Shipwreck discovered in Lake Superior

[usediver]

from kare 11 news...
Robert Wallace Shipwreck Find Worthwhile

By Ken Speake, KARE-11

They say hunting for shipwrecks is a boring sport, but every once-in-a-while, Ken Merryman and his colleagues find a FIND.

For example, they hunted fifty square miles of Lake Superior for five years before they found the Robert Wallace which sank in 1902. The Robert Wallace was a wood hulled steam powered bulk freighter, hauling iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin to Cleveland, Ohio. As was the practice in 1902, the Robert Wallace was towing the barge Ashland, loaded with more iron ore. Reports say gale force winds caused the Ashland to tear the stern off the Robert Wallace. Her crew were able to make it safely to the Ashland, which eventually was safely towed into Two Harbors.

Ken Merryman and colleagues found the shipwreck June fifth under more than 300 feet of water. They "bounced" as they call it, a video camera on the wreck, discovering the ship’s bell on the first pass. On later passes they saw what they believe to be the ships forward cabin, chains still tight, supporting what may be running light posts, the ship’s name board showing the letters "RO."

Merryman says the ship appears to be upright and intact. "We believe it is one of the most intact wooden freighters on Lake Superior." He and his colleagues plan to dive on the wreck later this summer with hopes of getting video of the ship’s steam engines.

Merryman says the hunt is boring… pulling a side scan sonar device through the water at a speed of three miles an hour… navigating one mile, reversing course and running parallel 500 feet away, reversing course and running parallel another 500 feet away, taking eleven passes to cover a square mile. On a good day, he says they’d cover two square miles if they were lucky.

The hunt is boring. But, he says, the FIND, even though there’s no money in it, makes the hunt worthwhile.


Last Updated - 7/22/2004 5:34:52 PM