Divers hope to preserve Duluth-area wrecks

Rochester Post-Bulletin/Duluth News Tribune ^ | 7/26/2007 | Steve Kuchera

[Mr. Silverback]

DULUTH -- Some divers view shipwrecks merely as interesting attractions, something to see and -- sometimes -- plunder.

The interests of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society divers go deeper. Since 1996, the society has worked quietly to discover, document, protect and restore the region's shipwrecks.

"Everything I can say about them is good," said Scott Anfinson, Minnesota state archaeologist and co-author of "Beneath Minnesota Waters: Minnesota's Submerged Cultural Resources Preservation Plan," of the society's members.

"In some ways, they have done a better job than the historians and archaeologists and agencies in preserving shipwrecks in Lake Superior. They should get a lot of credit for that."

In a way, they are. The society is awaiting the final signatures on a $12,895 grant to help it document two wrecks near Duluth -- the Mayflower and the recently discovered Robert Wallace.

The society hopes to nominate the Robert Wallace for the National Register of Historic Places. Historic designation can do wonders in helping efforts to preserve and protect wrecks, Anfinson said.

The Wallace, a 209-foot bulk freighter built in 1882, was loaded with iron ore when it sank on Nov. 17, 1902, while towing the 218-foot schooner barge Ashland, also carrying ore. Historians believe the Wallace hit a floating object that tore out the ship's stern post. As the Wallace flooded and sank, her crew escaped to the Ashland, where they awaited rescue by the tug Edna G. The Wallace rests upright in 240 feet of water near the shipping lanes south of Knife Island.

Society board member Ken Merryman was part of a team that unsuccessfully searched for the Wallace for years. They thought they had found it in 2004, but as they examined that wreck they realized it was the Thomas Friant, lost in 1924.

Merryman wasn't disappointed that someone else found the Wallace last year, passing its location onto the society. In fact, he was excited.

"There are a circle of us who are into this and we are all shipwreck conservationists," he said. "We just want to see them preserved and people enjoy them."

A small team of divers, including Merryman, did one dive on the Wallace last year.

"It's in pretty good shape," he said. "The stern is very intact. The cabins are gone, the engine and boiler are there, the rudder is there, the name is still on the stern."

With the grant money, the society will research the Wallace's story to make the case that it deserves historic designation. Divers also will return to the ship to document its condition by videotaping and making rough sketches of the site.

The cold, deep waters at the wreck site limit divers to about 20 to 25 minutes at the bottom during a dive lasting more than two hours.

Documenting the Mayflower, discovered in 1991, will be easier. Since the 147-foot, 230-ton scow-schooner rests in only 90 feet of water off the Lester River, divers will be able to spend more time documenting its condition than the Wallace's. They will record the positions of various parts of the ship and its cargo on a grid. The data will help create an accurate drawing of the wreck.

"It's a real interesting boat," Merryman said. "There are two real neat anchors on it, an old-style windless and the rudder and everything."

The two-year-old Mayflower was trying to reach Duluth during a storm on June 2, 1891, when its cargo of 490 tons of sandstone -- bound for the new Duluth Central School -- shifted and she foundered. The tug Cora A. Sheldon was able to rescue three crewmen, but Capt. Theodore Zirbest drowned.

"When the tug reached him, he held up his hand and exclaimed: 'Never mind boys, it's too late,' and sank beside his craft," the June 3, 1891, Duluth Daily Tribune reported.

There are a number of reasons to preserve shipwrecks, Anfinson said. They can be an economic asset, attracting divers to an area. There is also their historic value. Shipwrecks are time capsules of the year they sank. But many wrecks are endangered, damaged or plundered by visiting divers. Others are falling apart slowly under the ravages of time.

A project to strengthen the deck of the Samuel P. Ely in Two Harbors led to the creation of the nonprofit society in 1996. Since then, the group has restored other deteriorating shipwrecks. It has placed anchor buoys near popular wrecks to prevent damage from improperly placed or dragging anchors. It returns artifacts that divers have taken off of wrecks. The federal government is now considering the society's first nomination for Register of Historic Places designation.

Receiving its first major grant could help the society win larger grants and take on larger projects, said society member Helen S. Wright, who wrote the grant application.

"We've been going for quite a while, but we've been kind of riding on volunteers and donations from people in the organization," she said. "This is going to allow us to move into doing bigger projects that go beyond the time people have on weekends."

[Mr. Silverback]

Oh man, there's something about a juicy wreck past recreational limits that just makes me sad. But man, you are never, ever going to see me doing any of those deep dives. Nothing down there worth dying for.

Gotta love the guys who do this stuff though.

[Mr. Silverback]

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