1,613 Comments for Staten Island Boat Graveyard

Abstract sculpture of a armadillo

I'm learning about boats in school, very cool this is a very interesting boat

Hi, Someone asked me to try to identify this boat, looked at all my photos and cant come up with any with the ribs on the hull like this has. Ya got me....Thought it was BASCORBEL but it does not have the ribs so I am stumped, where in the yard is it and who are its neighbors, which Ferry is that in the background?

I have to say, I thought it was wierd that I love abandoned ships, and i never searched for any of this until now... I think these photos are amazing, and it's great to see others share the same interest!!

Amazing. The last two pictures of this craft on the Naval Historical Center show the bridge and spotlight and they're still there.

The sense I get from these series of photos is how quiet these dead ships must be. A working ship is alive with sound: engines throbbing, ventilation systems blowing; pumps, motors and florescent lights humming, and the staccato sound of deck sailors chipping off rust and old paint with pneumatic and hand hammers. You don't notice it until it stops. For USS PC 1264 it has been stilled forever.

Thanks FB Jim!
Dutchess was probably doomed by the good condition. Worth scavaging so to speak. These folks appear to cut things up as orders come in.

The duke is privately owned and still used a weekend market and as a wharehouse.

For ALM, the ferry where you can read the word state is the BEACON, it was a Beacon to Newburgh NY ferry. The DUTCHESS from the same crossing was at Wittes' as well. DUTCHESS was in amazing condition years back when I visited her. Engine coated in protectant so it did not rust, coal shovel still in the coal bunker in th fire room, Old electric meters still in place as were the gauges and direction indicator in the engine room, it is a shame this boat could not have been preserved. I think it was previously the LT. FLARITY of the Boston to East Boston crossing.

Beautiful shot. It conveys so much emotion...You are very talented, Motts!

yo who ever shot that pic just caaptuer it all ...makes me thik of pearl harbour

I visited this place in '01 w/my 8y/o son and my brother. It is difficult to approach from land-the boatyard will not willingly let you in to crawl around such dangers. Visiting by boat is the answer. I am a diver and I wouldn't venture there-bad stuff in the water and no visibility. I would also suggest a visit to the restored cemetery just to the north of the yard - lots of history there, too! Great pictures of these old boats - much better than the ones I took from afar.

I believe some of these were at Wittes, or Whitties scrap yard down in the Tottenville area.

So the mystery is over. R A D A R.

These are in a scrap yard, they are slowly taking them down one by one. The waters around Staten Island are polluted with waay worse things than these boats (sewage, chemicals, etc), I suppose the EPA has more to worry about than this...

What you have here is a very badly treated indicator for a Navy SO radar.