south bunker coordinates : 37°34'05.23"N 122°30'58.99"W north bunkers coordinates: 37°34'28.43"N 122°31'09.04"W pictures sources : 1 2 3 & Artificial Owl
This bunker is located above the pacific ocean at a part of the coast called "devil's slide" few miles south of San Francisco. I want to thanks Kevin L. for sending me this tip, this is truly an amazing location. I had the chance to go there and take some pictures, I can tell that the name "devil's slide" is perfectly appropriate!
There are 2 sets of bunkers in pretty much the same location, the lone bunker to the south, built originally on a thick pillar of sandstone. The stone has eroded so much that the building hangs over it on all sides. And some more to the north.
The following description from the United States Army Corps of Engineers website refers to those constructions (the one to the north) : "Prior to 01 July 1940, the War Department acquired 9.61 ... acres for a triangulation station and observation site. Devil's Slide was one of a series of observation posts during pre-radar days and was a part of the Harbor Defense of San Francisco. Military personnel would use binoculars and compasses to search for ships at sea and relay the position ... using information received from other observation posts. Improvements to the site began in 1943, and included three observation pill-boxes, one electric generator bunker, one communications and command bunker, and an observation tower."
The south bunker.
Looking to the north.
The 3 other constructions north of the first bunker.
text source : 1 2 3
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It's a beautiful seaplane abandoned between the sea and the desert of Saudi Arabia and it's been left there for almost 50 years. The plane is a PBY-5A Catalina, a military American seaplane from the 1930's. It's is located on a beach off the Strait of Tiran on the Saudi Arabia side of the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. Thanks to Adam, we get to know about it and it's story (You too can propose a story to us) :
"The aircraft is a PBY-5A model and was bought from the US Navy by Thomas W Kendall, a retired businessman who converted it to a luxury flying yacht.
The PBY-5A Catalina was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II.
In the spring of 1960 Mr Kendall took a pleasure trip around the world with his wife and children together with his secretary and her son. A photographer joined the group to cover part of the trip for life magazine.
On the 22nd March 1960 they landed at the Strait of Tirana and anchored the aircraft a short distance from the shore to spend the night there. They heard someone shouting but did not pay any attention.
In the afternoon of the following day they were attacked with machine guns and automatic firearms from a headland nearby. The children were able to swim back to the aircraft. Mr Kendal and his secretary were wounded while trying to start the Catalina but moved it about 800 metres, unfortunately it ran aground on a coral reef.
The firing lasted 30 to 40 minutes and no fewer than 300 shots hit the aircraft. The fuel tanks were perforated and 4000 litres of fuel poured from the holes but miraculously the aircraft did not catch fire. The sea was only about 1.5 metres deep and all aboard managed to leave the aircraft and reach the shore.
On the beach they were captured by a group of Bedouins attached to the Saudi Arabian army, who had taken them to be Israeli commandos. They were eventually taken to Jeddah, interrogated and finally set free with the help of the American Ambassador. The Ambassador protested to the Saudi Arabian government but they refused to accept any liability for the attack and consequent loss of the aircraft." Incredible story. Thank you Adam.
coordinates : 28°05'27.02"N 34°36'30.93"E
google map
pictures sources : 1 & Adam
text source : 1 & Adam
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A the extreme south tip of Cape Romano island in Florida, you can encounter what looks like monsters from space walking towards the ocean. There are in fact a set of abandoned constructions. Thank you to Kristen Mancuso for sending this cool discovery and their accompanying photos.
Photo credit- Kristen Mancuso
What the story of the white domes?
The structures were built in 1982, but are slowly slipping in to the Gulf of Mexico now.
They survived Hurricane Wilma. It seems they were originally several hundred yards off shore but Hurricane Wilma washed away a considerable amount of shore and severely damaged them.
Photo credit- Kristen Mancuso
Photo credit- Kristen Mancuso
coordinates : 25°50'42.68"N 81°40'52.30"W
google map
pictures sources : 1 & Kristen Mancuso
text source : 1 & Kristen Mancuso
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The World Discoverer was a cruise ship dedicated to explore polar regions, it was abandoned in 2000 on Nggela Island, (Solomon Islands) after hitting a reef. I want to thank Lucas E. who contacted me to have the World explorer included on AO, not only did he send me all the information he gathered but he also wrote the entry on Wikipedia.
The following text is a shortened version of his article:
"The vessel was originally built in 1974. The ship was subsequently resold to many different owners along the years, and renamed as many times. The vessel has a double hull construction allowing for periodic voyages to Antarctic Peninsula region for its passengers to observe ice floe movements and protection for any iceberg impacts. The ship carries of fleet of inflatable dinghies allowing passenger to move closer to ice floes for observation.
The ship conducts cruises near the Southern Hemisphere and visits places like Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, Chile, Ushuaia, Argentina. During the period between March and May, the ship cruises the South Pacific Islands. It also cruises this area between the months of August and October. And finally, between the months of June and August, the ship around the Alaskan region and also near the Russian border around the Bering sea. Very few vessels have been constructed for exclusive cruising expeditions near or around icebergs. The double hulled construction could allowed impact with glaciers while sustaining very little damage to the ship or crew. The World Discoverer also has a 8,000 mile cruising range allowing the ship to be the first ship to ever transit the Northwest Passage.
On April 30, 2000, The ship struck a large uncharted rock or reef on the Sandfly Passage, Solomon Islands. A passenger ferry was dispatched to the ship where all passenger were then transported to safety. The captain then brought the ship into Roderick Bay after the ship began to list 20 degrees and grounded the ship to avoid sinking. The ship has remained in Roderick Bay ever since. The World Discoverer still sits in Roderick Bay on Nggela Island with a 46 degree list."
coordinates : 9°01'23.49"S 160°07'23.34"E
google map
pictures sources : 1 2 3 4
text source : 1
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No updates for much too long, I'm sincerely sorry for that. My passion for the subject is intact but sometimes it's hard to find time, even for a passion.
I want to thanks all the readers who sent me articles in the last 4 months. I finally finished to organize most of them, they will appear on AO very soon.
A couple of small things changed since the last post and I want to introduce them briefly:
- A new logo and colors were introduced few weeks ago. So far I'm pretty pleased with them. let me know your opinion.
- Based on email and comments I updated some posts to add or correct information. I always do it as much as I find time to, thanks to you for pointing out mistakes and missing info.
* Diego P. provided the full story for the Shipwreck of the Eden V, Marina di lesina, Italy
* Norbi in the comments corrected the coordinates for the Shipwreck of the Murmansk, north coast of Norway 
- Bluesun2600 via Twitter asked for downloadable KMZ (GoogleEarth) maps. I will most likely add that in the coming weeks.
- Finally I added a new feature to the map. The red pushpins are a direct link to all articles located in the referring country.
