SS Dominator, a freighter, ran ashore on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the South Bay area of California in 1961 due to a navigational error while lost in fog.

[3] It was named after the journalist Melville Jacoby, who, after reporting on the war in China and narrowly escaping capture at Corregidor, was killed in an air crash in 1942.

[5] On March 13, 1961, Dominator was en route to Los Angeles from Vancouver with a cargo of wheat and beef when she ran aground off Palos Verdes, California.

[6] For two days, the Coast Guard and tugboats attempted to refloat her, but heavy seas and high winds only forced her higher onto the rocks.

The stranded ship was then auctioned, and hull and cargo were sold separately, which led to some conflict between the salvors, as they attempted to gain what they could.