Rivet City

Rivet City is the largest human community in the Washington, DC area.

Location
Rivet City in the most southeastern part of the map, near Anacostia. It is easiest to reach by following the eastern side of the river Potomac, crossing near the Tepid Sewer or at the Citadel, or by swimming across from Arlington Library.

If you are coming from the back door of the GNR Building, you can come all the way underground from Collapsed Car Tunnel, past the Museum Station, continuing South to the Anacostia station. (Click the Discussion tab for this page regarding a Pip Boy World Map glitch here.)

There is also an intercom button on the structure where Carlos the begger asks for water. Click the intercom button to extend the bridge to Rivet City.

History
It is housed in an aircraft carrier that was docked at the Washington Navy Yard at the time of the Great War, and left stranded when the water level in the Anacostia and Potomac rivers dropped. The community was founded by members of the pre-War Naval Research Center, who moved to the vessel to make use of its onboard facilities and comparatively defensible position.

By 2277, Rivet City was the sole supplier of edible, non-irradiated food in the Capital Wasteland, trading it for essential raw materials with other communities.

Inhabitants
Inside the enclosed "city", there was a clear separation of social classes, with those living on the lower decks of the ship treated as dregs and undesirables by the "upper-deckers".

Rivet City contained a large and thriving marketplace, as well as other institutions, such as:
 * Saint Monica's Church a Christian religious community,
 * the Capitol Preservation Society with a museum of pre-War historical artifacts and knowledge,
 * the Weatherly Hotel,
 * a well-stocked and well-guarded armory,
 * the Muddy Rudder bar.

The broken bow of the ship was separated from the main carrier superstructure and half-flooded. The lower levels are inhabited by Mirelurks while the upper levels contain Pinkerton's laboratory and home.

For the player exploring the vessel, when checking out the bridge tower, it is worth going through all the exterior doors. These lead to catwalks on the outside of the tower, most of which have an ammunition box or something similar worth looting.

To access Rivet City, climb to the 3rd story of the tower near the Rivet City map marker. There is an intercom near the guy asking for water. When activated a bridge will extend from the ship.

Appearances
Rivet City appears only in Fallout 3.

Related Quests
On the Upper Deck you can rent a hotel room for 120 caps from Vera Weatherly, or her robot. After purchasing the hotel room, you can access it for free there after. With this room comes a bed, which grants you the Well Rested bonus effect of +10% experience. So do this first before gaining any experience. Sometimes the room will have an average lock on it, but you do not lose Karma for picking it. The Bobblehead: Intelligence is standing on the table in the Science Lab.


 * Scientific Pursuits
 * The Replicated Man
 * Stealing Independence
 * The Wasteland Survival Guide
 * Those!
 * A Nice Day for a Right Wedding
 * Council Seat
 * Light-Fingers Hargrave
 * Overdose
 * Slave Hunt
 * Suicide Watch
 * The Runaways



Behind the scenes
The Craig Mullins concept art published on May 15, 2007 shows a city with ruined skyscrapers and an aircraft carrier which has run ashore and is connected to one of them by a rudimentary bridge. The aircraft carrier appears to be the USS Oriskany although the image is mirrored thus placing the island on the wrong side of the ship. The picture that was used for reference is located on a website devoted to naval vessels.

Given the vessel's location (at the Washington Navy Yard), it is tempting to assume the carrier must have been a museum piece. This would appear to be supported by the large number of antique aircraft left on the flight deck. The aircraft seem to be Lockheed P-80s. Such modern-day aircraft carrier museums as the USS Lexington display aircraft on board the flight deck and/or hangar deck.

The USS Oriskany was an Essex-class aircraft carrier, of which only four others remain and are open as museums: the USS Hornet in Alameda, California; the USS Lexington, in Corpus Christi, Texas; the USS Yorktown, in Charleston, South Carolina; and the USS Intrepid, in New York City. (The Oriskany is now an artificial reef off the coast of Florida.)

Glitches
At the Rivet City Middeck there is a high chance that your game will freeze, even if you leave the area afterwards. It is unknown what causes this and no fix has been found.

At the Rivet City Marketplace, if you jump on the table at the galley where food is sold, you may get stuck and have to reload your last autosave.

In the halls of the middeck there is some kind of small step ladder don't walk up on it or you'll get stuck and have to reload your last savegame.

On the Midship Deck, inside the Common Room, walk into either indent of the doorway and look around the room, a blue void has appeared.

Outside on the carrier, near the bridge there is a stash with ammo containers and a first-aid box. If you approach some of the walls here, you will fall through the ship and get stuck inside, with nothing but radioactive water around you. The same thing will happen if you jump from the Flight Deck to the floor below and touch the walls there.