F. S. Loop

Other Names:7-minute Wreck Date of Sinking:1947
Rig/Type: Steam Lumber Schooner/Fishing Barge Cause of Sinking: Sank while in tow for disposal at sea.
Length: 193' Breadth: 39' Tons: 794 Cargo: None
Built: 1907 by Kruse & Banks Shipbuilding of Marshfield, Location: About 1 mile outside Angels Gate
Oregon.
Hull Construction: Wood Depth: 80' Visibility: 0-15'

History

The Loop was a wood-hulled steam lumber schooner that plied the Pacific Coast carrying lumber.  In 1936, she was damaged by rough weather at sea and declared a constructive loss.  Shortly thereafter, she was reconstructed and refitted with a gasoline engine and worked down in Mexico, processing seals into dog food. Returning to Los Angeles in 1939, she was moored off Seal Beach as a fishing barge for over a year, then laid up in San Pedro harbor. By 1946, she came to rest in the soft mud on the harbor bottom and the US Army Corps of Engineers sought to remove and dispose of her hulk.

 
The F.S. Loop as a steam powered lumber schooner.

Once floated, the hulk was towed out little over a mile from Angels Gate when she sank in 80 feet of water. With a mere 48' of water over her, she was now a hazard to navigation that lay close to the harbor's entrance.  It was determined that it would be easier to blow her up than refloat her, so 2,500 pounds of TNT was placed inside her hull and detonated.

Diving the F. S. Loop

What remains today are the ribs of the old hull sticking out of the sand, with some large fuel tanks and a small amount of ancillary debris. Visibility is zero or near zero much of the time here because of the silty bottom and it's proximity to the entrance to Los Angeles Harbor.  However, on rare occasions, the visibility can reach 25'.  Divers should be cautious here due to the large amount of boat traffic entering and exiting the harbor and heading North and West.

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