USS Palawan Wreck

Redondo Beach, California

Following her 1944 launch at the Bethlehem-Fairfield shipyard in Baltimore, MD, USS Palawan was converted from a Liberty cargo ship into a Luzon-Class Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship, tasked with the maintenance and repair of engines on ships of all types. She was subsequently sent to the Philippines (Palawan and her Luzon-class sister ships are all named for Philippine islands) where she repaired small craft (primarily minesweepers) in the Pacific theater for the remainder of the war. After providing postwar support in Japan and China, she returned to San Diego in 1947, where she was decommissioned and laid up in the Pacific Reserve and Naval Defense Reserve fleets.

Palawan was acquired for artificial reefing in 1976, and sank off Redondo Beach in 1977. She landed upright in about 125 feet of water; because of the depth, the Palawan wreck is considered an advanced dive. The sheer size of the wreck is humbling: her superstructure and engines were dismantled prior to sinking, leaving little behind other than a massive empty hull. Her holds, essentially large, wide-open rooms, are penetrable by trained and qualified divers. The engine room is identifiable by the large valves attached to the wall.

Large crabs and lingcod inhabit crevices inside the Palawan wreck.