Rust in peace in a ship graveyard off Staten Island

It may be better known for skyscrapers, shopping and Broadway shows – but an eerie ship graveyard is also sending tourists flocking to New York. The graveyard, one of the largest marine scrap yards on the U.S. East Coast, is an official dumping ground for disused and decommissioned ferries, tugboats and barges that sit in the water until they are dismantled or salvaged.

Throughout its existence it has been home to once famed fleet such as a ship that took part in D-Day and a submarine destroyer from World War II which was the first ship manned by an all-black crew. It is also the final resting place of New York City Fire Department fireboat Abram S. Hewitt, which was involved in the rescue of survivors of the 1904 General Slocum tragedy.

Photography by Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News

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