Great Lakes

Possible illustration of the Satellite
Possible illustration of the Satellite

Discovery of 1879 Lake Superior shipwreck

The Satellite sank on 21 June 1879, according to the historical society, either as a consequence of a technical issue or because the boat collided with a floating log. The ship capsized, but no one perished.

In the summer of 2022, the society worked with Josh Gates of the Discovery Channel's Expedition Unknown to produce a show about two French minesweepers that vanished on their maiden voyage in 1918.

"Bad Luck Barquentine" shipwreck from 1869 discovered in Lake Superior

 

The 144-foot Nucleus had a “checkered past” after previously sinking twice, and once rammed and sank another boat on Lake Huron, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum said in a news release announcing the discovery.

This is a pretty significant shipwreck…considering its age, the fact that it is a barquentine and we can’t overlook the vessel’s checkered past. The wreck site is littered with shovels too…and a few dinner plates, which speaks to their work and shipboard life.

Shipwreck Society Executive Director, Bruce Lynn

Proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary in eastern Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary proposed

NOAA invites the public to comment on this proposed rulemaking and will consider all submitted comments when preparing final regulations in the last phase of the sanctuary designation process.

The public comment period is open until March 20, 2023.

The national significance of the area within and around the proposed sanctuary will benefit from long-term protection, management and interpretation.

The gold letters of the ship's name, alongside ornate scrolling, emerged out of the dark as the ROV approached the wreck.

Atlanta Shipwreck found in Lake Superior after 131 years

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) announced that the wreck of the Atlanta, a three-masted schooner-barge, was located by sonar in the summer of 2021  but the discovery wasn't made public until research had been conducted to give the wreck context, according to Corey Adkins, the communications and content director of GLSHS.

NOAA designates new national marine sanctuary in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan

An exciting recreational opportunity: a diver swims over the two-masted schooner, Walter B. Allen, which sank in 1880. (Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society)

“Preserving this region furthers the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision of locally-led, collaborative conservation,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “This designation is also an exciting opportunity for the public to celebrate and help protect this piece of our nation’s rich maritime history.”

Two-masted schooner in Lake Michigan identified as the Hamilton

The identification of the wreck, which sits upright in 85m (275 ft) of water off Saugatuck, took over a year and was facilitated by technical scuba divers Todd White of Saugatuck, Bob Underhill of Kalamazoo and Jeff Vos of Holland working in conjunction with Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates (MSRA). These three divers comprise the premiere deep technical dive team in West Michigan.

(Unrelated file photo) Drake Wreck Buoy in Church Bay, off Northern Ireland.

Michigan shipwrecks to be marked with buoys

The goal is to help preserve the state's shipwrecks by giving divers another option besides hooking a line directly onto the wreck, as is customary now.

"Putting a mooring buoy on a shipwreck is absolutely, hands-down, the best form of physical protection you can do for a wreck," Wayne Lusardi, a state maritime archaeologist at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, told Mlive.com

British Steamer Nisbet Grammer

Historic steamship found in Lake Ontario

Shipwreck explorers Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville began their initial search for the vessel in September 2008.

What was thought to be an easy shipwreck to find turned out to be more of a challenge than they expected, Kennard said. Their search did, however, lead to several new discoveries in this area of the lake.

Kennard said they found the wreck of the Nesbit Grammer in late August 2014 in more than 500 feet of water about 8 miles from the shore of Somerset, N.Y., but he was unable to share the information at that time.