That bull whip looking thing is called Bull Kelp. The ball on the end has carbon monoxide in it to float to the surface and the other end is attached to rock on the sea floor. They are everywhere up here in the Puget Sound.
HECKIT# Adam what you're looking at is what remains of the ships bow and deck fittings (bollards) used to secure lines from the ship to the dock. You mentioned plates with circular openings that looked like some kind of door, those are known as hawse pipes and lines ran through them to the bollards. The hawse pipe was designed to prevent chaffing of the lines when the ship would pitch up and down or roll side to side when docked. There was the remnants of the mast that was fixed to the deck. The tracked vehicle on the beach is what remains of a crane and the gear on top of the track is where the operators cab sat and could be spun around in any direction. The ship it self was a Liberty ship built during WW2 as a cargo and transport ship. They were built by Kaiser Corporation. Kaiser could turn out a ship every 30 days. The stern section of the wreck lies at 160 ft about 75 to a 100 yards off shore. If you'd like to see an actual Liberty ship the Jerimiah O'Brien is in San Pedro beneath the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the Fishermans Village.
You are both welcome! My dad, uncle and I used to go deep sea fishing out of San Pedro in the 1960's. I was 8 or 9 y.o. at the time and remember the ships bow the only remaining part above the surface anchored facing out to sea completely upright and proud looking before the sea eventually demolished it into the pieces you found on the beach.
richard stone Great comment! I think the O'Brien is in San Francisco. The S.S. Lane Victory is the ship in San Pedro. She is located at the southern most end of Harbor Blvd on Miner St. They moved her when they brought the U.S.S. IOWA down. I'm pretty peeked on old ships too so this video really perked my interest.
I agree! The SS Dominator was a Liberty ship. Lane Victory is a Victory ship. The Victory ships came after the Liberty's and were longer and faster. The Liberty ships were known for a while as Kaisers coffins being that they came apart and sank. This was remedied by placing a steel band along the length of the hull down both sides to strengthen it.
Richard Stone You sell the Shipyards short though, 30 days to complete a ship keel to done, yeah, but at peak three a Day were launched, as they were hardly building them one at a time.
Hey Adam, that thing that you were wondering if it was an octopus or some sort of sea creature at 2:30, that's called Bulb Kelp a common form of seaweed on the California coast.
Great video, Adam! No matter the subject, your videos are always humorous, upbeat and full of positive energy, and are a highlight of my day as a consequence. I look forward to every one. I (we all) thank you!
***** that thing "tank" is an old crane, used to salvage/lift bits and pieces off/from the boat, but obviously was caught in the rising tide, now a double rainbow of rust lol Great Videos you have
Once upon a time the ships stern section was in one piece and stood 3 stories tall. I used to fish off the Dominator wreck. The last 18 years have been hard on her.
30 years ago I climbed down to it. 30 or 40 feet of the bow was intact on the rocks. Amazing how how fast it has disintegrated. You could see the rest of the ship if you were on a boat over it on a calm day when the water was clear. Eerie as hell.
I grew up surfing indicators cove near the dominator wreck and diving in pirates cove also on Palos Verdes... amazing to see how deteriorated the dominator is now... we used to climb into the bow section when it was intact in the early 70's. That round bulb is kelp seaweed ,,, but,,,, you did know that.... right? The crane and tractor were brought there to help break the dominator apart and were left there afterward.... no its not a tank.
Another great video, Adam. My girlfriend and I are gonna Skype again today. She still lives in California and I recently heard they only have one year left of water in that state. I guess I now have the time limit of a year to save up enough money to visit her, but I should be able to visit her before then. I'm gonna keep bringing her up as long as Adam explores California.
You and the Count should collaborate on more stuff. Just watched the Toys'R'Us video on his channel. Classic, just classic. You two have something together!
Lol! You really need to read up on local foliage.....that's seaweed! You keep calling hibiscus petunias too! Great Video! You are the biggest goofballs! Love the Count!
I found a site ( www.cawreckdivers.org/wrecks/dominator.htm ) with a pretty good history of the wreck and video from just after the beaching and as how it looked as the deterioration progressed. Be sure to click on the link to the wreck of the Avalon/Blueridge/Virginia, the hull of which was used in what appears to have been a largely unsuccessful salvage operation (this is where your crane came from Adam). The Avalon was once used as a yaught by the Wrigley family and has a far more interesting history than the Dominator.
I love you Adam the woo. I have a warped sense of humor like you. The sea creature you picked up was hysterical. I'm still laughing. Keep up the good work.
Great video Adam, thanks for sharing. Those round things are called "Chocks". They're used to pass lines (ropes) thru to help moor up the ship. The plant looks like a type of a kelp. Thanks for the video.
Hi Adam! My Dad and Uncle use to take us kids to P.V. to hike the cliff paths to the tide pools. The Dominater had tons of rice blown into it's cargo compartments so it was couldn't be saved. After a while the rice started to stink to high heaven and the rich people living at the top of the cliffs went nuts complaining. Anyway after only about 3 years the ship broke up. IT was a big thing in those days to go look at the ship breaking up over the years.
The "thing" you're trying to identify at 5:00 is an old, small crane (used to lift things) or drag-line. A drag-line has a bucket with teeth that you swing out and drag it towards you to scoop up whatever you're digging. At 5:11 you can see the gears and pulley systems to control the cables. At 5:19 you can see the pivots. The part that looks like it has double, vertical bars with a section on top with holes. Those are circular pieces that turns the rest of the machine with the engine, controls and driver's seat. Also at 5:19 on top of pivot piece you can see what looks like a small wheel with just the lower part setting on the pivot. There are more of those wheels all around the pivot. On those wheels, the whole top of the machine would spin around. I might not be wording it right but that's pretty much what it does. I only know this because my dad had a strip coal mine and we had a bigger drag-line. Also had a crane that operated more or less, the same way.
i remember when this shipped "landed". I was in high school in Long beach and still live near there. It was very exciting to go and see the waves smash into the ship on the rocks. I knew one day you would visit it.... thanks for the great vid!
If it has treads and some kind of turret,, call it a tank or arty piece.. lololol.. how about some kind of recovery piece ? Like a crane of some sort. and .. great video tho. =)
Awesome vid Adam! Anything to do with old nautical ships,lighthouses and ocean scenes i really enjoy. I enjoyed your vlog at the maritime museum. Keep them coming kind sir!
that wird tube wasn't actually a smokestack , it was cargo handling gear , also , those spitting out from the middle of the ship was cargo handling gear too
This is actually the ship they used in the goonies. The director had the props department take this wreck and build it into the pirate ship back in 1985, after filming they had to disassemble it and return the pieces as they were for historical reasons. Richard Donner himself was out there with a metal ruler, returning the pieces to the exact spot that they were originally.
hey Adam I got a place for you to check out. it's s abandoned missle rocket base that's been closed since the 70's I have been going to this place for years and it gives me the creeps
That thing at the end with the bubble ball like thing and snake like body was seaweed or something like that. Ya get that all around the pacific west coast.
At 3:20, that is a deck hatch that would be at the outer edge of the ship, where they would tie a rope around the circular piece to either hold the hatch open or tie the ship to the dock.
