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The Dominator Shipwreck

Remains of a Greek freighter trapped off of Rocky Point in 1961

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Category Incredible Ruins

The remains of the Dominator in 2007.

Source www.flickr.com

Image of The Dominator Shipwreck located in | Photographs of The Dominator being pounded by the surf a few days after the accident in 1961.

On March 13, 1961, a Greek freighter called The Dominator became trapped in the current near the cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California, between Malaga Cove and Lunada Bay.

The ship, which was carrying approximately ten thousand tons of wheat from Portland, Oregon, to Algiers, was scheduled to stop for fuel in Long Beach, California. Instead, the freighter became trapped on the rocks off of Rocky Point.

The crew remained onboard for two days in hopes that the tugboats provided by the Coast Guard would be able to free the ship; unfortunately, the high winds and swells forced the ship further into the rocky outcroppings. Eventually, the ship was abandoned.

While the remains of the ship stayed intact for a number of years, many of the leftover pieces are now scattered over half a mile of shoreline. A large amount of the wreck now lies underwater off the coast.

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Address Rocky Point, Palos Verdes Estates, California, United States
Cost Free

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Comments

Rachel May 8, 2012

Thanks for pointing out the rogue photo, I've removed it from this entry, and tucked it away for a new entry on the MV Plassy!
Anonymous May 7, 2012

A mistake. The middle image of the wreck looking more intact during the 80s, is actually the MV Plassy, or Plassey, a steam trawler caught in a severe storm and ran onto Finnis Rock, Inisheer, Aran Islands, of the west coast of Ireland, March 1960. It is still there today, and holding up pretty well for such an old wreck.
sidthecat August 14, 2010

My husband dove that wreck as a teenager. His mom told me a story of how she'd found some pieces of encrusted metal in his bedroom and asked him what they were. "They're from The Dominator", he replied. He's gone now, but he'd have been pleased to see the pictures.