Armed Transport San Quintin (Spanish Navy)

ex S/S Andes (Cunard Lines)

Build in 1852 at Dumbarton, Scotland by William Denny & Co. as the S/S Andes for the Cunard Lines.

Walters, Samuel, 1811-1882. S.S. Australia (Sister Ship) 1862. 1 painting : oil on canvas ; 71.3 x 107.7 cm.

Type of Site: Ship wreck

Depth range: 16 meters (50 feet)

San Quintin boiler

Length: 236 feet (72 meters)

Skill Levels: Open Water Diver

Current: Generally calm, some mild current at tide change, currents are stronger at surface.

Visibility: 10-15 meters

Average Dive Time Recreational Diver: 40-50 minutes

The out of commission Armed Transport San Quintin was scuttled at the out break of the Spanish American War (1898) in an effort to block the narrow shallow eastern channel into Subic Bay. She was positioned southeast of Grande Island and northeast of Chiquita Island where the water was only 10 meters deep. Sunk with her were two merchant ships whose identities were not recorded.

Due to her shallow depth, calm conditions and location, the San Quintin dive site is often used for training dives and as a second dive. It is often paired with the Japanese patrol boat, LST, barges or the El Capitan.

Dive boats drop anchor on this wreck in a sandy area east of the debris field of the ships. At tide changes there may be a mild to medium surface current that extends about 2 meters. Most the time the dive site itself experience no or just slight currents.

Time and storms has reduced much of the ship, the boilers at mid-ship, the bow and the stern are easily identified. Others portions seem to have broken up or buried in the sand. The ship has been underwater for over 100 years and is now well covered in corals. Juvenile fish are the most prevalent on this dive site.

Ten meters east and parallel to the San Quintin is a reef, that can also be dived as a part of this site.

San Quintin Boiler Is Now a Reef

History ( a more detailed history of the San Quintin and the S/S Andes )

In 1850, the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company ordered four identical iron screw

The Lines of the S/S Andes

Passenger/cargo vessels from the Scottish ship builder William Denny & Brothers. They were the Andes, Alps, Australia and Sydney. Before being delivered in 1852, the company had changed its name to Cunard Lines and transferred ownership of the Australia and Sydney to an Australian company. In December 1852, the S/S Andes started sailing the Liverpool to New York route.

In 1854, with the out break of the Crimean War, the British government leased the S/S Andes. The ship was initial used as troop transport and later used as a hospital ship. After the war, it returned to service with Cunard Lines.

The S/S Andes was purchased in 1859 by the Spanish government and renamed to the San Quintîn. She initial served as a troop transport station in Cuba and later transferred to the Philippines.

In 1894, she was retired and laid up at Subic Bay. In preparation for a possible war with the United States, the Spanish Admiral Montojo devised a plan to fight at Subic Bay, that plan included the sinking of the San Quintin. Admiral Montojo’s plan was approved on March 15, 1898 and orders give to scuttle the ship.