Posted on 07/12/2005 10:32:15 AM PDT by nickcarraway
HOLLAND - A recent expedition by Holland-based Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates has led to the discovery of the final location of the Great Lakes passenger steamer S.S. Michigan, the remains of the car ferry Ann Arbor 5 and an unnamed barge.
The S.S. Michigan is one of MSRA's six most-sought-after shipwrecks and is the subject of a 2004 documentary called, "ICEBOUND! The Ordeal of the S.S. Michigan."
The S.S. Michigan sank on March 19, 1885, just four years after her launch.
The 30-man crew made it safely to shore after being stranded on the ice for 42 days.
MSRA board members Craig Rich, Valerie and Jack van Heest, Jan Miller and Ross Richardson teamed up with Great lakes shipwreck hunter David Trotter for the search in early June.
The vessel was found upright in more than 270 feet of water off Holland, making it a "technical dive" for experts only.
MSRA-affiliated scuba divers have made several deep dives to the wreck, beginning the process of documentation.
So far, they have seen the ship's massive anchors, the ship's wheel and the smokestack. Most intriguing, they located the capstan with the name "S.S. Michigan" and "Wyandotte, Michigan" inscribed on it. There is no doubt as to the identity of this shipwreck.
Built in 1881 as a sister ship to the S.S. Wisconsin by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. at Wyandotte for the Goodrich Transportation Co., the S.S. Michigan was a sturdy iron-hulled passenger steamer. She was 204 feet long and 35 feet wide, powered by a compound engine, which drove a single propeller.
The discovery of the Michigan came exactly one year after the team discovered an unnamed barge in the same general location.
Due to its clean condition and lack of equipment, this barge is believed to have been scuttled.
The site, off Holland, will make a fine technical-diver training location since it lies in 275 feet of water.
Earlier this year, a joint expedition between MSRA and Clive Cussler's National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA) produced a number of interesting finds, but the location of Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 remains a mystery. The DC-4 airliner crashed into Lake Michigan off South Haven in 1950 with the loss of all 58 persons aboard.
Flight 2501 was en route from New York to Minneapolis when it encountered a severe thunderstorm late in the evening of June 23, 1950. Three crewmembers and 55 passengers perished in the disaster.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call Gitchigumi.
I hope they look for the Edmund Fitzgerald yet. It would be interesting to see if the corpses have turned over in their graves after being immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot.
They found the Edmund Fitzgerald some years ago. They brought up her ship's bell. IIRC.
And I like the Gordon Lightfoot song.
There's no mystery as to the Edmund Fitzgerald's location. The ship's bell was recovered in 1995, partly in response to an increasing number of divers visiting the shipwreck site.
http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/fitz.phtml?page=recovery
sorry dong gone, wrong lake.. these ships sank in Lake Michigan, Gitchigumi is Lake Superior, and it has lots of wrecks in it.
picky, picky. It was a great song except that it got played 2 gazillion times.
Lake Superior?
Ouch, that would hurt..
I wonder if there is any treasure in this boat, or at least some interesting artifatcs.
LOL.. Oh ya they play the song every November in Minn. I like it too.
An old Navy guy in Milwaukee told me that the lakes were rougher than any ocean he'd ever been in. The size and depth combine to make semi-large waves that come at an astounding frequency. It can pummel the rivets right out of a vessel.
Ouch, that would hurt..
Damn finger slips.. must be old age creeping up.. sorry DOG GONE
Bump.
hahah
Then notice I mispelled artifacts.
That age deal is creeping up on me too.
I wasnt being the grammer nanny, it was just a funny typo. ;)
The company I worked for in Minnesota put fuel on the Ed Fitz on the last run she made. Our tanker captain knew many of the guys, including the replacement cook who went aboard that last day when the regular cook became ill.
Clive Cussler's National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA)
Never knew it was for real.
One thing they don't have to worry about in fresh, is the teredo worm. It destroys the wood of ships in warm saltwater seas. Read more here: http://southseas.nla.gov.au/biogs/P000404b.htm
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