The Dunderberg is a schooner that was rammed by a wooden steamer in the year with only a year's worth of service to its name. The date of the sinking was August 13, 1868. It was a bright, moonlit night. The first mate of the Empire State was piloting that steam-driven vessel when it collided with the schooner. Tragically, that collison caused the death of the owner's wife which triggered the charges of "murder on the high seas" against the first mate of the Empire State. These charges were thrown out by the presiding judge.
The Dunderberg now lies in 150 feet of water roughly six miles out of Harbor Beach. It was a three masted schooner and the rear mast is still mainly standing. The middle mast is broken off at the deck and the forward mast lies across the wreck with a crow's nest still on it.
The figurehead is well-known to Great Lakes wreck divers. It is an alligator connected to some of the most intricate scroll work that I have had the pleasure of examining underwater. On the port side, the red paint is still in the eye of the alligator.
The wreck is nearly intact. Personally, I find few of the wrecks with this kind of reputation live up to their hype. This one is an exception.
I was diving with two instructors that I know out of our shop. We were using large steel doubles and O2 for deco. I had chartered the boat for the afternoon of the 17th and the morning of 18th to give two drive-in divers from Indianapolis a chance to dive this wreck well-rested. It turns out weather-wise that I couldn't have timed it any better.
It was 92 degrees and sunny on the 17th, but the water was still a balmy 45 degrees, so we had to don drysuits in that weather. Seas were roughly 1-3 ft. The relief of the water on us as we sweltered in our drysuits was a godsend. I descended to down the line to that magnificent bow sprit and went to within a few feet of the bottom along the starboard side of the wreck. I quickly found the gash left by the bow of the Empire State so many years ago. I turned my body and slid into a wide open cargo area at a depth of about 140 ft. I swam in that wreck imagining what that interior looked like over 100 years ago. I ascended through the midships hatch to about 135 ft. to look at the topside machinery that looks like it could still operate. I got to the bow and thought about checking out the chain locker, but there wasn't time left for that. So, I went and said "Hello" to the alligator and make a quick dip down to put an image in my mind of a noble sailing vessel with lines hanging down from the bowsprit and still connected. Anchors that never had a chance to be dropped sit on the bow as well. I began my ascent and did my decompression waiting for my chance to dive her again Sunday morning. I considered a second dive (I did have better than 2000 psi left in my doubles and a nearly full O2 bottle), but thought safety better than valor. Besides, those 1 to 3 ft. waves had a lot more 3 footers than when we "opened the pool". I would have to be happy with one dive on that day. Final tally for those wondering 142 ft. for a twenty minute bottom time and 49 minute run time (one of my buddies incurred a little more deco than me somehow and I stayed with him at the 15 ft. stop).
On Sunday morning (June 18), I awoke to load up my car. Skies were clear with a stiff breeze. Clouds where starting to appear in the far horizon. The group hustled to the boat as the weather forecast was for great weather in the morning, but increasing chance of storms blowing in throughout the day from the SW. This would hold true. Our trip back on Saturday evening was a little rough, so none of us wanted to see worse.
The seas had laid down for us and out we went. We had a slightly smaller group this time. Everyone geared up in relatively mild weather (no 92 degrees with sun beating down on us). We went into the water. Today, we went through the chain locker and up the mid-ship hatch. The view was awesome. We then went over the side and along the forward mast that was laying across the vessel on the port side. There sat the crows nest. Again, I hovered there at 145 ft. or so admiring the ship from that angle and realizing how it dwarfed me. We ascended to the deck area and swam along the starboard side back to the stern. The view of the debris field created by the rudder was just spectacular. We swam forward sixteen minutes into the dive (time to turn) and went midships admiring the craftsmanship of the railings around the masts. We looked the alligator in the eye (the one with the red paint is on the port side) and swam along the bowsprit for a bit. Then, we came back to the line and regretfully had to start our ascent knowing that we now want to get back to the wreck to see what we couldn't see in the limited time that we have underwater. The time was about twenty-five minutes at this point.
Again we did our deco stops and came back to real world. Depth: 147 ft. Run time: 60 minutes.
Some in the group did a second dive while I took the opportunity to stow my gear and consider how awesome this shipwreck is. I also wished that I had a camera with a strobe to handle this kind of diving, but I don't. I will have to wait for my buddies from Indianapolis to send me their photos .
The run back was again rough and the captain cancelled his second charter of the day ahead of the advancing dark skies which had provided our shade. The wind was whipping through the harbor by the time that we got our gear in our cars. I also had another reminder on the way home that I can't do a dive trip without driving back in the rain at some point.
If anyone were to ask about the joys of Great Lakes diving though, I could easily tell them right now.
BTW, I would like to personally thank all of the divers that went diving with me to make this a fun and safe trip. Your support is greatly appreciated
. I would like to think that a good time was had by all of us.
