Concrete Ship SS Palo Alto | abandoned / shut down

USA / California / Aptos /
 ship, abandoned / shut down
The S.S. Palo Alto was an oil tanker built during World War I on the east side of San Francisco Bay. The loss of many ships to German submarines and the high price of steel combined to make concrete ships feasible. Despite the fact that the construction of the ship went very quickly, World War I ended before the S.S. Palo Alto could be put into service.
The S.S. Palo Alto's concrete recipe.
The ship was made from cement manufactured in the Santa Cruz Portland Cement company plant in Davenport. The specifications:
1 part Portland cement
2 parts aggregate (1/3 sand; 2/3 gravel)
1 part water
The S.S. Palo Alto Vital Statistics
Date of commission: October 1920
Length: 434 feet
Power: 2,800 horsepower steam engine
Tonnage: 6,144 tons
Capacity: 1,300,000 gallons of oil
Original cost of construction: $1,500,000
Original owner: United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation.
In January 1930 the ship was purchased by a corporation intending to use her as the focal point of their coastal development known as Seacliff. Their timing was very bad, however, and the ever-tightening tentacles of the Great Depression eventually strangled that plan and in 1932 the company collapsed. In 1936 the State of California purchased the ship for $1 and added it to Seacliff State Beach.
Periodic storms have hammered the ship and the pier, but despite her trials and tribulations, the S.S. Palo Alto appears to be moving through the waves even though she's going absolutely nowhere.
Important dates in the history of the S.S. Palo Alto
1918 – May 19 – ship was christened and launched at Alameda
1918 - November 11– Armistice signed ending World War I
1920 – October 20 – ship is commissioned
1921 – January 2 – First and only voyage under power across San Francisco Bay
1921 - Was towed to moth ball berth at Benicia
1924 - November - Sold for $18,750 to Oliver J. Colson Co., for oil storage
Later sold to Oakland machinery dealer, R.C. Porter
1929 – Sold to Seacliff Amusement Corporation for unknown amount of $
1929 – October 29 – Stock Market Crash
1930 - January 21-22 – Towed from Oakland to Seacliff
1930 - January 25 – Intentionally sunk off the end of pier at Seacliff
1930 - June 21 – Grand opening
1931-32 – Winter storms crack the ship's hull.
1932 – August – First parcel of beach property acquired by State of California
1936 – February 12 – State of California purchases S.S. Palo Alto for $1.00.
1958 - Foredeck of ship made off-limits to the public
1959 - Ship's masts are cut down.

Cement Ship Palo Alto at Seacliff Beach, CA, USA
At the end of a fishing pier is the remnants of a concrete freighter, The Palo Alto.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seacliff_State_Beach
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Alto_(tanker)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   36°58'10"N   121°54'50"W

Comments

  • I went fishing on the peir and the ship every summer until I was about 13. Until I was 8 or so you could go all the way out to the prow... but then it was closed because the front half of the ship was sinking into the bay floor, and the ship itself ewas breaking up.
  • My dad took me out to that pier and ship to fish, too, back in the 1960's. I remember walking on a rickety old gang-plank to cross the section of the ship that broke apart, it was scary to do as a kid. You could look down and see the broken concrete and twisted rebar as the ocean waves lapped over them. Thanks to this satellite imagery, I now know that the ship has survived the strong storms over the years. But sadly, no one can fish off that ship anymore.
  • I've also notice the retail businesses on the pier are gone. They used to sell fishing bait, popcorn candy squares [pink colored] about the size of a small sandwich, other snacks, and soft drinks.
  • I remember when you could still walk on the back half of the ship, late 90s I think. Kind of sad when I think about it. Does anyone go here anymore?
  • I also remember that scary gangplank to cross the big split in the middle of the ship in the 1950's when I was a young boy. Even as a 6 year old boy I thought this is a very unsafe way to get to the front of the ship. We used to go there all the time to fish.
  • Destroyed by the recent weather.
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This article was last modified 11 years ago