For more detailed information and history, please see the California Wreck Divers site: CWD S-37 page
I dove this site for the first time in October, 2001. The following text is from my dive report following this dive. Note that we did this dive on a REALLY flat day at high tide. This wreck is in very shallow water on an very exposed beach (off Imperial Beach) with a silty bottom. Conditions have to be near-perfect for this dive.
This is an old wreck (it sank in 1945). And it's COVERED in
barnacles. The deck area is really, really thick with barnacles
(in places, seemingly feet thick). The
starboard side has fewer and a bit more algal growth. She lays
way over to port. She's about 220' long and about 20' wide at
the widest point. She's pretty much perpendicular to shore, with
the bow pointing seaward. There are a couple areas with protrusions
from the deck, the largest of which is probably the conning tower.
There are lots of small openings and a couple larger openings,
but nothing which looks like it leads to a real interior that
isn't filled with silt. If you can figure out how to get into
this thing, you're smarter than I am... and if you go into this
thing, you're significantly more foolish than I am. It's really,
really small and the bottom there is really fine silt. It'd be
an easy way to kill yourself. (Note the warnings on the California
Wreck Divers site also.)
It was fun to look around the outside, though I really wish it weren't so covered in barnacles. It would be much more interesting to see the structure itself. But there's still plenty to look at and lots of little holes to peer in. I can't see anyone wanting to dive it all that often, but it's fun simply to have done it.
Several warnings:
These are WAAS GPS coordinates:
bow: 32 36.244 and 117 08.238
stern: 32 36.260 and 117 08.208
A number of wrecks sit in fairly deep water near the US/Mexican Border, including four Destroyers and a structure known at the Missile Tower which is believed to have been used in the test launching of submarine-based missiles.
The Hogan is the only wreck in this area which is serviced by San Diego's commercial dive boat operators. She is a WWII-era Destroyer, intentionally sunk in November, 1945, during bombing tests. She sits in water approximately 130' deep, and is at 32 31.74, 117 12.57. Dive safely!
At least three other destroyers were sunk in the general vicinity of the USS Hogan; however, all are beyond recreational diving limits. The USS Marcus, Radford and Champlin sit in 155' to 200' of water. For that reason, Divebums will not be posting their coordinates. Interested parties should contact Marc Hall of the San Diego Underwater Explorers.
The Missile Tower is a structure about 60' high by 25' wide, now covered by thousands and thousands of metridium, which is believed to have been used to test launch Polaris or Poseidon (submarine-based) missiles. It lies in 165' of water. For that reason, Divebums will not be posting its coordinates. Interested parties should contact Marc Hall of the San Diego Underwater Explorers.