A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the United States Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate. All ships in these facilities are inactive, but some are still on the Naval Vessel Register (NVR), while others have been struck from the register.

Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk was a part of the United States Navy reserve fleets, also called a mothball fleet, and was used to store the many surplus ships after World War II. The Atlantic Reserve Fleet was just south of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, called the South Gate Annex in Portsmouth, Virginia, 2 mi (3.2 km) south of Norfolk, Virginia. The reserve fleet was stored in the freshwater of the Elizabeth River, Southern Branch near the Jordan Bridge. The freshwater was good for long-term storage for ships. Some ships in the fleet were reactivated for the Korean War and Vietnam War.