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391:. In September 2006, a clean-up project was started that cost an estimated $ 1.7 million, approximately the same as the estimated $ 1.5 million cost of the original construction of the ship in 1919. During the clean-up, workers pumped 500 U.S. gallons (416 Imperial gallons; 1,893 liters) of oil from the ship and discovered the carcasses of 200 more birds and two
321:, but eventually she deteriorated to the point where she was unsafe for this purpose, and she was closed to the public in 1950. Following an attempt at restoration in the 1980s, she reopened for fishing for a few years, then closed again. The fishing pier opened to foot traffic once again in the summer of 2016, but later closed for repairs.
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was damaged by the sea, leading her to be stripped and used only as a fishing pier. Subsequent decades have seen her be further broken by the sea, but large sections of her wreck remain somewhat intact.
398:
The ship continued to deteriorate after the clean-up. While she had over the decades been broken into four roughly segmented pieces, winter storms in
February 2016 pushed the wreck onto her
23:
SS Palo Alto and connecting fishing pier were battered by the 2022-23 winter storms. The ship deteriorated further and the pier was deemed to be beyond repair and removed in April, 2023.
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In the spring of 2005, oil found on wildlife nearly two years earlier, killing dozens of seabirds, was traced back to the ship, whose fuel tanks had cracked and were leaking
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rested on the bottom. There she was refitted as an amusement ship, with amenities including a dance floor, a swimming pool and a café.
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220:. Completed too late to see war service, she was mothballed until 1929, when she was intentionally grounded off
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was mothballed in
Oakland until 1929, when she was bought by the Seacliff Amusement Corporation and towed to
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was built leading to the ship in 1930, and she was sunk in a few feet in the water so that her
265:. She was launched on 29 May 1919, too late to see service in the war. Her sister ship was the
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Forever Facing South, The story of the S.S. Palo Alto "The Old Cement Ship" of
Seacliff Beach
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side and broke her rear half open. On 21 January 2017, another winter storm tore the
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553:"Historic concrete ship S.S. Palo Alto smashed in half by record Calif. storm waves"
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was built by the San
Francisco Shipbuilding Company at the U.S. Naval Shipyard in
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in July 2012 when she was still largely congruent on one axis (click to enlarge).
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purchased the ship, and she was stripped of her fittings and left as a fishing
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309:, and the ship cracked at the midsection during a winter storm. The
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683:"Cement Ship in Santa Cruz County torn apart by massive waves"
712:"Dock to Santa Cruz 'cement ship' destroyed amid storm waves"
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502:"Sandy Lydon's Central Coast Secrets - Hooey History"
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The company went bankrupt two years later during the
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destroyed portions of the pier leading to the ship.
43:(Naval History and Heritage Command - Photo NH 799)
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909:List of auxiliary ships of the United States Navy
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626:"'Cement ship' (SS Palo Alto) reaches a century"
111:Grounded as a fishing pier at Seacliff Beach in
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768:information at California State Parks website
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658:"History of the Seacliff Beach Cement Ship"
352:that grow in the shelter of the wreck, and
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301:Overhead view of SS Palo Alto in July 2019
480:. Santa Cruz, California: Otter B Books.
963:History of Santa Cruz County, California
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408:5 January 2023, yet another winter storm
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185:3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine
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600:"The history of Seacliff's Cement Ship"
584:deepgreen.com Seacliff State Beach USS
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598:Gibson, Ross Eric (22 January 2023).
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360:visit the wreck to feed on the fish.
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41:on sea trials, on 10 September 1920.
92:San Francisco Shipbuilding Company,
656:Williams, Fleur (29 January 2017).
13:
973:Ships built in Oakland, California
933:Shipwrecks of the California coast
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710:Regimbal, Alec (5 January 2023).
968:History of the Monterey Bay Area
760:information at ConcreteShips.org
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551:Guarino, Ben (23 January 2017).
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624:Matthew Renda (29 May 2019).
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324:Nicknamed the "Cement Ship",
317:. She was a popular site for
249:An aerial view of the wreck
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16:1919 American concrete ship
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791:36.9696528°N 121.9139750°W
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978:Ships sunk as breakwaters
906:
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118:
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796:36.9696528; -121.9139750
156:420 ft (130 m)
119:General characteristics
348:and other fish feed on
232:entertainment complex.
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172:35 ft (11 m)
164:54 ft (16 m)
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688:San Jose Mercury News
643:San Jose Mercury News
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228:, becoming part of a
83:Palo Alto, California
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753:at Wikimedia Commons
344:perch on the wreck,
319:recreational fishing
280:Seacliff State Beach
222:Seacliff State Beach
183:Llewellyn Iron Works
928:Design 1100 tankers
836:Design 1100 tankers
787: /
631:Santa Cruz Sentinel
604:Santa Cruz Sentinel
311:State of California
263:Oakland, California
94:Oakland, California
395:inside the wreck.
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127:Design 1100 tanker
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938:Aptos, California
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746:Media related to
691:. 22 January 2017
449:concreteships.org
406:off the ship. On
284:Aptos, California
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561:. Archived from
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445:"S.S. Palo Alto"
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307:Great Depression
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736:External links
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721:. Retrieved
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641:– via
635:. Retrieved
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567:. Retrieved
563:the original
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509:. Retrieved
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452:. Retrieved
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393:harbor seals
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226:Monterey Bay
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958:Oil tankers
897:San Pasqual
794: /
667:19 February
454:17 December
334:marine life
218:World War I
212:built as a
143:3,696
137:6,144
103:29 May 1919
948:1919 ships
922:Categories
695:23 January
609:24 January
511:23 January
430:References
356:and other
340:and other
177:Propulsion
848:Palo Alto
766:Palo Alto
758:Palo Alto
750:Palo Alto
723:6 January
637:19 August
586:Palo Alto
569:8 January
400:starboard
381:Palo Alto
369:Palo Alto
354:sea lions
346:sea perch
326:Palo Alto
276:Palo Alto
259:Palo Alto
251:Palo Alto
234:Palo Alto
205:Palo Alto
73:Palo Alto
39:Palo Alto
890:Cuyamaca
862:Dinsmore
472:(2002).
414:See also
389:fuel oil
342:seabirds
338:Pelicans
267:SS
253:in 2013.
100:Launched
79:Namesake
855:Peralta
383:in 2018
269:Peralta
241:History
224:in the
194:1 shaft
132:Tonnage
89:Builder
49:History
876:Latham
869:Moffit
717:SFGate
484:
424:(1919)
214:tanker
208:was a
153:Length
883:Selma
422:Selma
404:stern
350:algae
169:Depth
725:2023
697:2017
669:2023
639:2020
611:2023
571:2023
513:2017
482:ISBN
456:2012
379:The
332:for
315:pier
292:keel
288:pier
286:. A
188:359
161:Beam
124:Type
108:Fate
68:Name
748:SS
420:SS
367:SS
282:in
257:SS
203:SS
190:nhp
145:NRT
139:GRT
71:SS
924::
714:.
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521:^
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336:.
272:.
828:e
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814:v
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458:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
