The Russian Freighter/San Pablo

Lat 30 11.333 N   Long 87 13.057 W

The SS San Pablo was a refrigerated cargo steamer built in Belfast, Ireland in 1915 and was owned by the United Fruit Company and was part of the "Great White Fleet". She was 315 feet long, 44 feet wide, weighed 3300 Gross Tons and had a service speed of 15 Knots. The San Pablo typically operated in the Caribbean transporting fruit but also had many stops at Ellis Island in the Mid-1920's. Like many vessels of the merchant fleet during WWII she fell prey to a German U-Boat (U-161 sank her with 2 torpedoes) and was sunk while at pier in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica on July 3, 1942. In early 1943 the San Pablo was raised and then towed back to the US. From here the story gets sketchy, she either sank inadvertently while being towed in for repairs or was used as target practice by the US Army.

The San Pablo commonly referred to as the Russian Freighter (Know one's sure how she came to be known as this) now sits in 75-85 feet of water approximately 9 Miles South of Pensacola Beach. Her wreckage is very scattered and her boilers which are still recognizable are one of her most recognizable features. The wreck holds a lot of fish and is favorite among Photographers and Spearfisherman. Care should be taken when diving this site as it can be easy to become disoriented in lower visibility without site of the boilers. Visibility usually ranges from 20-80 feet.