S.S. Peralta – Powell River, British Columbia - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

S.S. Peralta

Powell River, British Columbia

One of the final concrete ships built before World War II is now a crumbling breakwater. 

View all photos
S.S. Palo Alto Scott J. Lowe (Creative Commons)
S.S. Palo Alto Scott J. Lowe (Creative Commons)
Powell River hulks in 2002 CanadaGood (Atlas Obscura User)
Sign for Powell River hulks in 2002 CanadaGood (Atlas Obscura User)
Powell River hulks in 2002 CanadaGood (Atlas Obscura User)
Powell River hulks in 2002 CanadaGood (Atlas Obscura User)
Powell River hulks in 2002 CanadaGood (Atlas Obscura User)
91
271
Related Stories
Columcille Megalith Park in Bangor, Pennsylvania
volcanoes

Podcast: Summer Adventures ‘22

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team September 20, 2022
Top Places in British Columbia
Hornby Island Bald Eagle Nest Camera
Comox-Strathcona K, British Columbia
VanDusen Garden's Elizabethan Hedge Maze
Vancouver, British Columbia
SS Moyie
Kaslo, British Columbia
 See All

A semicircle of 10 concrete war ships forms a breakwater in the Malaspina Strait, near the shore of the city of Powell River, Canada. Nine of the ships are remainders from World War II.

The S. S. Peralta was launched in February of 1921 by the San Fransisco Shipbuilding Company, to be used as an oil tanker. In 1924, the Peralta was bought and used to can sardines in Alaska. 

In 1958, the Peralta was purchased by Pacifica Papers. They used the ship as part of a massive, floating breakwater on the Powell River, put there to protect the company’s log storage pond. It floats aside several concrete ships built during World War II.

In 2002, Pacifica paper merged with NorskeCanada, and no longer needed to keep the logs as raw materials. The company considered sinking the Peralta and creating an artificial reef, but decided against it. The S.S. Peralta remains floating in peaceful retirement in the Malaspina Strait.

Other ships include: YOGN 82, S.S. Henri Le Chatelier, Quartz, S.S. P. M. Anderson, S.S. Emile N. Vidal, S.S. John Smeaton, S.S. Thaddeus Merriman, S.S. L. J. Vicat, and S.S. Armand Considere.

Update: The YOGN 82 was sunk in 2018. 

ships world war ii natural wonders collections water military nature
Nearby
Royston Shipwrecks
22.32 miles
Hornby Island Bald Eagle Nest Camera
23.25 miles
'Hornby Uintotherium'
23.73 miles
Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member.
Near This Place
Wreck of 'The Riversdale' windjammer at lowtide
Courtenay, British Columbia

Royston Shipwrecks

At least 14 twice-retired ships were sunk to make a lovely rusting breakwater in Comox Harbour.
Comox-Strathcona K, British Columbia

Hornby Island Bald Eagle Nest Camera

Webcam that broadcast the hatching of Bald Eagles to millions of viewers.
Kymaerica Plaque on Hornby Island.
Comox-Strathcona K, British Columbia

'Hornby Uintotherium'

A plaque on Canada's Hornby Island commemorates a fantastical creature from a fictional universe.
Skookumchuck Narrows, with rapids as seen from Roland Point.
Egmont, British Columbia

Skookumchuck Narrows

The water swaps direction twice a day, whipping into a frenzy of whirlpools and rapids.
Related Places
The Art Reef before it was sunk.
British Virgin Islands

Kodiak Queen

Divers can encounter an abandoned warship encircled by a giant kraken submerged in the British Virgin Islands.
A part of the SS Good News.
Mpulungu, Zambia

Hulk of the SS Good News

The forgotten remains of the first steamship that launched on Lake Tanganyika.
Z2 Georg Thiele.
Narvik, Norway

Z2 Georg Thiele Shipwreck

The rusted hull of a WWII German destroyer pokes above the surface in a Norwegian fjord.
The submarine pens in La Rochelle.
La Rochelle, France

Nazi U-Boat Pens, La Pallise

A massive base for the Nazis' most formidable weapon in the Atlantic.
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

From Around the Web