Long Island Wreck Valley · United States · Wreck
USS San Diego
Nicknamed the 'Lobster Hotel,' the only major U.S. warship lost in WWI
Area photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain
An armoured cruiser mined off Fire Island in the closing months of the First World War, the only major U.S. warship lost in that war. USS San Diego lies inverted in 20 to 34 metres of water, her overturned hull now a popular dive site nicknamed the 'Lobster Hotel'. It is one of the most dived wrecks on the U.S. East Coast: deep enough to demand real experience, shallow enough to be a single-day charter rather than an expedition.
Also known as USS California.
Where it is and how deep
40.5501° N, 73.0079° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
San Diego rests upside down, and that orientation is the first thing to plan around: what was her keel is now the highest point of the site, at 20 metres, and her deck structure is down in the sand below at 34. Divers descend the line onto a smooth, barnacled hull with no superstructure to read from outside, and work the wreck from the outside in rather than trying to identify individual compartments on sight.
A century of decay and salvage has broken up what would once have read as a warship, but the scale is still there: 154 metres of armoured cruiser, guns, boilers and machinery scattered where the collapsing structure has let them settle. The nickname 'Lobster Hotel' is earned rather than decorative, and the abundance of marine life on an otherwise open, current-swept patch of Atlantic sand is a large part of the wreck's appeal.
More divers have died working this wreck over the decades than sailors were lost when she sank, and the reasons are ordinary ones for the depth: current, disorientation on a featureless inverted hull, and old commercial fishing line that is close to invisible until a light catches it. None of that has dented her popularity; she remains one of the most dived wrecks on the U.S. East Coast.
The wreck
- Vessel
- USS San Diego
- Type
- Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser
- Length
- 153.6 m (504 ft)
- Built
- 1904
- Sunk
- 1918
- Cause
- Struck a mine laid by the German submarine U-156 off Long Island
- Lies
- Capsized and inverted off Fire Island, New York, in 20 to 34 m of water
Launched at San Francisco in 1904 as USS California and renamed San Diego in 1914, the Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser was en route from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to New York on 19 July 1918 when an explosion tore open her port side off Fire Island. She took on a list, flooded rapidly and sank within half an hour, killing six of her crew. Her captain believed she had been torpedoed, but a 1918 Court of Inquiry and a 2018 Navy-led underwater study both concluded she struck a mine laid by the German submarine U-156, days before the armistice ended the threat.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows Long Island Wreck Valley: Offshore charters run roughly April through November, picking up from mid-June; winter Atlantic swell, cold and short daylight shut the fleet down from December to March.
Know before you go
- The wreck lies inverted with no superstructure to navigate by; fix your position on the hull or run a line before moving off it.
- Old fishing line is common on the site and close to invisible in poor light; carry a cutting tool and watch for it constantly.
- Current and reduced visibility are routine at this depth; more divers have died here over the decades than the six crew lost when she sank.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the USS San Diego wreck?+
She lies inverted in 20 to 34 metres of water off Fire Island, New York, with her highest point, the exposed keel, at 20 metres and the deck structure down in the sand at 34.
Why is the USS San Diego called the 'Lobster Hotel'?+
The nickname comes from the abundance of lobsters that have colonised the wreck since she sank in 1918. She is one of the most dived shipwrecks in the United States.
Sources
- USS California (ACR-6) — Wikipedia
- East Coast Wreck Diving — Shipwreck Charters — East Coast Wreck Diving
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