Tonight we are anchored at one of my all time favorite spots....Kiptopeke.....aka....the Concrete Ships.

The McCloskey Ships...Just as steel had become scarce during the First World War, the Second World War was again consuming the country's steel resources. In 1942, the United States Maritime Commission contracted McCloskey and Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to build a new fleet of 24 concrete ships. Three decades of improvements in concrete technology made this new fleet lighter and stronger than its WWI predecessors.

The ships were constructed in Tampa, Florida starting in July of 1943. The ships were built at an incredible rate, with one being launched a month. The ships were named after pioneers in the science and development of concrete.

Two of the ships were sunk as blockships in the Allied invasion of Normandy. Two are wharves in Yaquina Bay in Newport, Oregon and seven are still afloat in a giant breakwater on the Powell River in Canada.

In December 1948, nine McCloskey ships were partially sunk to form a breakwater for the ferry that ran from Cape Charles to Norfolk (aka Kiptopeke, Virginia)

After the construction of the Chesepeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, the ferry was put out of business; however, the breakwater still protects the beach and provides a home for coastal fish and birds.