Qualla: Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary: Introduction

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Will Sassorossi, w:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public domain. Trees grow from the decks of dead ships here. In a sheltered bend of the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland, the rotting ribs of more than 200 vessels break the surface of the water, their wooden hulls colonized by marsh grasses, wildflowers, and even full-grown trees. Osprey nest on rusted iron. Beaver lodges sit atop sunken steamships. This is Mallows Bay, home to the largest collection of shipwrecks in the Western Hemisphere and the centerpiece of the 14th National Marine Sanctuary, the first ever designated in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Image: Will Sassorossi, w:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Public domain

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary: The Ghost Fleet

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tyler Smith, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public domain. The heart of the sanctuary is a fleet of 118 wooden-hulled steamships that never saw the war they were built for. Between 1917 and 1919, the U.S. Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation rushed to build nearly 300 ships at more than 40 shipyards across 17 states, racing to re...

Image: Tyler Smith, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Public domain

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary: Centuries of Wreckage

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tyler Smith, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public domain. The World War I fleet is only the most visible layer. Archaeological surveys have identified shipwrecks in the sanctuary dating back to the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War, along with historical artifacts spanning 12,000 years of human presence along the Potomac. The...

Image: Tyler Smith, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Public domain

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary: Where Rust Becomes Refuge

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Matt McIntosh, w:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public domain. Nature has done what salvage crews could not: reclaimed the fleet entirely. The decomposing hulls create sheltered habitats for fish, birds, and aquatic plants. Osprey hunt above the wrecks while bass and other species shelter below. The shallow, warm waters around the wooden ske...

Image: Matt McIntosh, w:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Public domain

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary: From Forgotten to Protected

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration image, Public domain. For decades, the Ghost Fleet was an obscure local curiosity. That changed on September 16, 2014, when Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley nominated the area for national sanctuary status on behalf of the state, Charles County, and a coalition of community groups. NOAA officially de...

Image: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration image | Public domain

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary: Paddling Through History

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Will Sassorossi, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public domain. The sanctuary is best experienced at water level, where the scale of the wreckage becomes personal. From a kayak, the curved ribs of a steamship rise overhead like the bones of a whale. Marsh grasses wave from what were once cargo holds. The Benzonia's wreck caught fire as recent...

Image: Will Sassorossi, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Public domain