AH-WR-0923

SS Jacob Luckenbach

Freighter · United States · Lost 1953 · San Francisco & the Northern California Coast

A freighter sunk in a 1953 collision off San Francisco whose leaking bunker fuel caused mystery seabird die-offs for decades before its 2002 salvage.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

SS Jacob Luckenbach sank on July 14, 1953, after colliding with her sister ship while outbound from San Francisco for Korea, coming to rest in 180 feet of water in the Gulf of the Farallones. Loaded with roughly 457,000 gallons of bunker fuel, the wreck leaked sporadically for decades, killing tens of thousands of seabirds in a series of unexplained coastal oil spills. Investigators traced the pollution to the wreck in 2002, and the Coast Guard removed most of the remaining fuel that year.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Steel
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam
Owners: Luckenbach Steamship Company

Loss

Date: July 14, 1953
Cause: Collision
Location: About 17 miles west-southwest of San Francisco, Gulf of the Farallones
Water: Pacific Ocean
Voyage: San Francisco, California → Busan, South Korea
Cargo: General cargo; approximately 457,000 gallons of bunker fuel aboard
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 180 ft
Condition: Intact enough to retain bunker fuel for decades; source of chronic 'mystery' oil spills identified in 2002.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary