The Dominator Shipwreck

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.