These 8 Fascinating Photos Show Hawaii's Most Unique WWII Shipwreck In A New Way
By Megan Shute|Published August 26, 2019
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
Between the small islands of Lanai and Molokai lies the Kalohi Channel, a place known for its numerous reefs and powerful currents. Many ships have met their watery demise here in this shallow channel, but none are as fascinating as this unique shipwreck that isn’t even a shipwreck at all. Want to see what we mean? Keep scrolling for all the fascinating details as well as some phenomenal photographs.
Accessible only on foot or by four-wheel-drive vehicle and located on the northeastern shore of Lanai, Shipwreck Beach — also known as Kaiolohia — not only provides excellent views of the shipwreck in the Kalohi channel but the beautiful island of Molokai as well.
The first documented shipwreck took place here in 1824, and just two years later, an American ship, the London, sunk here. The ship was rumored to have been carrying a large cargo of gold and silver, but no one knows exactly how much of the cargo was recovered.
Throughout the decades, there have been at least a dozen vessels known to have been accidentally, and sometimes intentionally, grounded along this six-mile stretch of coastline, from schooners to steamships.
This World War II-era navy vessel was intentionally grounded here as an economical means of disposal after its useful life came to an end. This YOGN-42 is often mistaken as a Liberty ship, but it is a a ferro-cement navy fuel barge.
Another World War II vessel, a navy yard oiler YO-21 is found on the western end of Shipwreck Beach near Awalua Bay and is one of the few remaining vessels that was present at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
So, what are you waiting for? The aptly-named Shipwreck Beach is rocky in parts, and while swimming here is dangerous, we can almost guarantee that you’ll have the beach to yourself — except maybe the occasional sea turtle basking on shore.
