U.S.N.S. Edwin D. Patrick
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 8:41PM I just discovered that the most recent ship towed out of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, U.S.N.S. Edwin D. Patrick, was one of the ships I had the priviledge to explore on a recent trip to the Fleet.
She was first of the 6 ships, towed out of the fleet, that I have had the chance to photograph, which is why I'm a bit sadenned by the news. While that might sound strange to many of you, it's something that happens to us explorers/photographers when we see a place we've visited often be demolished or renovated.
Throughout the last year, I've made a number of trips to the Fleet and each time, I discover something new, which leads to a stronger attachment to the ships. This ship in particular was interesting to me because she was a troop transport ship and contained many elements most military ships do not, such as a monetary exhange booth, theatre, church and rec room.
During my trip to the Fleet, I was told that U.S.N.S. Edwin D Patrick and her sister ship, U.S.N.S. General John Pope had been sold for scrap, but there was no indication of when this would occur.
U.S.N.S Edwin D Patrick was a troop transport ship commissioned in 1945. In 1950, the Navy reclaimed the ship and placed into Military Sea Transportation Service, where she served as a transport ship during the Korean War. She was decommissioned in 1967 and places in Suisun Bay shortly thereafter. In 2005, she was scheduled to be transported to Alang, India for scrapping, but concerns about the condition of her hull prevented this from occuring. In March 2010, U.S.N.S. Edwin D Patrick was sold to ESCO Marine in Brownsville, Texas.
Photo by Tom Langford
She was towed out of the fleet on April 15, with no announcement in the media or on the Port of San Fanncisco roster. She now sits in the dry docks at BAE Systems in San Francisco awaiting her trip to Texas to be scrapped.
Photo by Dave R
Reader Comments (4)
Your way of presenting the photographs are really interesting to site creators and site visitors like us. Pictures are absolutely fabulous. Keep the good job. Keep posting such great looking pictures.
Thank you very much!
Thanks for the great photos of the mothballed fleet. You have a great eye for your subjects. I noticed your remark about being saddened about one of your ships being scrapped and it made me think of myself and others who sailed on these ships and who also retained a sentimental feeling for the ships long after they have parted ways. I served on one of your pictured ships, the Vancouver LPD2 and I still have deep rooted feelings for her as strange as it may seem. Thanks for sharing your pictures online where we can all enjoy them. And welcome to the sentimental club as well.
Dan-
Thank you for your comment.
I imagine our feelings of sentiment are for very different reasons, but I have definitely become attached to them over the last year and a half. If I ever get a chance to venture below deck of USS Vancouver, I'll be sure to let you know.
Thanks,
Amy