Oldpirate
Contributor
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 MSRAs 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 is safely to shore after being stranded on the ice for 42 days.
MSRA board members Craig Rich, Valerie & Jack van Heest, Jan Miller and Ross Richardson teamed up with renowned Great lakes shipwreck hunter David Trotter for the search in early June.
The vessel was found upright in over 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 ships massive anchors, the ships 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 Company at Wyandotte, Michigan for the Goodrich Transportation Company, 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, his barge is believed to have been scuttled. The site, off Holland, will make a fine technical-diver training locations since it lies in 275 feet of water.
Earlier this year, a joint expedition between MSRA and Clive Cusslers 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.
MSRA and NUMA are further researching the details of the crash, and will expand the search grid for the 2006 expedition commencing in May.
MSRA teamed up with Ralph Wilbanks and Steve Howard of NUMA for the month-long search. MSRA supplied the search vessel and crew while Wilbanks, who is well known for discovering the confederate submarine Hunley in 1995 off South Carolina, supplied the side scan sonar.
While the DC-4 remains elusive, the team did discover the final resting place of a portion of what is believed to be the car ferry Ann Arbor No. 5. This 360-foot long, steel-hulled vessel was built in Toledo, Ohio in 1910, working the Great Lakes for nearly 60 years, before being cut down to finish her life as a barge.
In 1969, under the ownership of the Bultema Dock and Dredge Company, the barge was used as a temporary break-wall during construction of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in South Haven. Reports say that during the winter of 1969/1970 she was damaged by ice and broken up. In the spring, the remains were supposedly recovered and scrapped. However, the large portion of ship discovered by MSRA confirms that a large portion of the ship lies intact on the bottom of Lake Michigan. MSRA is seeking input from any individuals associated with the construction of Palisades Power Plant, former employees of Bultema Dock and Dredge, or those involved in scrapping the vessel.
This newly discovered shipwreck will quickly become one of West Michigans premiere SCUBA diving sites. The wreck juts out of the lake bottom at a 45-degree angle, with the massive propellers and rudder accessible in about 120 feet of water just within recreational diving limits. The remainder of the wreck is in nearly 160 feet of water providing more experienced and technical divers a challenge. While the upper works were removed during conversion to barge use, the railroad tracks, propellers and rudder remain in place. The exact location of the wreck will be released to sport divers once a complete survey is conducted to document the remains.
MSRA is a Michigan non-profit corporation, the focus of which is to Preserve Michigans Submerged Maritime History for now and forever. To that end, the organizations work includes RESEARCH, EXPLORATION, DOCUMENTATION and OUTREACH. The organization operates solely on a volunteer basis with financial support from its Board of Directors, memberships, grants and private funding.
For the past eight years, MSRA board members have raised funds to conduct side-scan sonar surveys in Lake Michigan off West Michigan in an attempt to locate historic ships and share their stories with the interested public. To date we have covered approximately 200 square miles of bottomlands, and discovered the passenger steamer H.C. Akeley, the passenger steamer S. S. Michigan, the remains of Ann Arbor #5, and a 200 long modern barge (probably scuttled). Perhaps one or more of these wrecks was previously discovered back in the 1970s or 1980s but their locations were kept secret.
Our policy is to document the condition of the ships for the public record, through video, drawings, articles and film documentaries. We make our work available to the state and its concerned agencies. We also share our work with the public. Once that effort is complete, it is our policy to make the coordinates available to the diving public. We do this because the public partially funds our efforts.
The S. S. Michigan is one of MSRAs 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 is safely to shore after being stranded on the ice for 42 days.
MSRA board members Craig Rich, Valerie & Jack van Heest, Jan Miller and Ross Richardson teamed up with renowned Great lakes shipwreck hunter David Trotter for the search in early June.
The vessel was found upright in over 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 ships massive anchors, the ships 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 Company at Wyandotte, Michigan for the Goodrich Transportation Company, 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, his barge is believed to have been scuttled. The site, off Holland, will make a fine technical-diver training locations since it lies in 275 feet of water.
Earlier this year, a joint expedition between MSRA and Clive Cusslers 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.
MSRA and NUMA are further researching the details of the crash, and will expand the search grid for the 2006 expedition commencing in May.
MSRA teamed up with Ralph Wilbanks and Steve Howard of NUMA for the month-long search. MSRA supplied the search vessel and crew while Wilbanks, who is well known for discovering the confederate submarine Hunley in 1995 off South Carolina, supplied the side scan sonar.
While the DC-4 remains elusive, the team did discover the final resting place of a portion of what is believed to be the car ferry Ann Arbor No. 5. This 360-foot long, steel-hulled vessel was built in Toledo, Ohio in 1910, working the Great Lakes for nearly 60 years, before being cut down to finish her life as a barge.
In 1969, under the ownership of the Bultema Dock and Dredge Company, the barge was used as a temporary break-wall during construction of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in South Haven. Reports say that during the winter of 1969/1970 she was damaged by ice and broken up. In the spring, the remains were supposedly recovered and scrapped. However, the large portion of ship discovered by MSRA confirms that a large portion of the ship lies intact on the bottom of Lake Michigan. MSRA is seeking input from any individuals associated with the construction of Palisades Power Plant, former employees of Bultema Dock and Dredge, or those involved in scrapping the vessel.
This newly discovered shipwreck will quickly become one of West Michigans premiere SCUBA diving sites. The wreck juts out of the lake bottom at a 45-degree angle, with the massive propellers and rudder accessible in about 120 feet of water just within recreational diving limits. The remainder of the wreck is in nearly 160 feet of water providing more experienced and technical divers a challenge. While the upper works were removed during conversion to barge use, the railroad tracks, propellers and rudder remain in place. The exact location of the wreck will be released to sport divers once a complete survey is conducted to document the remains.
MSRA is a Michigan non-profit corporation, the focus of which is to Preserve Michigans Submerged Maritime History for now and forever. To that end, the organizations work includes RESEARCH, EXPLORATION, DOCUMENTATION and OUTREACH. The organization operates solely on a volunteer basis with financial support from its Board of Directors, memberships, grants and private funding.
For the past eight years, MSRA board members have raised funds to conduct side-scan sonar surveys in Lake Michigan off West Michigan in an attempt to locate historic ships and share their stories with the interested public. To date we have covered approximately 200 square miles of bottomlands, and discovered the passenger steamer H.C. Akeley, the passenger steamer S. S. Michigan, the remains of Ann Arbor #5, and a 200 long modern barge (probably scuttled). Perhaps one or more of these wrecks was previously discovered back in the 1970s or 1980s but their locations were kept secret.
Our policy is to document the condition of the ships for the public record, through video, drawings, articles and film documentaries. We make our work available to the state and its concerned agencies. We also share our work with the public. Once that effort is complete, it is our policy to make the coordinates available to the diving public. We do this because the public partially funds our efforts.
