history to it.

Now I know why the silo is covered on top. Ever since I saw the picture I have wondered
why the silo is covered. Now I know why the silo is covered.

It wood take lots of peasis

This is cool.

Some Info related to this kind of ships:

http://www.coltoncompa...yards/levingston.htm

Here she is new.
http://www.history.nav...n/usnsh-p/pc1264.htm

Well, what a wonderful journey this has been!
When my dad still had his boat, every few years we'd make a round-trip around Staten Island, and I ALWAYS thought the Island's most fascinating side was the Arthur Kill & Kill Van Kull. There's stuff back there that can ONLY be seen from a boat. Exploring it in a kayak must be even better - cause when you're in a 30 ft power boat, you just don't dare to get in nice & close. So, I recommend to anyone who finds these photos interesting, to find someone with a boat & take a ride on "the other side". Most people are only familiar with the Raritan Bay side, with it's beaches & nice homes. Trust me - you won't regret a tour of the Arthur Kill. And you might even get some free "Cheap thrills" if a tug passes & throws a big wake at you! Yee-haw! Happy sailing.

This is not a sub chaser, this is an ex Navy ATR , a rescue tug, there were three in the yard. The sub chaser was in front of this closer to shore. I have been on both of them. Trust me!

I lived on Staten Island most of my life, I have seen the wrecks many times and wondered ,where how and why they came to be here. So much history rotting away....

I believe that it is not save to put.
Some rusted ships in harbours or the..
Shipway docks, cause they are very dirty
especialy some people who lives inside
the houses near the harbours with some
little children which scares the life out of
them and some old people would have
a hart attack as soon as they see those.
rusty ships which is true is the reason why
they are not allowed in harbours which is
like been inside the graveyard and they
should be broken to pieces and burned
right now for the safety reason with out
seeing some rusty what meens now

THANKS
George

get rid of all thos boats edets

whoa! breathtakingly huge!

Just realized it's over....got so caught up in the photo and the comments......thanks for another great gallery!

nicce pics, sad if you think of the history of the tugs and men who once were crew on them. some of the comments are silly! they are put here to die not a big tragic accident. they are harming no one by sitting around you clown. maybe if folks didnt mess around on them they would not get hurt! bad parents answer for everything: instead of control the kid just take away everything form others. forced safety huh?

from what i heard the man that ownsthe boat grave yard is not alowed to do scrapping on the boatsunder the water becauseit will mess up the ecologyofthe water andthefish andothervegetaion will notbe the same so he was stoppedfrom scrapping the metal

I think these photos are really captivating, you can feel the atmosphere and history, brilliant

These are fanstic. Thank you so much.

I got completely absorbed in this album - thank you so much!

And, amazingly, I'm not as freaked out by decaying ships as I was when I opened the first photo. As we say here in Wales - 'Diolch o'm galon!' :)

Amazing pictures. I was fascinated by these wrecks (seen them from the Outer Bridge Crossing many times) and went to see if I could get near them. Got off the expressway in the area and stopped to check the map. Not 10 seconds after sitting there, a car boxes me in, it's NYPD auto theft task force. Took me out of my car for absolutely no reason, just because I stopped there. Quite unexpected. They questioned me for a while until I convinced them I was really there just to take pictures of the ships. Never even got to the wrecks, can't get down to the water without trespassing. Pretty disappointing... but not sure I really wanted to leave my car out of sight there anyway. Very sketchy area. Be careful.

this is a steel pc submarine chaser of world war 2

It is the former USS ATR 89, a Navy rescue tug, later was named HILA before becoming a resident of Witte's maritime retirement home. Sub chasers wer much longer and narrower. Also nowhere near as high in the bow.

Photos labeled STANDING TALL and SIDE DECK are Navy sub chasers.

Only 1 Subchaser was seam powered the rest all diesel powered and I think the winch on the steam powered was also en electric one. This picture shows a streamwinch.

see www.p641.com the last ww2 type subchase afloat

Despite freaking out over half of these pictures, I actually love the water and boating (just not rusty old boats *shudder*) so I really enjoyed this gallery. I still can't believe you BOARDED the ships though! DAMN!
Beautiful shots, thanks again Motts!

YOU canot let them go down if i had a ship grave yard i would try to fix it i mean them things are BEAUTIFUL hey if you sent one to me i would take it and i would weld it back to glory you CANT let these poor things die even if considered to be beyond repair. IF YOU COULD LET ME HAVE just ONE ONE ONE ONE !!!!!!! i would fix it up

Captain! Captain,we're sinking! great shots, try getting more in fog

I pass by this ship graveyard all the time. Always wondering if there is a way to see these boats up close. During the winter season when there are no leaves on the trees you can really see some of these boats from the road(about 100-200 ft away). There is also a very old Cemetary nearby dating back to 1700's that adds to "spookiness" that everyone feels when looking at these pictures. Many THANKS to MOTTS and FB JIM for the great pics and Information ! You guys make a great team.

Can you walk around the shipyard or is it totally inaccessible except by water?