The Sinking
of the Yukon
A documentary by Patty Mooney, with rare footage of HMCS Yukon going down off Mission Beach in 2000, a day before her big send-off.
San Diego planned a party. Press, helicopters, explosives and a big red button. The Pacific didn’t wait.
In 2000 the city was ready to sink the retired Canadian warship HMCS Yukon on purpose, to make a new artificial reef in Wreck Alley. The night before the ceremony, heavy seas took her down on their own. This film tells how it happened and shows the sinking itself.
- Ship
- HMCS Yukon, a former Canadian destroyer escort
- Went down
- 2000, off Mission Beach, San Diego
- Resting place
- Wreck Alley, about two miles west of Mission Beach
- Film
- Produced, edited and scored by Patty Mooney
- Camera
- Mark Schulze
- Studio
- New & Unique Videos®
Watch the film
Free to watch. Rare footage of the Yukon going down.
The plan, and what happened
The plan
A public celebration, organized by the City of San Diego
- Members of the press gathered to watch
- Helicopters ready to film from above
- Explosives set inside the hull
What happened
The night before
Heavy seas pounded the ship until she slipped under on her own.
Nobody pressed the button. Officials, spectators and TV crews missed it. The camera didn’t.
Ahead of scheduleAbout the film
The Sinking of the Yukon documents one of San Diego’s most memorable maritime mishaps: the completely unplanned sinking of the former Canadian warship HMCS Yukon off Mission Beach in 2000.
After she was decommissioned, the Yukon was extensively prepared for a second life as an artificial reef and dive site in Wreck Alley. Her sinking was meant to be a major civic event, with the press and helicopters standing by.
The film follows the remarkable chain of events around that night and includes rare footage of the actual sinking, a moment almost nobody saw.
Patty Mooney produced and edited the film and wrote its soundtrack. Mark Schulze shot the video. Together they combine firsthand footage with the story of an enormous warship whose final moments didn’t go to plan.
The ship
- 366ft
- long, approximately
- 40ft
- wide, approximately
- 6
- decks
- 100+
- compartments
A former Canadian destroyer escort, the Yukon now lies on the bottom about two miles west of the Mission Beach roller coaster.
She didn’t go down at the push of a ceremonial red button. The sea decided.
Why it matters
The film captures a one-of-a-kind episode in San Diego maritime history, when a carefully planned public spectacle was overtaken by nature.
It preserves rare firsthand footage of a massive former warship disappearing beneath the Pacific, and it records how one of the region’s best-known artificial reefs got its start.
Today the Yukon is one of Southern California’s favorite wreck dives. The film is also a reminder that even the most carefully engineered event can change in an instant when the ocean has other plans.
Credits
- Produced and edited by
- Patty Mooney
- Soundtrack
- Patty Mooney
- Videography
- Mark Schulze
- Production company
- Crystal Pyramid Productions®
- Distributed by
- New & Unique Videos®
- Genre
- Documentary, maritime history, San Diego history, adventure
More from the coast
See her go down
Free to watch, right at the top of this page.