Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet is part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Established by the Merchant Ship Act of 1946, the National Defense Reserve Fleet serves as a reserve that could be activated to meet shipping requirements during national emergencies. During World War II, more than 3000 commercial type ships were built by the Maritime Commission to support the Allied war effort. After the war, ships that could not be absorbed into commercial service were laid up in reserve to be preserved and used in the future as needed. At its peak, 2,277 ships were in reserve in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at eight sites nationwide. In the 1950’s, these sites were consolidated into three locations: James River, Virginia, Beaumont, Texas, and Suisun Bay. A Ready Reserve Fleet component was established in 1976 as a subset of the National Defense Reserve Fleet to provide rapid deployment of equipment and became known as the Ready Reserve Force in 1984. In addition to World War II, National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels supported emergency shipping requirements in seven wars and crises. During the Korean War, 540 vessels were broken out to support military forces. A worldwide tonnage shortfall in 1951–1953 required more than 600 ships to be reactivated to carry coal to Europe. From 1955–1964, another 600 ships were used to store grain for the Department of Agriculture. Another tonnage shortfall following the Suez Canal closing in 1956 led to the activation of 223 cargo ships and 29 tankers from the National Defense Reserve Fleet. During the 1961 Berlin crisis, 18 vessels were activated, while 172 vessels were activated for the Vietnam conflict. The fleet is composed of former commercial cargo ships, tankers, and inactive U.S. Navy vessels. Over the years, the Mothball Fleet at Suisun Bay has included such notable vessels as the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien, the Glomar Explorer, built for the C.I.A. in 1974 by Howard Hughes, and naval cruisers. Ships at Suisun Bay are kept in varying states of preservation, with maintenance by civilian Reserve Fleet personnel using effective and cost efficient methods. Dehumidification equipment preserves vessel interiors, and cathodic protection preserves underwater hulls, while regular painting above the waterline has been discontinued as mostly cosmetic. Ready Reserve Force ships receive more intensive maintenance of internal systems and cargo handling equipment and can be reactivated in as little as five days. Ships deemed no longer useful are scrapped, with scrap sale proceeds used for the upkeep of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. The Coast Guard uses these vessels to train firefighting crews and oil spill response teams, Marines practice storming mothball ships with small craft and helicopters, and the ships also provide protective cover for the bay’s sturgeon, steel-heads, and Chinook salmon.