WW I Concrete Ship SS Palo Alto Smashed in Half-- Part 2

24 new concrete ships were ordered.  Concrete ships, reinforced with steel were cheaper and more available.

Concrete floating ships were an invention of the French inventor of ferro concrete, Joseph-Louis Lambol who had created a concrete dingy a half century earlier.

In 1917, Norway had built an 84-foot long ship of concrete, but no one was sure how even bigger ships like the Palo Alto would do.

Their capabilities, however, were untested during the war.  By the time the 420-foot Palo Alto was completed at the Naval Shipyard in Oakland, California, the war was over.  It remained at Oakland until 1929 when it was towed to Sea Cliff Beach and scuttled.  It soon was just referred to as the Concrete Boat and became a tourist destination.

In 1930, a pier was constructed out to the ship and the Cal-Nevada Co. installed a 54-foot long heated pool, a casino and a dance floor on it.  It lasted until 1932 when it was hit by a storm and then the Great Depression which closed it.

The State of California bought it and it has been closed to the public since 1950.

--CootRete