Palo Alto (tanker)

, too late to see service in the war.cite book | first=David W. | last=Herson | authorlink= | coauthors= | year=2002 | title=Forever Facing South, The story of the S.S. Palo Alto "The Old Cement Ship" of Seacliff Beach | edition=Revised third printing | publisher=Otter B Books | location=Santa Cruz, California | id=ISBN 0-9617681-3-4 ] Her sister ship was the SS Peralta.

She was mothballed in Oakland until 1929, when she was bought by the Seacliff Amusement Corporation and towed to Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, California. A pier was built leading to the ship, and she was sunk a few feet in the water so her keel rested on the bottom. There she was refitted as an amusement ship, with amenities including a dance floor, swimming pool and a café.

The company went bankrupt two years later and the ship cracked at the mid section. She was stripped of her fittings and left as a fishing pier. Eventually she deteriorated to the point were she was unsafe for even this use and was closed to the public. Today she remains at Seacliff Beach and serves as an artificial reef for marine life.

In Spring of 2005, oil found on wildlife nearly two years earlier was traced back to the ship. [http://www.dfg.ca.gov/OSPR/organizational/admin/news/osprnews/2005-Summer%20OSPR%20News.pdf#search=%22Aptos'%20Cement%20Ship%20Leaking%20Oil%22] In September 2006, a clean-up project was started estimated at $1.7 million. No oil is known to have spilled into the ocean, but wildlife experts believe birds came into contact with oil by entering the ship's cracked hull while diving underwater for fish. [cite news
first = Paul
last = Rogers
title = Oil trail leads to 'cement ship'
url = http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/15449918.htm&sa=X&oi=news&ct=result&cd=1&sig=__8B3HLphCvtmlFAbM8Er1GAFbKNA=
format = web
publisher = San Jose Mercury News
date = 2006-09-06] [cite news
first =
last = AP
author = AP
coauthors =
title = Aptos' Cement Ship Leaking Oil
url = http://www.nbc11.com/news/9796744/detail.html
format =
work = http://www.NBC11.com
publisher =
pages =
page =
date = 2006-09-06
accessdate =
language = ] [cite news
last = Russomanno
first = Tony
title = Crews Remove Oil From Abandoned Ship In Santa Cruz
publisher = [http://cbs5.com cbs5.com]
date = 2006-9-5
url = http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_248193942.html
format = web] [cite news
last = Sideman
first = Roger
title = State begins removing oil from World War I-era ship
publisher = Santa Cruz Sentinel
date = 2006-9-6
url = http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/September/06/local/stories/03local.htm]

References

External links

* [http://www.concreteships.org/ships/ww1/paloalto/ "Palo Alto" information at ConcreteShips.org]
* [http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=543 "Palo Alto" information at California State Parks website]
* [http://www.sandylydon.com/html/hoo3.html Details on the concrete used to build the "Palo Alto" at the Sandy "History Dude" Lydon's website]
*Geolinks-US-streetscale|36.969592|-121.913416

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