Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the United States Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate. All ships in these facilities are inactive, but some are still on the Naval Vessel Register (NVR), while others have been struck from the register.

Aircraft carriers stored at the NISMF in Bremerton, 2012. From left to right: Independence, Kitty Hawk, Constellation and Ranger.

The ships that have been stricken from the NVR are disposed of by one of several means, including foreign military sales transfer, ship donation as a museum or memorial, domestic dismantling and recycling, artificial reefing, or use as a target vessel. Others are retention assets for possible future reactivation, which have been laid up for long-term preservation and are maintained with minimal maintenance (humidity control, corrosion control, flood/fire watch) should they need to be recalled to active duty.

The Navy has been reducing the number of inactive ships, which numbered as many as 195 in 1997, but was down to 49 by the end of 2014.[1]

The Naval Sea Systems Command's Inactive Ships Management Office (INACTSHIPOFF) is based in Portsmouth, Virginia.[2]

There are three NISMFs:

• Puget Sound Naval Shipyard – Bremerton, Washington
• Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam – Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• Philadelphia Naval Shipyard – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In addition, parts of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, South Gate Annex Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard are designated for the storage of inactive nuclear powered vessels.[3][4]

Inactive ship facilities in Suisun Bay, James River and Beaumont, Texas are owned and operated by the Maritime Administration under the U.S. Department of Transportation.