America's abandoned ships are among the most haunting urbex experiences in the country — ghost fleets of WWI wooden vessels sinking in a Maryland river, the rusting hull of the fastest ocean liner ever built rotting at a Philadelphia pier and a Chesapeake Bay graveyard of sidewheel steamboats lying where they stopped. Here are the 5 best abandoned ships in the USA, selected from our Abandoned Places Map USA — 5,000+ GPS locations across the United States.
1. Mallows Bay Ghost Fleet – WWI-Era Wooden Fleet of 200+ Vessels Deliberately Sunk in the Potomac River, Now a National Marine Sanctuary, Charles County Maryland (Known Location)
During WWI, the US government commissioned a massive wooden steamship building program to compensate for metal shortages — 264 vessels built at enormous cost before the war ended and made them surplus. Unable to sell or repurpose them economically, the government sold the fleet to a salvage company that burned the hulls in Mallows Bay to recover the metal fittings. The charred wooden hulls sank and stayed. A century later, over 200 vessel outlines are still visible in the shallow Potomac at low tide, their wooden ribs rising from the water like the bones of a submerged forest. Designated a National Marine Sanctuary in 2019 and accessible by kayak from the Mallows Bay boat ramp. One of the most extraordinary abandoned ship sites in the USA.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Mallows Bay
2. SS United States – 1952 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — Fastest Ocean Liner Ever Built, Still Holds the Blue Riband, Rusting at Pier 82 for 30 Years (Known Location)
When the SS United States completed her maiden voyage in July 1952, she crossed the Atlantic in 3 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes — smashing the speed record by 10 hours and claiming the Blue Riband, which she still holds. Built with $78 million of federal funding to serve as a troop transport in wartime, she carried over 1 million passengers in 17 years before being withdrawn from service in 1969. Since 1996 she has been rusting at Pier 82 in Philadelphia, the largest ocean liner still afloat and the most dramatic abandoned ship in the USA. Preservation battles have raged for decades; her fate remains unresolved. Visible from the Delaware River waterfront.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in the USA →
3. Curtis Creek Ship Graveyard – WWI Wooden Freight Ships, Three-Masted Schooner, Sidewheel Steamboat Emma Giles, Sinking in the Shallows, Baltimore (Known Location)
In the shallow waters of Curtis Creek south of Baltimore, a dozen vessels from different eras of Chesapeake maritime history lie in various states of submersion — the three-masted schooner William T. Parker on its side in the shallows, the remnants of WWI wooden freight ship hulls still above waterline at low tide, the deteriorating sidewheel steamboat ferry Emma Giles and a concrete barge. Best viewed from the Curtis Creek bridge or by kayak at low tide. One of the most quietly atmospheric abandoned ship sites in the USA — less famous than Mallows Bay, more intimate in scale. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
4. Abandoned WWII Ghost Fleet – Dozens of Liberty Ships Mothballed in San Francisco Bay Since 1945, Visible from the Highway (Exclusively on Our Map)
The US Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet in upper San Francisco Bay held over 100 WWII and Korean War-era ships in mothballed storage for decades — a ghost fleet of Liberty Ships visible from Highway 680. Most have been disposed of since 2000 as hulls deteriorated; the remaining vessels and the atmospheric scale of multiple large ships at anchor make this one of the most visually extraordinary ship sites in the USA. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet — part of the US Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet — held over 100 WWII and Korean War-era ships in mothballed storage in the upper San Francisco Bay for decades, a ghost fleet of Liberty Ships, Victory ships and military vessels visible from the Benicia-Martinez Bridge on Highway 680. Most have been disposed of since 2000 as their hulls deteriorated beyond economic maintenance, but a diminishing number remain. The dramatic sight of multiple large vessels anchored in convoy formation in the California bay — weathering, rusting, waiting for a war that never came — is one of the most visually extraordinary abandoned ship experiences in the USA. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
5. Abandoned WWII Liberty Ships – Rusting in a Virginia Tidal River Since 1945, Most Historically Significant East Coast Ship Graveyard (Exclusively on Our Map)
- Never board abandoned vessels: rusting ship hulls can fail catastrophically without warning — never attempt to board any vessel not designated for public access
- Water safety: always wear a life jacket when accessing ship sites by kayak or boat and check tidal conditions and current forecasts before departure
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned ship in the USA?
The SS United States at Philadelphia's Pier 82 — the fastest ocean liner ever built, still holding the Blue Riband speed record for the Atlantic crossing set in 1952. Withdrawn from service in 1969 and rusting at the Philadelphia waterfront since 1996, she is the largest ocean liner still afloat in the world.
What is Mallows Bay?
A National Marine Sanctuary in the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland, where over 200 WWI-era wooden steamship hulls lie in the shallow water — deliberately burned and sunk by a salvage company in the 1920s. At low tide the wooden ribs of the vessels rise from the water like a submerged forest, accessible by kayak from the Mallows Bay boat ramp.
What were the Liberty Ships?
Mass-produced cargo vessels built in extraordinary numbers by American shipyards during WWII — 2,710 vessels built between 1941 and 1945, each in an average of 42 days. They carried war material to every Allied theater and were essential to the Allied victory. After the war, thousands were mothballed in protected anchorages across America's coastal waterways; the last surviving examples are the most historically significant abandoned ships in the USA.
🎯 Summary
America's abandoned ships range from 200 WWI wooden hulls rising from the Potomac like a submerged forest, to the fastest ocean liner ever built rusting at a Philadelphia pier and Liberty Ships that carried war material across the Atlantic now sitting in tidal Virginia rivers. Each of these 5 abandoned ships in the USA carries a different chapter of American maritime history — and refuses to sink completely.
Abandoned Places Map USA
- ✓ 5,000+ GPS locations across the United States
- ✓ Exclusive locations not found anywhere else
- ✓ Instant access after purchase
- ✓ Free updates forever
19,99€
Explore All Locations →
