SS Dominator

Last updated
6505-ShipWreck-PalosVerdesPeninsula-1965.jpg
The wreck of SS Dominator in 1965
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameMelville Jacoby
NamesakeWar correspondent Melville Jacoby
Builder Walsh-Kaiser Company, Providence, Rhode Island, US
Yard number3119
Way number3
Laid down27 October 1943
Launched18 January 1944
Completed31 March 1944
FateSold into commercial service, 1947
Flag of Panama.svgPanama
Name
  • Victoria (1947–1950)
  • North Queen (1950–1953)
  • Dominator (1953–1961)
FateWrecked, 13 March 1961
General characteristics
Class and typeType EC2-S-C1 Liberty ship
Displacement14,245 long tons (14,474 t) [1]
Length
  • 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m) o/a
  • 417 ft 9 in (127.33 m) p/p
  • 427 ft (130 m) w/l [1]
Beam57 ft (17 m) [1]
Draft27 ft 9 in (8.46 m) [1]
Propulsion
Speed11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) [1]
Range20,000 nmi (37,000 km; 23,000 mi)
Capacity10,856 t (10,685 long tons) deadweight (DWT) [1]
Crew81 [1]
ArmamentStern-mounted 4 in (100 mm) deck gun for use against surfaced submarines, variety of anti-aircraft guns

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. Its remains can still be seen today [2] and serves as a point of interest for hikers and kayakers.

Contents

Ship history

The ship was originally the American Liberty ship Melville Jacoby, built during World War II at the Walsh-Kaiser Company shipyard in Providence, Rhode Island, and launched on March 31, 1944. [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. [4]

During the war the ship was operated by the Wilmore Steamship Company of Boston, on behalf of the War Shipping Administration. In 1947 she was sold into commercial service, and flying the Panamanian flag, was renamed SS Victoria. She changed hands in 1950, and was renamed SS North Queen, then again in 1953 becoming SS Dominator. [5]

The wreck

Viewing the Dominator from the southern trailhead 1981 SS Dominator - south trailhead 1981.jpg
Viewing the Dominator from the southern trailhead 1981
The remains of Dominator, circa 1981 SS Dominator - 1981.jpg
The remains of Dominator, circa 1981
Dominator in late 2009 Shipwreck03.jpg
Dominator in late 2009

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. After two days the crew abandoned ship. 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. Eventually, the ship slowly broke up under the pounding of the waves, and with large pieces of wreckage scattered over the shore. [7] As of 2022, wreckage can still be seen. [2]

Related Research Articles

Liberty ship US cargo ship class of WWII

Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass-produced on an unprecedented scale, the Liberty ship came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palos Verdes Peninsula</span> Sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area in California, United States

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the South Bay region, the peninsula contains a group of cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, including Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates, as well as the unincorporated community of Westfield/Academy Hill. The South Bay city of Torrance borders the peninsula on the north, the Pacific Ocean is on the west and south, and the Port of Los Angeles is east. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is 65,008.

Concrete ships are built primarily with ferrocement hulls, reinforced with steel bars. This contrasts against more traditional materials, such as pure steel or wood. The advantage of ferrocement construction is that materials are cheap and readily available, while the disadvantages are that construction labor costs are high, as are operating costs. During the late 19th century, there were concrete river barges in Europe, and during both World War I and World War II, steel shortages led the US military to order the construction of small fleets of ocean-going concrete ships, the largest of which was the SS Selma. United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for concrete ships-barges was Type B ship. Few concrete ships were completed in time to see wartime service during World War I, but during 1944 and 1945, concrete ships and barges were used to support U.S. and British invasions in Europe and the Pacific. Since the late 1930s, there have also been ferrocement pleasure boats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bass Strait Triangle</span> Waters separating Victoria and Tasmania

The Bass Strait Triangle is the waters that separate the states of Victoria and Tasmania, including Bass Strait, in south-eastern Australia. The term Bass Strait Triangle appears to have been first used following the disappearance of Frederick Valentich in 1978 although the region had a bad reputation long before that.

USS <i>Cassiopeia</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Cassiopeia (AK-75) was a Crater-class cargo ship in the service of the US Navy in World War II. She was the only ship of to bear this name. She is named after the Northern Hemisphere constellation Cassiopeia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaiser Shipyards</span> Shipbuilding yards on the West Coast of the United States

The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser (1882–1967), who established the shipbuilding company around 1939 in order to help meet the construction goals set by the United States Maritime Commission for merchant shipping.

SS <i>Clarksdale Victory</i> Victory ship of the United States

The SS Clarksdale Victory was the 80th Victory ship built during World War II. She was launched by the California Shipbuilding Company on January 27, 1945, and completed on February 26, 1945. The ship’s United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3, hull number 80. She was built in just 86 days under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. SS Clarksdale Victory served in the Pacific Ocean during WW2. SS Clarksdale Victory was 80th of the new 10,500-ton class ship known as Victory ships. Victory ships were designed to replace the earlier Liberty Ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for WW2. Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve the US Navy after the war. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were: faster, longer and wider, taller, a thinner stack set farther toward the superstructure and had a long raised forecastle.

SS <i>Drexel Victory</i> American cargo ship

The SS Drexel Victory was a Victory-class cargo ship built during World War II. The SS Drexel Victory (MCV-712), was a type VC2-S-AP2 victory ship built by Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard 2, of Richmond, California under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. The Maritime Administration cargo ship was the 744th victory ship. Her keel was laid on February 25, 1945. The ship was christened on May 2, 1945. The ship was named in honor of Drexel University in Philadelphia, one of 150 educational institutions that had Victory ships named after them.

SS <i>Samuel Heintzelman</i> World War II Liberty ship of the United States

SS Samuel Heintzelman was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. Named after Samuel Heintzelman, a United States Army general, the ship was laid down by California Shipbuilding Corporation at Terminal Island in Los Angeles, and launched on 27 August 1942. It was operated by Coastwise Line.

SS <i>Anne Hutchinson</i> World War II Liberty ship of the United States

SS Anne Hutchinson was a Liberty ship built by the Oregon Shipbuilding Company of Portland, Oregon, and launched on 31 May 1942 The ship was named after the Anne Hutchinson, a 1600 Massachusetts Bay Colony Puritan.

SS <i>India Victory</i> United States Merchant Marine ship

SS India Victory was a Victory ship built and operated as a cargo carrier and troopship in World War II. After the war the ship was used a private cargo ship. She sank on 12 July 1972, ran aground on a Pratas Reef in the South China in Typhoon Susan.

SS <i>Augustana Victory</i> World War II Victory ship of the United States

SS Augustana Victory was built and operated as Victory ship class cargo ship which operated as a cargo carrier in World War II, and Vietnam War.

SS <i>Fordham Victory</i> Victory ship of the United States

SS Fordham Victory was built and operated as Victory cargo ship which operated as a cargo carrier in World War II. For the war she was operated by the Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company under charter with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.

SS Samara was a British Liberty ship built in the United States during 1943 for service in World War II. The ship was bareboat chartered to the British Ministry of War Transport, with Ellerman and Papayanni as managers. When her keel was laid, she held the name of SS Emma Lazarus. Later that year, the ship was renamed SS Samshire while under the same management. In 1947, the ship was used by Ellerman Lines as SS City of Doncaster until 1961, when she was sold to Trader Line, Bermuda, as SS Pembroke Trader. Her final management was Doreen Steamship Corp. in Panama, as SS Galleta until she ran aground off Calcutta on 10 April 1970. She was finally scrapped in Hong Kong during July of the same year. Her namesake was Samara, a Russian city in Samara Oblast.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Davies, James (2012). "Liberty Cargo Ships" (PDF). ww2ships.com. p. 23. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  2. 1 2 "South Bay history: The Dominator became a Palos Verdes Peninsula landmark after running aground". Daily Breeze. 2022-07-18. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  3. "Walsh-Kaiser Shipbuilding". shipbuildinghistory.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  4. Press, Harry (March–April 2000). "Getting to the Front". Stanford Magazine: Book Review. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  5. "Liberty Ships (M)". mariners-l.co.uk. 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  6. "Dominator". cawreckdivers.org. 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  7. "Dominator Shipwreck". lakata.org. 2005. Retrieved 10 May 2012.

33°46′26″N118°25′42″W / 33.77389°N 118.42833°W / 33.77389; -118.42833