Diving at dive site Avalon

Name Dive Site:	Avalon
Inserted/Added by:	ken, © Author: Channel Islands Dive
Rated:	Rated not yet
Specifications:

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The Avalon was 269' x 38' and built in Michigan as the S.S. Virgina to carry passengers. The Navy requisitioned her in 1918, made some changes to her and never used her. After she was removed from service a year later she was bought by a company owed by William Wrigley Junior to carry passengers between San Pedro and Catalina and renamed the Avalon. Again she was taken over by the military during WW ll. Later she was returned back to Wrigley's company, worked a few more years and then retired.

She was later sold for scrap and made into a salvage barge. She was being used off Palos Verdes when a storm hit in July 18, 1960 and sunk. She now sits broken up as a debris field at 70' deep. The Avalon is now part of the reef and can still be a fun dive. The visibility can be 30'-40' with the norm being about 15'-20'.

More about California wreck diving, please visit the California Wreck Divers (CWD) website along with another excellent resource, the book Shipwrecks of Southern California by Bonnie J. Cardone and Patrick Smith.

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