Lake Washington Wrecks

While diving in Lake Washington is not for the feint of heart due to the extremely low visibility and deep, dark dives featured there, it is without a doubt, some of the best wreck diving in the Pacific Northwest.  The cold lake water has preserved scores of old wrecks from the hey day of the Mosquito Fleet and steam passenger ferries.  It is not for everyone, but for serious wreck divers is simply stunning.

Lake Washington Wreck Dives                  

Atlantic City (1).  Huge Oak timbers and hand planed planking mark the remains of this once graceful steamer lying in 120' of water at the South End of Lake Washington.

City of Tacoma (1).  A 120' long ferry that once ran passengers and cars around Puget Sound and Lake Washington was being used as a breakwater for the Yarrow Bay Marina when she sank in 20 feet of water, just outside the marina.

Coal Cars (1).  Eighteen wood Coal Cars sank off a barge in 1875.  The are almost perfectly preserved and still sit on the bottom of the lake full of Coal.

Dart (1).  A 60' tug that burned and sank in 1926.  Beautiful hand crafted wood hull.

Dawn (4).  A 55' wood hulled passenger steamer that once ferried students from Mercer Island to Leschi Park.  One of my favorite Lake Washington dives and reasonably shallow at 120'.

Diamond Girl (1).  A 35' Motor Sailor with an impressive diamond plate bow and lots of custom aluminum work around the bulwarks and inside the cabin.

Falcon (1).  A beautiful old passenger steamer, 85' Long that still has the Passenger Cabin in place.  Nearly 200' deep in the middle of the North Part of Lake Washington.

Fresno (1).   150' sailing vessel that burned in Meydenbauer Bay, April 24, 1923.  Scuttled in the middle of Lake Washington in 180' of water.  Very interesting dive on a historic whaling ship.

Foss 75 (1).  Very impressive and large barge that sank north of Sand Point in Lake Washington.

Hauler (4).  A 60' long wood hulled boat, that resembles a Chinese Junk lies quietly forgotten on the bottom at the south end of the lake.   Viz was really poor on this dive, so no good photos!

Hauled Barge (1).  An interesting old wooden barge, located just South of the Hauler.

King Street Scow (1).   An old wood barge that sank just north of the I-90 bridge in 45' of water, not far from the end of King Street.

Landing Craft (1).  This WWII LCVP Landing Craft or Higgins Boat was scuttled not far from Gene Coulon park after seeing a lot of action in the Pacific.  This is a fascinating bit of history for wreck divers.

Louie (2).  A 63' long wood hulled tug that sank in 1973 just off the Carillon Point Marina.

Old Salt (1).  An 85' wood-hulled schooner scuttled off of Hougton.

PA-d3 Barge (2).   An old steel barge on the bottom of Lake Washington.  Three open compartments and wood plank floor adorn this odd shaped vessel used to haul lumber or coal.

PB4Y-2 Privateer Bomber (2).  Amazing WWII Privateer Bomber lying at the bottom of Lake Washington, just off the Magnuson Park Boat Ramp.  With her guns still pointing off into the murky depths of the lake at about 150' Deep, and very low visibility but a cool dive. 

PBM Martin Mariner (2).  A huge flying boat from WWII that sank after striking an obstruction in front of the Boeing Seaplane ramp at the south end of Lake Washington.   Only 70' deep, and a nice dive.

PV-2 Harpoon (2).  Nose down in the mud, just off the end of the Sand Point Naval Air Station runway lies this WWII torpedo-bomber.

Seattle Tennis Club Barge (1).  An old barge located just off the Seattle Tennis Club.

S.L. Dowell (1).   A pristine 45' long steam tug that sank in the middle of Lake Washington in 1922 when it hit a snag off of Mercer Island.

Snickerdoodle Tug (1).  A small tug in the south end of the lake that was scuttled with lots of barrels.  Several portholes have fallen on the bottom around this wreck.

Sonny (2).  A very nice 38' fishing boat that is still in excellent condition in the south end of Lake Washington. 

Urania (1).  A burned out Passenger Steamer Hull in the North End of Lake Washington.

Valiant SNV-2 (1).  An engine failure during a training flight on February 29, 1944 put this aircraft in the Lake due north from the old Sand Point Naval Air Station.

West Shore Scow (1).  Power driven scow that sank along the western shore of Lake Washington.

Wheeler (2).  Forty foot long wood-hulled fishing boat in the South End of Lake Washington with a very distinctive steering wheel and controls still in place in the wheel house.

Wolf Bay Wreck (2).  A very picturesque wood hulled wreck in Wolf Bay, Lake Washington.

YMS 359 Minesweeper (1).   One of three YMS class minesweepers that were scuttled in Lake Washington.  This particular vessel "disappeared" from UW docks after a fire in the living quarters.

YMS Minesweeper #3 (1).  Just discovered in 2007, this is the third YMS Minesweeper found out in the middle of Lake Washington, and the one that is in the best shape.  128 feet long and 200 feet deep.  An awesome dive, but deep and dark.

Zippy (1).  A very picturesque forty-two foot fishing boat that was scuttled in the north end of Lake Washington in 170' of water.

 

Boydski's Dive Statistics:
Total Number of Dives:	1000
Total Bottom time:	939 hours
Deepest dive - Lake Crescent (9/18/09)	330'
Longest dive - Nohoch Nah Chich  (5/10/10)	187 minutes (3:07)
Staged Decompression Dives	157
Cave Dives	109
Wreck Dives	237