Shipwreck discovery?

[jasondbaker]

Star Tribune
DULUTH — The shipwreck spotted Sunday by anglers walking across clear ice on Lake Superior remains a mystery.

Scuba diver Yan Saillard on Thursday explored the wreck, which sits in about 10 feet of water, 150 feet from the Duluth shore.

"It looks like a tugboat, about 50 to 60 feet long, with a 3- to 4-foot diameter propeller," Saillard said, adding that he didn't see any markings that would help identify the former craft.

Steven Sola, a fisherman among the group that made the find, thought the wreck was the City of Winnipeg, a wooden passenger ship that was intentionally sunk in 1898 after it was damaged by a fire. The Winnipeg's hull has never been located.

But Thom Holden, director of the Lake Superior Maritime Visitors Center, believes the boat is not long enough to be the Winnipeg.

Lacking a proper name, ship buffs have dubbed the find "Sophie's Wreck," after the 4-year-old daughter of one of the discoverers.

[innerspace]

I got a call that someone was going to cut a hole in the ice and dive the "mystery wreck."  It was pretty slow, so I closed up the store, threw some gear together, and 45 minutes later arrived to find they had already cut the hole, heh-heh (Thanks Jay!  8) )

So Jay, myself, and a few other guys jumped through the ice to check the boat out.  It pretty much looks like the pictures you've seen in the papers.  Still pretty cool though, to be the first guys to see the wreck! 

Some smaller items I noticed (that unfortunately will most likely be the first to disappear) were a small broken blue glass bottle sitting in a recess <?> of part of the drive system between the prop and crankcase.  On the crankcase there was a small clear stopperless medicine type bottle, and a small (about the size of a fired 10 gauge shotgun shell) thin walled brass cylinder.  There were also some marble to egg-sized coal pieces towards the stern, as well as some crockery bits.
It looked like a single connecting rod on the crankshaft, and that rod had either been cut or broken.  We noticed some heavy metal plates forward of the crank assembly, probably parts of the boiler.  Jay and I both looked for markings/numbers, but the only thing we noticed was a number cast into the prop.  There are also lots of brass pins and nails still holding things together, so that was neat seeing that kind of stuff still there.

The wreck is in 9 feet of water, and rises maybe a foot ~ foot and a half off the bottom, so there is concern that being in shallow water of the ice damaging the site.  If you are able, I would say dive it sooner rather than later!

We have a really strong wind blowing off the Lake as I'm typing this, and it's beginning to snow too.  I was going to do an Ice Diver class further down MN Point Saturday/Sunday, but after reliable reports of fallen ice skaters literally being blown back into shore, I'm thinking not.  I'm hoping to get on the wreck one more time, but we'll see what the Lake decides after this weekend. 

[scubadog76]

9 feet deep?  A tough decision to go down with the ship when all you have to do is stand up. :  Hopefully everyone made it out o.k.

[innerspace]

Hopefully everyone made it out o.k.

Yeah the divers and the dog that fell in made it out OK...at least people were watching their kids close to the hole.  And some guy on skates almost took a plunge too.

I heard that Jay and some other guys are diving it today.  The weather missed us, so I'll be bringing a small group later in the afternoon there tomorrow.

>>ahh...the wreck..go down with the ship...I get it now!  ???  Nah, it looks like the thing was scuttled rather than an actual "wreck event".

[scubadog76]

>>ahh...the wreck..go down with the ship...I get it now!    Nah, it looks like the thing was scuttled rather than an actual "wreck event".

I see now the way I worded that could be interpreted  as diving the ship instead of sinking it with pride and honor.  It's kinda funny,  this is probably the only site where it could be taken two different ways.

[deepdarkblue]

Ill be diving it soon, is it really worth it?

I always go up and down the shore all winter, maybe this little something new will be fun, perhaps a freedive is in order.

I'll be shooting some video if I can get over there soon, I'll post it on youtube when I'm done.

[DiveCaptDean]

One of my most favorite wrecks in milwaukee was the sebastipol....a shore wreck that sat in 8ft of water..an old woodie that every year turned up different neat little things to see..that was a package ship...this is most probably a tug..but dig in the sand.its amazing what you may find..maybe bring a bucket with you..fill it with stuff and put a bunch of rocks in it..make sure it stays there......others will be able to see these items as well....I personally plan to dive it..these wrecks are fun

[MAXFACTOR]

Yes of course it is worth the dive.  THE GREAT LAKES SHIPWRECK PRESERVATION SOCIETY was up at the site with Jay from SUPERIOR and they were mapping out the wreck.

Water was crystal clear and it could be seen very clearly from the surface.  They still haven't determined the name of the boat, but have bits and pieces of information, I know Kenny and Steve and the rest of the GLSPS guys will get it figured out.

GREAT VIDEO WAS SHOT....   I am sure they will be able to provide much more information. 

ALSO....  JAY..... NICE ALMOST NAKED POLAR DIVE TO THE SITE TOO..    Have you found little Jay yet.  I've got the pictures I will post back to you JAY. 
Enjoy the 20 bucks you earned.
maxfactor

[DiveCaptDean]

Have you found little Jay yet...................

it takes a hell of a man to do that...at least he WAS a hell of a man...now he may just be a peanut :o

[MAXFACTOR]

DiveCapt.

maybe his name is now  Jay lo.  lol...  Actually I will try to post the picture with his permission after I meet with him on Tues.  He did see the picture when we went to GrandMa's in Duluth on Sunday.  AND..... he didn't tell me to erase it. 

Actually its pretty cool picture, and he is the first to dive on the wreck without a  dry suit or wet suit, and he actually went down to the bottom and touched the wreck.

max