What happens to ships after they are decommissioned?
After decommissioning, a ship is removed from active service in the fleet. Decommissioned ships are placed in storage, and can be disposed in a variety of ways. Some decommissioned ships are transferred or sold to friendly foreign navies through Foreign Military Sales. Others are donated or become floating museums in honor of those who served. Some decommissioned ships are used for Experimental Testing and play an important role in developing new systems for tomorrow’s Fleet. Other inactive ships are purposefully sunk and can be used to create reefs in an environmentally friendly practice called Artificial Reefing. For more information, see the Inactive Ships and Ship Transfers sections of the PEO Ships website.
