John Blaich
On Feb. 2, 1976, exactly 27 years ago Sunday night, in a dense
fog, the motor ship Coos Bay ran aground on the Balboa Peninsula at
Island Avenue.
The former World War II landing ship tank was coming up the coast
to San Pedro. She barely missed the Balboa Pier before running
aground about 10 p.m., just after high tide. The ship was broad side
to the beach with the bow pointing slightly seaward.
The shipwreck was first observed by a Newport Beach Police unit,
who reported the incident to the Orange County Harbor Department,
which reported it to the Coast Guard at Long Beach. Within an hour of
the Coos Bay's hitting the beach, she was boarded by a team of U.S.
Customs officers, who were transported to the shipwreck by a Harbor
Department launch that was equipped with radar.
Lifeguards and police officers were stationed on the beach to
prevent anyone from leaving the ship. This led to rumors that the
Coos Bay was carrying marijuana or other contraband.
But Ray Spencer, a U.S. Customs supervisor out of Los Angeles,
said that the inspection was routine in such incidents and that no
contraband was found on board. Spencer said that it was routine for
Customs agents to inspect a vessel in trouble before it reached its
destination. The Coos Bay was scheduled to clear customs on Monday at
Los Angeles Harbor, but she spent Monday hard aground on the Balboa
Peninsula.
Word spread quickly about the shipwreck. All day Monday, there was
a large crowd of people out on the sand to take a look at the Coos
Bay. Many business people took an extra long lunch hour.
The incident turned into the social event of the season on the
Balboa Peninsula as hundreds of residents and business people flocked
to the beach throughout the day to watch the salvage operation. Even
classes from nearby Newport Elementary School marched down the beach
to witness the operation.
At 4:38 p.m. Monday, when there was a minus 1.5 low tide, people
could walk up and touch the sides of the Coos Bay. Fortunately,
during the period of the shipwreck, there was no wind, and the surf
was low -- surges in and out with an occasional 1-foot high breaker.
A Jacobs ladder, or rope ladder, was lowered from the deck of the
Coos Bay. Some of the crew came down the ladder and, using shovels,
dug the sand away from the ship's rudder and propeller.
By midafternoon, the salvage tugboat Sea Otter, a Red Stack Co.
tugboat, arrived from San Pedro with Capt. Johnny Banks in charge. A
