I parked at the U.S.S Milwaukee shipwreck historical site, then took a right down the beach. This has been one of my favorite spots in Samoa for awhile; it's a wonderful place to see the moon while listening to the ocean. Sometimes there's lots of fossilized sand dollars, sea shells, and velella ("by-the-wind sailor") down this stretch of beach too.
A bit about the shipwreck from wikipedia- "Under the temporary command of Lieutenant William F. Newton acting as Coast Torpedo Force Commander, Milwaukee sailed on 1/5/1917 for Eureka, California, to assist in salvaging the U.S. Navy submarine H-3 which had run aground off Humboldt Bay on 12/14/1916 (due to heavy fog). On 13 January, while attempting to float the submarine and disregarding the recommendations of local mariners, the cruiser stranded in the first line of breakers at Samoa, California. 421 enlisted men and 17 officers were rescued safely by the Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station and local volunteers but attempts to salvage the ship were unsuccessful. H-3 was ultimately salvaged and returned to service.
Milwaukee was decommissioned on 3/6/1917 and a storm in November 1918 broke the ship in two. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 6/23/1919 and her hulk was sold on 8/5/1919.“
“Not only was the mission botched, but it was entirely unnecessary in the first place. A few days after the H-3 beached, its own tender ship, the Cheyenne, unsuccessfully tried to tow it back to sea, assisted by two other ships. The Navy then requested bids to refloat the 350-ton submarine. While an out-of-area salvage firm offered to do it for $150,000, local contractor Mercer Fraser quoted just $18,000. The first bid was considered too high, and Mercer Fraser's plan to haul the stricken sub across North Spit and re-launch it in Humboldt Bay was deemed unrealistic. Following the Navy's disastrous rescue attempt, our local heroes did exactly what they said they'd do, skidding and rolling the H-3 three-quarters of a mile across the spit, launching the sub in the bay on April 20.
The Milwaukee survived mostly intact until 1943, when bronze and other useful metals were salvaged from the wreck for the war effort, using high-explosive charges. You can still see a row of bulkheads at negative tides, like tips of a great iceberg. Below, buried in the sand, lies an estimated two-thirds of the vessel.
Locate the site from the big rock opposite Samoa Pulp Lane, 1½ miles south of the west end of Samoa Bridge. For more on the story, check out local historian Ray Hillman's book Shipwrecked at Samoa, California, available in the Humboldt County Library."
(North Coast Journal)