Torpedo Wharf and Golden Gate Anglers Pier: The Pier of Submarine Mines
Why is it significant?
Walk out to the weathered timber railings of Torpedo Wharf, extending several hundred feet into the churning waters of the bay.
Key Facts
| Place | Torpedo Wharf and Golden Gate Anglers Pier: The Pier of Submarine Mines |
|---|---|
| Address | Long Ave, San Francisco, CA 94129, USA |
| Geo Coordinates | 37.80780, -122.47150 |
| Part of Walk | San Francisco: Marina and Palace of Fine Arts to Fort Point |
| Generated | Generated |
Walk out to the weathered timber railings of Torpedo Wharf, extending several hundred feet into the churning waters of the bay. Built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1907, this heavy wooden pier served a vital, secretive military mission: loading underwater contact mines onto specialized army mine-planting vessels. During both World Wars, the military deployed vast submerged minefields across the Golden Gate strait to protect San Francisco's vital naval shipyards, commercial docks, and military bases from enemy surface warships and submarine attack.
Today, the martial past has given way to peaceful civic recreation. The wharf is beloved by local anglers who drop heavy crab pots and casting lines into the deep currents, pulling up Dungeness crabs, starry flounder, striped bass, and Pacific halibut. Standing at the end of the pier, you are immersed in the sights and sounds of the marine strait—pelicans diving inches from your head, harbor seals surfacing with curious black eyes, and waves crashing against the pier pilings with rhythmic power.
Look west toward the towering southern abutment of the Golden Gate Bridge, rising less than half a mile away. From this water-level vantage point, you can appreciate the immense scale of the suspension towers, which rise seven hundred forty-six feet above the waves, taller than many downtown skyscrapers. Taking time to absorb this physical setting connects you directly with the generations of master builders, military strategists, and visionary civic leaders whose perseverance shaped San Francisco into a global capital of maritime beauty and architectural distinction. Taking time to absorb this physical setting connects you directly with the generations of master builders, military strategists, and visionary civic leaders whose perseverance shaped San Francisco into a global capital of maritime beauty and architectural distinction.
If you look down through the wooden deck planks, you can see thick clusters of blue bay mussels and purple sea stars clinging to the barnacled pilings below.
Walk back to the shore and step into the nearby historic red-roofed depot of The Warming Hut.