In just shy of 200′ of water in San Pedro Bay is the wreck of the German submarine UB-88, the only u-boat shipwreck in California.

I dove this wreck for the first time late last year and my post about it made waves, so to speak. Apparently I’m not the only one who’s into the German u-boat. UB-88 is, in my mind, the perfect mix of historical and exclusive, being the subject of an interesting war story and resting at a depth well out of reach of most divers.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to dive the sub again. I’m never one to pass up a good wreck diving trip, so up to Long Beach we went.

A Brief History of the UB-88 Submarine

Commissioned in 1918, UB-88 was a latecomer to World War I, but still managed to sink quite a few Allied ships in her brief wartime service. She was awarded to the United States after the war and was paraded by an American crew up and down the East Coast of the U.S., up the Mississippi River, through the Panama Canal, and up the West Coast as far north as Seattle in an effort to drum up support for the Victory War Bond drive. The sub was stripped and shot down in 1920.

You can read more about the German submarine at my previous UB-88 post or at California Wreck Divers.

Diving the UB-88

California wreck diving–actually, California diving in general–can be kind of a crapshoot in terms of visibility and ocean conditions. But the submarine did not disappoint. In fact, I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but I think the conditions this week were actually even better than they were the last time we got down to the sub.

Compare and contrast the difference in ambient light on these two very similar photos of the stern: the first was this week, the second was last year.

Naturally, the ghost nets, my favorite (or or at least the most photogenic) feature on the wreck, were my first stop:

After a quick trip to the bow to visit with the torpedo tubes and the bow wreckage and to play “count the wolf eels,” it was time to go again. It’s always over way too fast when you’re diving that deep!

Want to see more? Click through to my first post to see more UB-88 photos.