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Great Lakes Shipwreck News & Rumor
Winter 2004

 by Brendon Baillod

2004 has been a blockbuster year for new discoveries and happenings in the Great Lakes Shipwreck world.  Several major discoveries have been made and more wrecks have been found than in any year of the previous decade.

The big news this year is the discovery of three wrecks in western Lake Superior.  Superior is a large, deep, cold lake with a lot of bottom area and few wreckhunters per square mile.  It is consequently remarkable that Minnesota/Wisconsin wreckhunters Jerry Eliason, Ken Merryman, Craig Smith and Randy Beebe have found three significant deep wrecks in one season.  During their search for the elusive wreck of the Robert Wallace, the group made three accidental discoveries.  The group initially announced the discovery of the Robert Wallace early this year, but upon further investigation, the wreck proved to be that of the fish tug Thomas Friant, sunk in 1924 off the Apostle Islands.  Lying in over 300 ft of water, the Friant is in exquisite condition and was penetrated and filmed by members of the GLSPS using rebreather technology.  Their film was the highlight of the Gales of November conference in Duluth.  During their program, the probable discovery of the famous schooner Moonlight was also announced.  Lost in 1903 off the Apostle Islands with an iron ore cargo, the Moonlight was a graceful, picturesque schooner well known across the Lakes.  She also lies in very deep water and features a debris field consisting of what appears to be scattered iron ore.  The wreck’s proximity to the reported foundering location of the Moonlight along with her debris field and size strongly suggest that she is the Moonlight.  She has yet to be visited by divers.  However, the blockbuster announcement of the year was the probable discovery of the long lost steamer Benjamin Noble.  In 1914, she sailed through a crack in the Lake somewhere between Duluth and Two Harbors, taking 22 souls with her.  She was found only a week before the Gales of November conference and the group brought the house down with their surprise announcement, which feature drop camera footage.  The wreck lies in well over 300 ft of water and appears to have met a violent end, gouging out a deep crater when she struck bottom.  Her triple steam whistle lies in the mud on her side and strongly suggests her identity as the Noble.  It is also highly unlikely that any other large steel steamer lies in the area where she was found.  Congratulations to Ken, Jerry, Randy, Craig and the other GLSPS members who spent innumerable hours scanning that vast lake bottom.

An astounding series of discoveries was made by Milwaukee charter captain Jerry Guyer.  Jerry recently purchased a new Marine Sonics 900 Khz side scanning sonar to augment the Wesmar he’s towed for the past decade.  Since the purchase, Jerry has averaged a new wreck a month, with at least five new discoveries off Milwaukee harbor.  Among the discoveries Jerry has made are three wooden commercial barges from the early 1900s, all lying within a mile of the Prinz Willem.  These barges have yet to be positively identified and all were likely scuttled in the 1920s/30s.  The largest is 130 ft in length and all are relatively intact in 60 – 80 ft of water.  Other finds include a partially buried fish tug, likely dating from the late 1800s.  Still unidentified, she sports a nice single cylinder steam engine and propeller.  Jerry has also announced the discovery of a schooner hull lying just off the south gap of Milwaukee harbor.  This 90 ft. schooner sports a standing centerboard trunk and stempost, but is mostly skeletal, owing to a depth of less than 40 ft and considerable age.  The schooner is probably 19^th century.  Additional finds include a huge hull bed of over 200 ft in length just inside the main gap.  This hull bed is almost certainly that of the Thomas A. Scott, which sank in 1880 one mile off Milwaukee.  Jerry has also reported the discovery of at least one early 20^th century fish tug, which remains unidentified and substantial debris from at least one other unidentified wreck.  It’s time for Wisconsin’s avocational underwater archeologists to get busy identifying this massive new group of finds!  Contact Jerry to arrange a charter at jerryguyer@msn.com.

Another big Lake Michigan discovery this year is that of the scow schooner Ocean Wave, lost off Door County in 1869.  Lying in approximately 110 ft of water off Whitefish Bay, WI, the wreck was snagged by commercial fishermen Mark Weborg and Jim Laughlin who notified area divers Randy Wallander and Mike Mellon of the snag.  The two visited the wreck, and divers Bob LaVoilette and Garrett Van Dreel measured the hull, which is intact, but sunken into the bottom.  Based on the wreck’s dimensions, appearance and location, researchers Russ Leitz, P.J. Creviere, Jon Van Harpen and Brendon Baillod identified her as the Ocean Wave, a scow schooner engaged in the stone trade.  The identification was made difficult by the surviving crew’s account of “rowing 20 miles to shore,” and accounts that placed the wreck “in 360 ft. of water.”  What may have felt like 20 miles during the 1869 storm, proved to be about 2 miles, as the wreck lies much closer to shore than historical accounts suggest.  The wreck of a larger brig of the same name near Chambers Island in Green Bay also confounded initial research, but measurements confirm the wreck as the scow schooner Ocean Wave.  The wreck was surveyed by divers from the SHSW and GLSRF and will be the subject of a presentation at the Ghost Ships Festival.  

On Lake Ontario, veteran wreck hunter Jim Kennard has announced a new discovery.  While scanning the bottom off Sodus Point, NY, Jim and fellow diver Dan Scoville ran over the remains of the schooner Etta Belle, which sank on a calm night in 1873.  The wreck, which is in excellent condition, lies in around 200 ft of water.  Jim had put up an excellent website on the wreck at www.shipwreckworld.com.  Congratulations to Jim and Dan!  Like Superior, Lake Ontario seldom gives up a new wreck.  The pair also announced the discovery of a Coast Guard boat lost in 1977. While on route from Oswego to Niagara, the 56-foot Coast Guard cable boat experienced 6-foot waves and winds of 50 mph as it approached Nine Mile Point on Lake Ontario. The boat, a converted landing craft (LCM) with an open deck, was taking water over the gunwale faster than the 3-man crew could pump it out. The Charlotte Coast Guard Station dispatched its motor lifeboat to the scene and removed the crew and took the boat in tow, but a wave parted the line and the cable boat sank offshore from the community of Ontario-On-The-Lake. Kennard and Scoville found that the boat never completely sank to the bottom.  It is upright on one end and is leaning over at an angle of 45 degrees, with the stern end sunk into 12 feet of the lake bottom.

On Lake Huron, Dave Trotter and Underwater Research Associates have announced the discovery of the barkentine H.P. Bridge.  Sunk off Saginaw Bay in 1869, the Bridge was run down by the propeller Colorado.  She now lies in over 230 ft of water in excellent condition with a beautiful figurehead, standing masts, and all three yard arms still attached to her fore mast.  She is reportedly the best preserved barkentine ever located on the Lakes and one of the best preserved sailing vessels ever found intact.  URA discovered her in 2002 but were unable to fully survey her until this year.  URA also announced the survey of the wreck of the 328 ft. steamer W.H. Gilbert, which was run down by the steamer Caldera south of Alpena, Michigan in 1914.  The wreck had never been examined due to her depth (230 ft.), low visibility and unusual layout.  These wrecks add to URA’s other recent significant discoveries, which include the steamer Frank Goodyear, which was one of the largest undiscovered wrecks on the Lakes, and the big steamer W.C. Franz, which lies off Alpena.  See the URA website at www.shipwreck1.com for more details. 

Lake Erie has seen significant discovery and survey activity this year as reported by Georgann & Mike Wachter of the GLHS Peachman Shipwreck Research Center’s Marine Archeological Survey Team (MAST).  Visibility in Lake Erie was in general very poor making shipwreck study difficult but several vessels were found and or explored.  Acting on a tip from two Toledo Ohio area diver, the Wachters located and dove the remains of the sidewheel steamer Wisconsin. The Wisconsin was lost in collision with the propeller Brunswick at the west end of Lake Erie. This vessel boasts one of the oldest engines of any ship sunk in the lakes.  Though her power plant was installed in 1837, the crosshead engine had been in two Hudson River vessels before the Wisconsin's construction in Conneaut, Ohio.  This shallow water site had very poor visibility and more work is planned for 2005.

The Wachters believe they may have identified a Canadian fish net hang as the schooner barge Theodore Perry. The wreck is in 75 feet of water off Port Stanley.  A Canadian diver has been studying the wreck for a couple years.  The wreck reportedly had great visibility and divers were able to take good measurements resulting in a site drawing.  The wheel, pumps, windlass and starboard anchor are prominent features of the vessel, which was carrying coal when she went down. The Perry was lost in a July 22, 1887 storm with five of her crew.  The Wachters are also planning to survey an unidentified steamer wreck off Fairport, Ohio next season.  This vessel was heavily salvaged by divers several years ago, but artifacts have surfaced that may help with identification.

Canadian fishing nets have located several shipwrecks in the last year or two.  A large schooner wreck east of Pt. Pelee boasts a huge windlass and massive broken down bowsprit.  Again extremely poor visibility has stymied extensive exploration. This three-masted vessel is missing much of her port side.  In August fishermen with trawl nets located another wooden target several miles off Port Stanley.  Several large timbers were brought into the port but there is no information on whether this vessel was explored by divers at the close of the season.  Two Cleveland area divers have located the remains of what is believed to be a tug near Cleveland Harbor.  This wreck is in 45 feet of water is about 90 feet long with a boiler and steel keel.  It is possible this is a scuttled tug from the Great Lakes Towing Co.  Another new Erie wreck near West Sister Island in 10 to 12 foot of water is the 126 foot long tug Custodian.  This wreck burned on June 23, 1925 and her remains were used for target practice in WWII so she is pretty well broken up.

Last summer, MAST did a survey on the wreck of The Craftsman, a barge that sank in rough seas as she passed Avon Point on June 3, 1958.  This barge lies east/west with her derrick about 100 ft to the east. A survey report will be available next summer.  She is a popular dive site in only 40 foot of water less than two miles from shore.  In 2005 MAST will for the first time have grant money from ODNR Coastal management to moor 6 wrecks in Ohio waters.  The wrecks moored will be the steamers Sand Merchant, Queen of the West, Morning Star and Sarah Sheldon, the tug Admiral and the schooner barge Dundee.  The 211 foot long Dundee will be the target for the 2005 MAST survey.  The wrecks of the Detroiter and King Coal, new discoveries reported in past issues of “News & Rumor” have also been the target of dives and ongoing survey work.

New York divers filed an Admiralty claim on an unidentified tiller steered two masted schooner in September 2004. The divers seek to recover artifacts that include a bottle and a captain’s 6 drawer bureau.  This wreck is reportedly in deep water east of Long Point.

The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary at Alpena has reported that the new wreck discovered by Bob Ballard during the 2002 survey aboard the R/V Lake Guardian is likely the schooner Corsican, which was run down in an amazing coincidence by the steamer Corsica in 1893.  The wreck was previously thought to be that of the schooner Marion Egan, which remains undiscovered.

Holland, Michigan dive shop owner Chuck Larson of Ocean Sands Scuba has reportedly located the remains of an unidentified wooden schooner in over 150 ft. of water.  The schooner is largely intact and appears to be between 100 and 110 ft in length.  Initial speculation was that the schooner might be the Thomas Hume, which vanished without a trace in 1891, but this schooner may be a bit small for the Hume.  Larson has also reportedly visited two other wrecks off Holland, which remain unidentified.  For more information visit www.oceansandsscuba.com/rov.htm.

Off White Lake, Michigan, a young pilot named Jon Freye has located the substantial remains of the barge Interlaken, which sank in 1934 just off the harbor.  Freye spotted the remains from the air and later dived them.  The 170 ft. Interlaken in the first new discovery in the White Lake area in many years.

Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates (www.msra.org) are reporting the discovery of a new, deep wreck off Holland, Michigan.  The wreck was discovered by MSRA and David Trotter during their annual hunt for the Chicora.  It will reportedly be a great technical diving site and has yet to be identified.  MSRA will be announcing the discovery and presenting more information about it at the Ghost Ships Festival in February.

The ancient wreck at Southamptom, Ontario reported in the last “News & Rumor” column as possibly being the 18^th century schooner Weazell, lost in 1798, has been excavated by a team including archeologist Ken Cassavoy and historians Patrick Folkes, Leslie Currie and Stan McLellan.  The work has led to them to believe that the wreck is actually that of the brig General Hunter, which served in the War of 1812 and was lost in the area in 1816.  The discovery of military buttons dating from the early 1800s, suggests that the remains could not be from the Weazell, but are likely from a military vessel such as the Hunter, which is known to have wrecked in the area.

 In August, a Cheboygan man was convicted of stealing a beam from the wreck of the William H. Barnum.  The man admitted to lift bagging a beam from the ship for use as a fireplace mantle and was fined $4650.  Authorities also found artifacts from the wreck of the Sandusky in the Straits Underwater Preserve, in the man’s home, but no charges were filed as the provenance of the artifacts could not be established. 

In July, divers John Janzen and Jon Scoles were the first to ever visit the wreck of the Carl D. Bradley in 360 ft. of icy Lake Michigan water using rebreathers.  The divers descended to the wreck but were unable to visit the section where the ship disputedly broke in half.  More dives are planned for 2005, which will undoubtedly yield the final word on whether the Bradley is in one piece or two.

Also in July, the season’s only shipwreck dive fatality occurred on the wreck of the Norman in the Thunder Bay Preserve off Alpena.  A female diver from South Carolina expired after a mixed gas dive to the wreck, which lies in just over 200 ft. of water.  She began experiencing trouble at about 90 ft. and went unconscious at 30 ft.  CPR was administered but the diver could not be revived.

Word also surfaced this year in several lower Michigan newspapers about a possible claim to the discovery of the Griffon in the area around Poverty Island.  Fairport, Michigan wreckhunter Steve Liebert, known for discovering remains of the yacht Captain Lawrence, reported finding unusually old wooden remains in the waters off Poverty Island.  The remains are currently under investigation and are believed to be quite old, but have not been confirmed to be from a vessel.

This summer, researchers identified the remains of the schooner George F. Foster in the sands near the Big Sable Point Lighthouse.  The Foster went ashore and was a total loss in November of 1870.  Her remains have lain in the sand for many years but were not identified until attracting the attention of Wayne Lusardi and Pat Labadie of the NOAA Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary, who tentatively identified the remains with the help of Brendon Baillod.

Also this year, the saga of diver Paul Ehorn and the State of Wisconsin continued in the court system.  Charges against Ehorn for removing a porthole from the wreck of the Rosinco were dismissed because the State failed to establish ownership of the wreck at the time Ehorn removed the porthole.  The State’s subsequent filing for National Register status, however, was affirmed and the State’s ownership of the wreck has since been recognized by the court.  Ehorn however, is now filing to reclaim the porthole he recovered, as the wreck was not demonstrably owned by the State at the time it was recovered.  It will be interesting to follow the outcome of this case.

The unidentified deep wreck off Manitowoc thought to be that of the schooner Gallinipper remains unidentified.  Lying in just over 200 ft. of water, excellent photography by divers Robert and Charles Tom revealed a schooner of ancient design, possibly as early as the 1830s.  Despite initial interest, this ancient schooner remains unidentified.  Divers have as yet, not been able to take measurements of this wreck in order to make an identification.

In June of this year Muskegon wreck hunter Dave Miesch reported that a large wooden wreck had been seen from the air just north of Muskegon State Park, 100 ft from shore in 15 feet of water.  The wreck has yet to be relocated and may have become covered by sand.  Subsequent searches failed to relocate the wreck.

Also this year, the Discovery Channel, long neglecting the area of Great Lakes shipwrecks, featured the documentary “Shipwrecked: Rage of the Great Lakes.”  Featuring notable personalities and researchers and contributors to this site such as Patrick Labadie, Ric Mixter, Cris Kohl, Brendon Baillod and Harry Zych, the documentary reconstructed the wrecks of the Griffon, Lady Elgin, Eastland, Daniel J. Morrell and Edmund Fitzgerald.

If you have a piece of news related to Great Lakes shipwrecks that you'd like included here, please email Brendon Baillod (Brendon@ship-wreck.com). I do not include any information in this column without first obtaining permission to release it and I try to be as accurate as possible.