caverkevin
Contributor
UNDERSEA RESEARCH ASSOCIATES (URA) ANNOUNCES THE DISCOVERY OF THE SCHOONER MARION EGAN
(Canton, Michigan)-David Trotter and the URA team have located and have been exploring one of the most intact schooners to be discovered in Lake Huron. The 135' two masted Marion Egan made her first trip on May 15, 1861, just one month after the first shots were fired on Ft. Sumter, South Carolina (initiating the Civil War). Built in Huron, Ohio, in the Winter of 1861 by J. F. Squires, the Egan was launched in the Spring, and commanded by Captain Soper. During the Civil War, she was very profitable for her owner due to the increased demand related to the war effort; and her A1 rating facilitated her sale to Taylor, Browne & Co. (coal & wood merchants) in 1866. The sale was caused by the untimely death of Capt. W. M. Egan.
She continued in service, changing owners twice, before running aground on Cove Island at the entrance of Georgian Bay, Ontario. Abandoned, she was purchased, recovered; and $3,000 was spent on her rebuild in the fall of 1873.
The Schooner Egan, on September 23, 1875, was upbound and moving swiftly in the middle of Lake Huron due to favorable wind conditions. Her cargo of coal was destined for Chicago. Downbound, the Schooner E. R. Williams was wheat laden and on her starboard tack when the mate on watch saw the red light of the Schooner Egan. Just before the collision, the green light on the Egan became visible, and in less than two minutes the vessels brutally collided, nearly head on. The Egan slid beneath the dark waters, reportedly disappearing in less than 10 minutes. Her sinking turned deadly with Captain Louch losing his son, Patrick, who was a sailor onboard. A second crewman also drowned.
The Schooner Egan's rebuild in 1873 is fortunate for Great Lake marine history and contributes to her remarkable state of preservation during the 135 years she "went missing", and lay hidden in the cold depths of Lake Huron.
In the Spring of 2010, the URA team continued survey operations in a small area of Lake Huron that remained to be searched from prior expeditions (earlier in the decade). The masts and wire rigging, shorn of the sails after 100+ years of swaying in the currents, reached out and nearly "caught" the sidescan sonar (fish) trailing behind the RV Obsession. This is not the first time that "running hard and fast" has nearly caused the survey equipment and the wreck to collide. Several years prior, the "fish" missed a large steel hull by less than 5'. Nothing ventured; nothing gained...........
Expedition divers were amazed to find covered cargo hatches, the intact stern cabin, dishes in the cabinets, and a moncular spyglass in the holder. According to the underwater explorers, it is a unique experience to "go where no one has gone before", "to see what no one seen before", and to have history "come alive" by swimming back 135 years in time.
The discovery/exploration team: Jared Daniel, Rick Heineman, Marty Lutz, John Makuch, John Marsh, Jeff Moore, David Trotter, Tim Troup and John Vudures
Extensive documentation as been completed and the program "Silent Waters; Deadly Depths" will be available in January, 2011.
VIDEO OF THE INITIAL DIVE ON THE SCHOONER MARION EGAN CAN BE SEEN AT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYtDeSIeOsM
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: DAVID TROTTER DLTrotter@msn.com
