Hundreds of WWI Shipwrecks Now Form America’s Largest Ghost Fleet in This Maryland Bay

The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay, Maryland

Just off the Potomac River in Maryland, Mallows Bay holds a strange kind of graveyard.

Nearly 200 wooden ships from World War I rest in these shallow waters, creating the largest collection of shipwrecks in the Western Hemisphere.

Here’s the fascinating history of America’s most unusual ship cemetery.

US Government Created This Fleet During WWI Panic

In April 1917, German U-boats were sinking over 200 ships every month, so the US had to move fast.

Just ten days after joining WWI, they formed the Emergency Fleet Corporation to make ships as fast as they could.

By the time the war ended, only 134 of the 731 ships they ordered were built. Most were made of wood instead of steel to save metal for battle ships.

These weren’t small boats either. At 300 feet long, they were twice the size of a major league ball field.

July 4th, 1918 Saw 95 Ships Launched in One Day

July 4, 1918 set a world record when 95 ships hit the water on a single day. The plan to build 1,000 ships in just 18 months was the biggest ship job in US past at that time.

Sadly, the ships weren’t that great—they leaked, broke down, and got bugs and rot in their wooden hulls. Not a single one made it to the war zone before the fighting stopped.

Once peace came, no one wanted these leaky boats, so they just sat in the water with no use until people came to take them apart for scrap.

Ship Scrap Firms Tried Three Times to Take Them Apart

After the war ended, the ships went through three tries at being scrapped from the 1920s to 1940s.

The Western Marine and Salvage Corp bought them first, taking a few at a time to break down in their yard. In 1922, they bought over 200 wooden steamships and put them in the river near Widewater, Virginia.

This caused lots of issues—some ships caught fire by chance, while others broke free and made the river risky for other boats. The firm was told to tie them up tight and keep them from drifting.

Then they burned many down to the water line before moving them to Mallows Bay.

Witness Described 31 Ships Burning at Once in 1925

On one wild day in 1925, they set 31 ships on fire at the same time. It was the most ships ever burned at once in US past.

The ships were tied with steel cables, and ten men ran from deck to deck with torches, making them all catch fire.

The flames shot up for hours and folks could see the glow from miles away. Some ships kept burning for days after.

You might hear tales that you can still smell smoke on cold nights when the wind blows just right, but that’s just a story to give you chills—not real fact.

Local Men Blew Up Ships for Metal During the Great Crash

When the stock crash hit in 1929, folks who were broke came to the wrecks to pull out any bits they could sell.

Up to 100 men in small boats would use home-made bombs to blast the ships and get metal parts they sold for just cents.

The Western Marine firm went out of cash after the crash, which let people from both sides of the river take what they could to make ends meet.

They’d grab tools, brass parts, copper wire—any metal that might bring in a buck or two to feed their kids during hard times.

Metal From the Ships Helped Win World War II

Once World War II started, people looked at the Ghost Fleet once more.

In 1942, a war group called the Metals Reserve Company paid Bethlehem Steel to get any more metal from the wrecks.

They kept at it until 1945, taking scrap to their plant near Baltimore to help make war gear. This time the parts went into new ships, guns, tanks, and planes.

The work gave jobs to men too old to fight, so they could still help beat the bad guys even if they weren’t on the front lines.

Dive Down to Find 300 Years of Ship Types in the Bay

When folks dug into the wrecks in the 1980s and 90s, they found way more than just the WWI wooden ships.

They also found 1700s schooners, a Civil War boat, a boat from the 1770s fight for freedom, old work barges, and even a car ferry from the 1970s.

The bay has ships from when George Washington was still alive, right up to the days of disco and gas lines.

Some ships have names and tales we know, but many sit there with no signs, lost to time like ghosts with no one to tell their tales.

Look for the Accomac Ferry That Looms Largest in the Bay

The Accomac, a big WWII ship that later moved cars as a ferry, is the only wreck that still rises high out of the water and looks like a real boat.

Built in 1928, it was among the last ships to be left in the bay in 1973.

It’s the first thing most folks spot when they reach the bay. You can still make out bits of the car deck and parts of the hull.

The best time to see it is early in the day when mist swirls around it, making for great photos.

Watch Birds Make Homes in Ships Turned Plant Pots

They’ve turned into what locals call “Wet Plant Pots”—odd lumps of green where trees and grass grow right out of the old wood. Some might think the wrecks look messy, but to wild things, they’re safe homes.

The ships hold big nests for fish hawks, and bald eagles build in the trees that grow from the old decks. Fish hide in the dark spots, and turtles sun on the warm bits of wood that poke out.

The wrecks keep small fish safe from big nets and give them places to lay eggs.

Visit the Bay in All Four Months to See New Sights

The bay looks fresh each time you come. What you spot on a cold day in March won’t match what you see on a hot day in July.

Kayak tours run all year, but you’ll see new birds and plants with each turn of the months.

The tides change what ships you can see too—at high tide, most hide below the waves, but at low tide, more parts poke out.

Fall brings the best bird shows, spring has the most green growth, and in deep summer, the bay fills with fish.