Exploring the Ghost Fleet at Mallow’s Bay
(By Elizabeth Tuico) A short drive southeast of the District of Columbia brings you to the largest fleet of shipwrecks in North America. Mallow's Bay is on the Potomac River in Charles County, MD in the tiny town of Nanjemoy. This day trip is worth the cost of gas especially if you love nature and obscure American history.
How It Happened
Mallow’s Bay is the most varied collection of historic shipwrecks in the Western Hemisphere, spanning over three centuries of American shipbuilding. Known as the Ghost Fleet, most of the ships were built during World War I. The Wilson Administration created the Emergency Fleet Corporation to ramp up ship production in 1917. An ambitious plan was hastily enacted to construct steel, concrete and wooden ships to support the war effort.
About 100 ships were built; all had construction problems and mechanical failures. Delays and shortages kept the best timber away from the shipyards. Many of the 40 shipyards that received contracts were understaffed and underpaid.
By the end of the war, only 76 ships could carry cargo, and none had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. After the war, the Shipping Board unloaded the incomplete fleet. What cost the U.S. government $300 million to build was sold for scrap for only $750,000.
Western Marine & Salvage Company purchased most of the ships for salvage and brought them to the Potomac. The scrap metal was salvaged, but the company wasn’t sure what to do with the wooden hulls of the ships. Mallow’s Bay was determined to be a good site for beaching the fleet. On November 7, 1925, 31 of the ships were burned at Mallow’s Bay. This event was the greatest destruction of ships at one time in U.S. history.
By 1931, 169 hulls made the journey to Mallow’s Bay. The Great Depression brought a decline in scrap values, and Western Marine quietly abandoned the project. Local scavengers went through the remaining ships to salvage whatever they could find.
In 1942, Bethlehem Steel was awarded a contract to recover any remaining metal from the Ghost Fleet. Bethlehem Steel worked at the site until 1945 and transported salvaged material to a facility near Baltimore to support World War II efforts. For about 20 years, no one paid much attention to the Ghost Fleet.
Unique Ecology
A company called Idamont purchased the land around Mallow’s Bay and lobbied to remove the ships in the 1960s. Locals fought back when it was determined that Idamont was a Pepco shell company that wanted to build a power station nearby.
The Federal government stepped in. A unique ecosystem developed around the Ghost Fleet. It was declared that the removal of the ships was unnecessary. Today, Charles County manages a day-use area at Mallow’s Bay Park.
The Ghost Fleet is part of the Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary, the first national marine sanctuary within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
On my recent trip to Mallow’s Bay, we saw a bald eagle, great blue herons and osprey. The surroundings are truly magical as wooden hulls and rusted iron dart out from the calm, shallow water. About 200 ships are partially submerged not far from the shoreline; the largest is an old ferryboat. Unique habitats have evolved above and below the waters of the Ghost Fleet. The hulls are home for birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and mammals.
Recreational Fishing
Mallow’s Bay is one of the best places in the country to catch striped bass. We met a fisherman in the parking lot who regaled us with many tales. He not only catches bass but also white perch, channel catfish and blue crab.
One valuable lesson I learned during the pandemic is that you don’t have to board a long haul flight to see something extraordinary. The weird and the wonderful are in your backyard.
Tips For Your Day Trip
Mallow’s Bay in Nanjemoy, MD is 75 minutes from Washington, DC.
A great way to see the Ghost Fleet is from a kayak. REI offers day trips, but a less expensive option is a guided tour from Charles County Parks and Recreation.
Ghost Fleet exploration makes you hungry. We had delicious soft shell crab sandwiches and homemade potato chips at the Nanjemoy Bar & Grill, about a mile from Mallow’s Bay.
If you can’t get to Mallow’s Bay, the Chesapeake Conservancy created two virtual reality tours.
Pro Tip: Find out when high tide is at Mallows Bay. You can only see a few vessels during high tide. Plan your trip around low tide.