List of shipwrecks of California

This is a list of shipwrecks located in Californian waters.

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
Brother Jonathan	United States	July 30, 1865	A paddle steamer that ran aground off Crescent City, with the lose of 225 souls. It's the deadliest shipwreck to occur on the Pacific Coast of the United States. Gold was recovered from the wreck in 1996.
Emidio	United States	December 20, 1941	A tanker that was sunk by I-17 off Crescent City.	41°45′1.96″N 124°11′47.95″W

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
Ada Hancock	United States	April 27, 1863	A steam-powered tender suffered a boiler explosion in Los Angeles Harbor killing 26 of her 53 passengers. A common urban legend states that onboard was $125,000 in gold, transported by a Wells Fargo messenger, which was never recovered.^[1]
Ace I		April 29, 1948	A barge that foundered in a storm and was scuttled as a hazard to navigation off San Pedro, Los Angeles.
Avalon	United States	September 16, 1964	A passenger ship that foundered under tow off Palos Verdes.	33.726°N 118.354°W / 33.726; -118.354 (SS Avalon (1891))
USS Burrfish	United States Navy	November 19, 1969	A Balao-class submarine that was sunk as a target off San Clemente Island.
Charles F. Crocker		1929	A barquentine that was run aground and dismasted for a movie off Santa Catalina Island, sometime around 1929. The wreck was later burned, and then moved further inland by a tidal bore.
Dauntless		October 3, 1928	A schooner that was blown up for the movie The Rescue off Catalina Harbor, Santa Catalina Island.
Diosa del Mar	United States	July 30, 1990	A wooden schooner that ran aground on Ship Rock at Santa Catalina Island.	33.462770°N 118.491925°W / 33.462770; -118.491925 (Diosa del Mar)
Dominator	United States	March 13, 1961	A cargo ship that ran aground on Rocky Point, Palos Verdes.	33°46′26″N 118°25′42″W
F.S. Loop		1947	A barge that sank near Angel's Gate and was blown up as a hazard to navigation.
Georgia		February 22, 1966	A barge that was scuttled off Redondo Beach.
Georgia Straits			A tug that sank under tow off Los Angeles.
USS Gregory	United States Navy	March 4, 1971	A Fletcher-class destroyer that was bombed as a target off San Clemente Island.
Johanna Smith	United States	July 22, 1932	A schooner that caught fire and sank off Long Beach.
USS John C. Butler	United States Navy	1971	A John C. Butler-class destroyer escort that was sunk as a target off San Clemente.
USS Koka	United States Navy	December 7, 1937	A Bagaduce-class fleet tug that ran aground off San Clemente Island.
Margaret C.			A schooner that was blown up for a movie in Catalina Harbor, Santa Catalina Island, in about 1926.
Monfalcone		August 31, 1930	A gambling ship that caught fire and sank off Long Beach.
USS Moody	United States Navy	February 21, 1933	A Clemson-class destroyer that was blown up in San Pedro Bay for the MGM movie Hell Below.
USS Moray	United States Navy	June 18, 1970	A Balao-class submarine that was sunk as a target off San Clemente.	33.425°N 117.629°W / 33.425; -117.629 (USS Moray (SS-300))
USS Naifeh	United States Navy	July 11, 1966	A John C. Butler-class destroyer escort that was sunk as a target off San Clemente Island.
Ningpo		1938	A Chinese junk that was beached then burned at Santa Catalina Island.
Olympic II		September 4, 1940	A barge that collided with the Japanese freighter Sakito Maru off San Pedro. The wreck was blown up as a hazard to navigation.
Palmyra			A schooner that was beached and burned off Santa Catalina Island, around 1938.
Princess Louise		June 20, 1990	A cruise ship, later converted into a floating restaurant, that sank under tow about 16 nautical miles (30 km) southwest of Point Fermin, while en route to Catalina to be sunk as an artificial reef.
Sacramento		December 2, 1968	A barge and ferry that foundered off Redondo Beach.
Sansinena	Liberia	December 17, 1976	An oil tanker that exploded at the Port of Los Angeles.	33°42′52″N 118°16′29″W
S.N. Castle		February 17, 1926	A barquentine that was burned and sunk in Catalina Harbor at Santa Catalina Island, for the movie Old Ironsides.
SueJac		November 14, 1980	A schooner that ran aground on Casino Point, Santa Catalina Island.
USS Stribling	United States Navy	January 1937	A Wickes-class destroyer that was sunk as a target off San Pedro.
UB-88	United States Navy	January 3, 1921	A Wickes-class destroyer that was sunk as a target off San Pedro.
USS Vammen	United States Navy	February 18, 1971	Sunk by a Condor missile strike off San Clemente Island.	Lat 118-33.0 N, Long 32-54.05 W

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
Labouchere	United Kingdom	April 14, 1866	A paddle steamer that ran aground off Point Reyes.	38°05′N 123°01′W
San Agustin	Spain	November 1595	A Manila galleon under the command of Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho that was wrecked at anchor in Drakes Bay, the first shipwreck in California.	37.99677°N 123.01984°W / 37.99677; -123.01984 (San Augustin)
Tennessee		March 6, 1853	A passenger steamship that ran aground off Indian Cove, now renamed Tennessee Cove.

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes
Il’mena	Russia	June 19, 1820	A Russian-American Company maritime fur trade brig that wrecked at Point Arena. All people and cargo was saved and taken to Bodega Bay and Fort Ross.
Frolic		1850	An opium-trading brig wrecked near Point Cabrillo Light in 1850. Frolic was the subject of a 2003 episode of Deep Sea Detectives.
Josephine Woolcot		1886	A schooner wrecked by a storm off Mendocino City. Ship broke in half mid ship into two sections – bow and two mast / transon and two mast, sank with fantail pointing northwest in large surf.
Sea Foam		January 28, 1931	A schooner that was wrecked at Point Arena.

Ship	Sunk date	Notes
Charles Brown	April 21, 1932	A barge that ran aground off Laguna Beach.
Elsie I	October 17, 1951	A barge that capsized in a storm off Huntington Beach.
Foss 125	November 17, 1958	A barge that foundered in a storm off Laguna Beach.

List of shipwrecks of California

Del Norte County

Humboldt County

Los Angeles County

Marin County

Mendocino County

Orange County

San Diego County

San Francisco County

San Luis Obispo County

San Mateo County

Santa Barbara County

Santa Cruz County

Sonoma County

Ventura County

Citations

References

Further reading

Wikiwand - on

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
Carrier Pigeon	United States	June 6, 1853	A clipper that ran aground near Pigeon Point. "On the night of June 6, 1853, the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon ran aground 500 feet off shore of the central California coast. The area is now called Pigeon Point in her honor. The Carrier Pigeon was a state-of-the art, 19th Century clipper ship. She was 175 feet long with a narrow, 34 foot beam and rated at about 845 tons burden. Launched in the fall of 1852 from Bath, Maine, the Carrier Pigeon ... started out on her maiden voyage on January 28, 1853. Out of Boston and bound for San Francisco, the Carrier Pigeon was under the command of Captain Azariah Doane." (Pigeon Point History). There were no deaths in the sinking.
Sir John Franklin		January 17, 1865	Clipper ship. The ship was headed for San Francisco and in heavy fog struck rocks off of the point, since then renamed Franklin Point. The ship was destroyed, killing the Captain and eleven men. The point is located in Ano Nuevo State Reserve. The seamen were buried there; the officers in San Francisco.
Point Arena		1913	A steam schooner. Pieces of the hull are on display at Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
San Juan		August 29, 1929	A passenger steamer that was rammed by S. C. T. Dodd off Pigeon Point.^[2]	37°11′N 122°25′W
USS Thompson	United States Navy	February 1944	A Clemson-class destroyer that was sunk as a target in San Francisco Bay.	37.5529°N 122.1576°W / 37.5529; -122.1576 (USS Thompson (DD-305))