Del Rio Engine Block

A Washington Iron Works 6-cylinder diesel engine from the commercial fishing vessel DEL RIO that was partially exposed in the surf. DEL RIO’s long commercial fishing career dating back to 1935 was interrupted during WWII when the U.S. Navy converted the purse seiner into an auxiliary minesweeper renaming it USS GROSBEAK AMc 19 and the vessel’s duties included tending submarine net operations in San Francisco Bay. After WWII the DEL RIO returned to commercial fishing under its original name and was ultimately lost off Anacapa Island in 1952.