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[edit] Ship's History

The Yukon was commissioned in 1963, the height of the cold war. And she is indeed a cold war relic. Her decks are constructed in such a way that radioactive fall-out could be easily washed away. In the event of nuclear war, the ship could be entirely sealed, holding the crew safely inside with air filters and an auxiliary bridge below decks, enabling the ship to be operated just by instruments.

After sea trials, the ship's first port of call was, oddly enough, San Diego. She went on to visit 30 different ports and cover nearly 800,000 miles. Other notable activities of the Yukon include escorting Queen Elizabeth, and numerous training missions with U.S. Navy, one in which she nearly collided with the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.

With the cold war ending, the Yukon was moth-balled in 1993. The Yukon was purchased and towed to San Diego at a cost of $245,000. Footing the bill is the non-profit San Diego Oceans Foundation. The Foundation has been relying heavily on fund raisers and individual contributions. More money is still needed. [1]

[edit] Dive the Yukon

The HCMS Yukon is a very popular dive site in San Diego. The ship was sunk in July of 2000 the ship now lies in about 100 feet of water at a 90 degree angle on her port side. The ship has many passageways allowing complete penetration of the ship.