San Francisco Shipwrecks

There are a few hundred ships that crashed on the rocks of San Francisco's cliffs and sunk. You can still see the remains of three of these ships during low tide.

First Ship

What you see below is the engine block of an oil tanker called Frank Buck. This ship crashed on the rocks near Lands End National Monument, and sunk in the 1930s.

Second Ship

This ship can be seen from a newly-built observation deck, not far from Sutro Baths.

List of Other Ships That Sunk

• Golden Fleece, 1854
• General Crushing, 1858
• Granada, 1860
• Frank Jones, 1877
• Caroline Amelia, 1850
• Viscata, 1868
• Coos Bay, 1927
• Eiko, 1881
• Scah Jehan, 1867
• George Lewis, 1882
• Lyman Stewart, 1922
• Frank Buck, 1937 (large oil tanker which crashed into another ship named President Coolige. The ship President Coolige survived.)
• Ohioan, 1936
• Eliza, 1871
• Josephine Wilcutt, 1872
• Parallel, 1887
• Brignardello, 1868
• Scah Jehan, 1867
• Ann Perry, 1865
• Yosemite, 1926

Here is the same shipwreck on a different scale.

Third Ship

This ship was named King Philip and sunk in the 1800s. It can be seen during low tide near Noriega street.

If you like historic shipwrecks, you might also really like the collection of cannons that can be seen while hiking through San Francisco's Presidio. If you want an idea for a long but a very amazing and historic hike, you can start at the Presidio, see the different cannons, and head down to Lands End to see the shipwrecks. Together it is about a 7-10 mile hike.