SS Palo Alto

SS Palo Alto was a concrete ship built as a tanker at the end of World War I.

Completed too late to see war service, she was mothballed until 1929, when she was intentionally grounded off Seacliff State Beach in the Monterey Bay, becoming part of a pleasure pier entertainment complex.

She was a popular site for recreational fishing,[4] but eventually she deteriorated to the point where she was unsafe for this purpose, and she was closed to the public in 1950.

[6] Nicknamed the "Cement Ship",[7] Palo Alto serves as an artificial reef for marine life.

[4] While she had over the decades been broken into four roughly segmented pieces, winter storms in February 2016 pushed the wreck onto her starboard side and broke her rear half open.

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.
An aerial view of the wreck Palo Alto in 2013.
Overhead view of SS Palo Alto in July 2019
SS Palo Alto in July 2012 when she was still largely congruent on one axis (click to enlarge).
The Palo Alto in 2018