USS California 1918
Marker: recorded wreck position (First World War).
Key facts
| Name | USS California | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1918 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | First World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | armored cruiser | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | War action | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | United States Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War I | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | North Atlantic Ocean | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 19 km from land |
| Position | 40.5375, -73.0372 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The second USS California (ACR-6), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 6", and later renamed San Diego, was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser.
California was launched on 28 April 1904 by Union Iron Works at San Francisco, California, sponsored by Miss Florence Pardee, daughter of California Governor George C. Pardee, and commissioned on 1 August 1907. It would later be the only major US warship lost during World War 1, sunk by a German mine after reaching Long Island, New York while en route from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to New York.
Diving & visiting
The wreck presently lies in 110 ft (34 m) of water, with the highest parts just 66 ft (20 m) below the surface, and as a result is one of the most popular shipwrecks in the US for scuba diving. The wreck lies inverted (upside-down) and has decayed over the last century. More scuba divers have died over the years on the wreck than the number of crew killed in its sinking, but this has not diminished its popularity. Nicknamed the "Lobster Hotel" for the abundance of lobsters living there, it is also a home to many kinds of fish. The wreck lies at 40°33′0.36″N 73°0′28.39″W, approximately 13.5 mi (21.7 km) due south of the intersection of Route 112 and Montauk Highway in Patchogue, New York.
The wreck is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Location
- Recorded position: 40.5375, -73.0372 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Atlantic Ocean
- Nearest coast: United States
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article USS California (ACR-6) (revision 1379310053), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- USS Turner 1944 · 65 km
- HMS Liverpool 1778 · 69 km
- PS Alexander Hamilton 85 km
- HMS Culloden 1781 · 108 km
- U-869 1945 · 110 km
- HMS Hussar 1780 · 128 km
Other wrecks of the World War I
- HMS Pheasant 1917
- HMS Vanguard 1917
- PS Duchess of Montrose 1917
- RMS Laconia 1917
- SM UC-61 1917
- HMS Ariel 1918
- HMS Cassandra 1918
- HMS H5 1918
- HMS Narborough 1918
- SM UB-33 1918
All 163 wrecks of the World War I →
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · North Atlantic Ocean · First World War