Wreck Alley is an area a few miles off the coast of Mission Beach, San Diego, California with several ships intentionally sunk as artificial reefs and as Scuba diving attractions for wreck divers.
Wrecks
Six of these were intentionally sunk. Ruby E. – Coast Guard cutter El Rey – kelp harvester Yukon – a Canadian navy ship Shooter's Fantasy Barge #1 Strider NOSC Tower – a research and communication platform that collapsed during a storm P-38
Description
Wreck Alley is an artificial reef and recreational diving destination off the coast of San Diego . In addition to the artificial reef created by multiple shipwrecks, the area also includes submerged ocean platforms and remains of the old Ingraham Street Bridge.
These different sunken structures make artificial reefs well positioned in the cold nutrient rich currents. Filter feeders compete for room to anchor themselves. Most prevalent are Corynactis californica anemones. The other most common species is the large, snow white Metridium anemone. There are numerous other species on the wrecks, including other anemones, scallops, barnacles, tunicates, zoanthids, crabs, starfish, brittle stars, nudibranchs, fish and other species.
Another dive in Wreck Alley is the Ingraham Street Bridge. When Mission Bay was developed and the old bridge was replaced, all its parts were taken out and dumped in about 60 feet of water. Some areas of the structure that are more in the current, have an encrusting of filter feeders like the wrecks, but much of it is like most natural reefs with kelps, fans and algae growing over it. Since there is more cover here, there are a lot more fish here than at the wrecks, especially at night. Wreck Alley is a good place to look for lobster in the beginning of the season as well.
Most of the wrecks are well marked with surface buoys.
The Yukon
Yukon - Canadian Mackenzie Class Destroyer
Length: 366 Feet - 111 Meters
Breadth: 42 Feet - 13 Meters
Tons: 2380
Built: 1959; Hull Construction: Steel Date of Sinking: July 14, 2000 GPS Coordinates: 32 46.80N 117 17.12W Depth: 68 Feet (Highest point at stern) to 105 Feet (Lowest point at bow) Position: on Port side
The Yukon was purchased by the San Diego Oceans Foundation for the purpose of sinking in Wreck Alley. Volunteers spent an enormous amount of time and energy cleaning the wreck and preparing it as a safe dive site for divers of many levels. Holes were cut into the hull so that almost anywhere you are in the wreck, you are near an exit. From inside the wreck, the openings to the outside look like green video screens. It is the newest wreck so it is the most intact wreck at Wreck Alley. Originally it was prepared so that there was one long corridor, called the Grand Promenade, that went the length of the ship along the port side.
For publicity before its sinking, a large game of Sink My Battleship was held. The winner got the privilege of pushing the button that would scuttle the ship. Unfortunately, the night before, a wind came up and the ship sank on its own. Also quite unfortunately, it fell on its port side, putting the Grand Promenade at 105 feet and making it an advanced dive instead of an intermediate dive as was planned. The Yukon was not a cargo ship, it was designed to carry a crew - its bulkheads and low decks form a maze of narrow passages and small compartments. Divers need to be careful as a lot of sand and silt has entered the wreck.
The Ruby E
The Ruby E - Coast Guard Cutter
Length: 165 Feet
Breadth: 382 Feet
Tons: 150
Built: 1934; Hull Construction: Steel Date of Sinking: 1989 Depth: 85 Feet Coordinates: 117 16'36" W, 32 46'02" N Position: Upright
The Ruby E is the 165-foot Coast Guard Cutter Cyane, built in 1934 in Seattle, Washington and designed for the enforcement of Prohibition.
During World War II, The Ruby E conducted anti-submarine and search and rescue patrols. She also served as an escort for convoys, mostly along the West Coast of the United States. Sold in 1954, she served as a fish-processing vessel. Sold again, the ship was renamed the Ruby E and outfitted as a salvage vessel. Her new owners ran into financial difficulties and could not repay their bank loans. The Ruby E was seized as a bank repossession and sat in San Diego harbor until it was purchased by the San Diego Tug and Barge Company. In 1989, the Ruby E was intentionally sunk as an artificial reef at Wreck Alley off the coast of San Diego.