really connects you to the site and reminds you of how powerful the lakes are and what it must have been like to work on them and lose people on them.” But it’s not really things that we’re studying it’s people,” Gray said. “Archaeologists study things to learn about the past. But the lifeboat remains tethered to the bigger vessel, a poignant confirmation of witness accounts from 128 years ago. (Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary via AP) Reports at the time said the seven-member crew scrambled into a lifeboat but it was tethered to the ship and pulled down. The Ironton collided with another vessel in rough seas. Officials with the sanctuary in Alpena, Mich, say they've located the Ironton, a freight schooner that plunged to the bottom of Lake Huron in 1894. Searchers have found the long-lost Great Lakes ship that came to a tragic end. Video footage shows the Ironton sitting upright on the lake bottom, hundreds of feet down - “remarkably preserved” by the cold, fresh water like many other Great Lakes shipwrecks, Gray said.ĪP In this image taken from video provided by the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a lifeboat is tethered to the Ironton seen in Lake Huron off Michigan's east coast in a June 2021 photo. Officials have kept the find secret to prevent divers from disturbing the site before video and photo documentation is finished. The sanctuary plans to reveal the location in coming months and is considering placing a mooring buoy at the site. The Associated Press obtained details of the discovery ahead of the announcement.Ī team of historians, underwater archaeologists and technicians located the wreckage in 2019 and deployed remotely controlled cameras to scan and document it, Superintendent Jeff Gray said in an AP interview. Now, the mystery has been solved, officials with Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Michigan, said Wednesday. The gravesite long eluded shipwreck hunters. The Ironton’s captain and six sailors clambered into a lifeboat but it was dragged to the bottom before they could detach it from the ship. The 191-foot (58-meter) cargo vessel collided with a grain hauler on a blustery night in September 1894, sinking both. Even for the Thunder Bay area, a perilous swath of northern Lake Huron off the Michigan coast that has devoured many a ship, the Ironton’s fate seems particularly cruel.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |