Former Site of the Olympia Reserve Fleet

 navy, place with historical importance, historical layer / disappeared object, military reserve force

Following the Second World War the US Navy and US Maritime Administration were faced with a surplus of ships and a lack of available docking space in which to store them once they were deactivated and placed into reserve or 'mothballs'. Starting in 1946, the US Navy began construction of mooring facilities here in Budd Inlet North of Olympia to provide a storage place for general cargo ships, troopships and transports no longer active in the peacetime US Navy.

The ships stored here were maintained in a condition to allow their rapid return to service if needed, which was demonstrated in the Korean and Vietnam Wars when troopships and transport ships were reactivated for service in as little as 30-60 days. Many of the Liberty and Victory ships stored here also served as storehouses for surplus wheat crops in the late 1950's.

In the 1960's & 1970's the US Navy decided to consolidate it's reserve fleets to three nationwide locations and began to withdraw ships from Olympia to the current location at Suisun Bay in California. The last ships left Olympia's reserve fleet in 1972 and the shoreside facilities closed shortly thereafter.