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High Seas

Depth: 100' - 110'

Overview

A 128' wood-hulled Yard Patrol craft (YP-621) turned tuna seiner, now significantly deteriorated. Fishing nets and disorientation make a reel essential.

What to See

Large ling cod and rockfish; abundant life on the wreck; viz can top 40' on good days.

Typical Conditions

Technical dive. Wood hull, ~25' relief, fishing nets present - use a reel.

History

Built 1945 at San Pedro Boat Works as Navy Yard Patrol craft YP-621; sold as surplus after the war and converted first to a tuna clipper, then to a purse seiner, renamed High Seas. On March 10, 1970, while motoring from San Diego to San Pedro with a full load of tuna, her stern opened up and she began taking on water; the crew escaped by skiff at the last moment with no casualties. (Two independent accounts agree on this; one cites the book "Shipwrecks of Southern California" by Cardone & Smith for a pre-sinking photo.)