This was sent out to the Michigan Underwater Preserve Council (MUPC) delegates, but it’s worth sharing more widely. Please check out the Michigan Shipwrecks Story Map and share it with friends.
Thanks,
Delegates,
The DNR Marketing people arranged for a shorter URL for access to shipwreck info, including the Story Map.
Please share this widely. Send any constructive feedback on the page (data corrections, errors, etc) to me to pass back to our Marketing contacts.
If you notice an included dive-site does not include photos (afloat, sunk) and you happen to have one to share, please pass it along to me. Include the photographer’s name for credit.
We’d like to have photos for every site eventually.
We’d also like to know about any other sites (150-ft depth or shallower) that we could include on this map, especially shallow sites suitable for snorkeling, kayaks, and beginning divers.
We’re trying to entice new people into diving, a step at a time if necessary.
Thanks, Dan Friedhoff
(Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve & Michigan U/W Preserve Council)
Today was a blue sky day with very moderate sea’s so a few Muddies and I went to dive the wreck of the schooner “Havana” and then do a little bottom searching on the way back in to shore. We had some old “targets” (potential wrecks or underwater structure) that we wanted to see if they could be relocated. The picture’s give you a little look at what we see leaving the DNR docks in Benton Harbor to the entry to Lake Michigan.
We had a second boat that came out behind us that was going to spend more time searching of additional bottom targets. As the seas picked up at the end of the day it became too bouncy to get decent results on our bottom scanners and we all went in.
The Havana is called a sand wreck or rubble wreck because she is shallow, about 50 feet, and has been down for over a 100 years. Being shallow storms and currents have taken a toil on her. Depending on the season and shifting sands, portions of the wreck become uncovered or recovered. Being shallow, wave action and currents do have an unpredictable effect on visibility and temperature at depth.
It is an excellent wreck dive for the less experienced and newer diver.
Dive gear on board and ready to goAs you can see, the river is high and the docks are almost underwater.The Inn – newest hotel on the water front.USCG station at the entry to the North pier.North Pier Light HouseLooking at the lake bottom while going to and from the “Havana” wreck.
Havana Buoy – Placed by the SW Michigan Underwater Preserve in 2019. The Havana sank October 1887 with a lost of 3 of the 7 crew. She was carrying 800 tons of ore (yep- sank like a stone)
Today was a low visibility day but you can still see the vast accumulation of Quagga mussels on the ships deck and side ribs.Mack & Kirk geeking the GoPro on the acsent lineBack to our ride homeEntering the harbor – the south pier and Silver Beach were crowded todayAll ashore- preping Capt.John’s boat for travel
I participated in a diver survey several years ago concerning Wreck Divers and Management of U/W cultural Heritage that was generated by Joanne Lynette Edney of Southern Cross University in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
This is part of the result of that survey: Yes, the Theses is VERY LONG but worth the read and study especially if you are a serious diver or dive shop doing shipwreck dive trips.
I wrote back to Jo after reviewing her thesis commenting as follows:
I specifically found Chapter 4, Section 4.3.1 describing the unintentional damage that anchoring and mooring create, Chapter 5, and your Reference List very interesting and informative.
One of the Michigan Underwater Preserves major goals are to provide permanent (seasonal – due to ice) mooring on the most popular wrecks in the Great Lakes.
One of the biggest issues of the Michigan Underwater Preserves is raising funds to purchase and install mooring on significant wrecks per the state and U.S. Coast Guard requirements.
Your findings on diver behavior, especially concerning contact behavior, hand pulling especially when not in current, artifact touching, and generation of artifact clusters was also informative.
In the great lakes, its infestation by the invasive Zebra (1988) and then Quagga mussels (2000) pose a serious threat to the biodiversity and fisheries of any water system. Research has also found that these mussel colonies on steel surfaces can introduce a complex community of bacteria that lowers pH levels (the lower the pH the more acidic a solution is) and speeds up the corrosion of iron fasteners and fittings on shipwrecks.
The mussels have changed the bottom land and all underwater objects like ship wrecks by enveloping them in several inch-thick carpets which obscures the shape of the object. In order to actually “see” objects, deliberate contact has been made in removing layers of mussels to enable the object to be discerned but not necessarily cleaned to it’s the surface. The sheer weight of mussels in some cases has caused structural damage to wooden wrecks. Wrecks deeper than 150 feet do not normally have thicker coverings as do the shallow ones.
In chapter 12.5, second bullet, your reference to “other types of special interest diver” has peaked my interest.
I suspect that one special interest would be photography and videography of fish and marine animals, cave systems, shipwrecks, geological formations or U/W landscapes. With the proliferation of GoPro users, I see a lot of this activity by someone on every dive.
In my area (SW Michigan) we dive rivers. In that a few large rivers connect to Great Lakes ship harbors there are ship wrecks to be found but this is not the norm. What many river divers do is called grubbing. Rivers were used as dumping grounds by the shoreline communities and businesses under the adage “out of sight, out of mind”. Now days river divers do Ecology dives where divers find and remove anything that is obviously “junk or trash” especially along the shore line or where the bottom is visible from the surface. These dives are done usually around community river parks. When not doing ecology dives, grubbers often recover anything that might have salvage value like car batteries, bikes, assorted motor vehicles, and bottles to support their diving habit.
As such I would be interested to hear what your views are on that topic and hope to hear about any future projects you undertake. Mac
Thesis: Lust for rust – Wreck divers and the management of underwater cultural heritage. Joanne Lynette Edney of Southern Cross University in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
The aim of this research (thesis) was to gain a comprehensive understanding of wreck diver attitudes, behavior and motivations, to assist heritage managers balance underwater cultural heritage protection and diver access to high quality diving experiences.
The study focus was the behavior of divers in Asia-Pacific region, and the attitudes and motivations of wreck divers from the major source populations of wreck divers who visit the Asia-Pacific region.
The research objectives used to achieve the aim were:
1. Examine and critique wreck diver behavior, motivations and attitudes.
2. Explore the possibilities for an enhanced integration of divers and the management of underwater cultural heritage.
The first research objective focused on wreck diver behavior, motivations and attitudes.
The second objective of the research conducted for this thesis explored possibilities and opportunities to enhance the integration of divers and the management of underwater heritage.
Biggby Coffee House: This is a great place to refuel in the morning before walking around downtown St. Joseph, checking out “Wolf’s Marine” dive shop or doing a bit of research at the “Morton House Museum” also in Benton Harbor. Today was a chai tea latte morning.
Update: The century-old mystery of what happened to the SS Chicora may be near a solution thanks to the efforts of Taras Lyssenko and his company, A and T Recovery.
The company recently discovered the wreck of a ship they believe to be the Chicora at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
“We put out a hypothesis, and people can look at it to prove or disprove,” he said. “We have been comparing data from lost ships with what we can see from the sonar scan and that ship most closely matches.”. I
t can’t be identified until a remotely operated vehicle with a video camera is sent for a closer look.
As a diver in Michigan, the winter months are a time spent researching what shipwreck sites to dive in the summer or where a missing shipwreck may be.
So for the last few months, I’ve been doing research on the missing steamship “Chicora” and its possible location. In doing this, I have reviewed the obvious sources for this information, such as books already written on the topic by a multitude of authors and a review of newspaper articles written during that period of time that covered the sinking and search for the wreck.
An information source that I had not previously thought of was taking advantage of the “Morton House Museum”.
The Morton House Museum, located in Benton Harbor, is “The Home of Benton Harbor History” and housing a tremendous amount of material on Benton Harbor from its beginning as Brunson Harbor to the present day. My specific interest was, of course, what could I find about the Morton & Graham Steamships.
The commercial shipping interest started with Henry Morton, who with Sterne Brunson and Charles Hull, were instrumental in creating a market for the farmers from the area now known as St. Joseph, on the east side of the St. Joseph River. These three men were also the driving force behind the building and operation in 1862 of the almost mile-long shipping canal through the wetland between the river and what was then the future Benton Harbor.
One of the major shipping companies operating between St. Joseph and Chicago was the local firm of Henry Graham and James Stanley Morton. This later became the Graham & Morton Transportation company in 1874 which dominated the boat traffic at St. Joseph for the better part of 80 years.
In reviewing the history of the Morton family, and the Graham & Morton Transportation Company, one cannot do so without talking about the SS Chicora.
The Chicora was built for, owned and operated by the Graham & Morton Transportation Company. The Chicora has been considered one of the most famous ships of Lake Michigan mostly due to her untimely sinking with her final resting place remaining secret for over 100 years.
The Chicora was described as a “masterpiece”, with “lines as symmetrical and beautiful as any yacht”. She was considered to be the premier ship of the Graham and Morton Line, and one of the finest vessels on Lake Michigan, the “Queen Mary” of the lake.
Built for service between St. Joseph and Chicago, the Chicora once made the 65-mile run between Benton Harbor and Chicago in 3 hours 40 minutes, at an average speed in excess of 19 miles per hour. In the winter of 1893/94, Chicora was placed on the St. Joseph– Milwaukee route, and again the following winter.
The Chicora went missing on January 21st, 1895 with all hands while hauling a cargo of flour from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has since been considered one of the most famous missing ships on lake Michigan.
Now a bit about the Steam Ship (SS) Chicora
SS ChicoraChicora Memorial Picture
The SS Chicora was a wooden-hulled, screw-propelled, passenger-cargo ship, built in 1892 by the Detroit Cradock Company of Detroit, Michigan, for the Graham & Morton Transportation Company. Built at a cost of $150,000, she was launched 26 June 1892.
Approximately 200 feet in length—217 feet overall—with a beam of 35 feet 40 feet over the guards and moulded depth of 15 feet. She had a tonnage of 1,123 gross tons, or 900 tons burden. Note: Moulded depth meant its Length overall (LOA) is the extreme length from one end to the other. Moulded depth(D) is the vertical distance measured from the top of the keel to the underside of the upper deck at side.
The Chicora was licensed to carry 1,500 passengers as a summer excursion boat, with passenger accommodations which included 56 staterooms, sleeping quarters for 200, a large smoking room and “spacious” social hall. Her passenger cabins, grand staircase and gangways were all finished in mahogany, and an electric plant provided power for the ship’s 250 lights. For freight service in the winter off-season, Chicora was built “especially stout” and had six-inch outer planking and three waterproof compartments.
Chicora was powered by a 2,500 horsepower triple-expansion steam engine with cylinders of 20,33 and 54 inches) and 42 inches stroke, driving a single screw propeller, while steam was provided by two steel forced-draft Scotch boilers with a working pressure of 165 pounds. The ship had a speed of approximately 15.5 knots (17.8 mph) a fast speed for the time.
Now, as most Michigan divers know, the Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve (SWMUP) encompasses the shoreline from Holland to New Buffalo near the Indiana border, and as such, it works with the Michigan Underwater Preserve Council (MUPC).
The MUPC is a private, non-profit, volunteer-driven organization, which works with the Michigan’s 13 preserves in fostering cooperative stewardship of the historical, cultural, natural and recreational resources associated with the preserves as well as support and speak as a unified voice for the preserve committees. It then shares these positions to the legislature and other relevant agencies and groups.
One of the most attractive and useful purposes I believe it does is to support and participate in placement of marker buoys on wrecks and provide input and advice on permits and preserve-related research efforts.
With that said, I had the opportunity to attend this quarters Council meeting with members of the SWMUP and WMUP in Ludington. Listening to the challenges the MUPC has working with the 13 preserves was an interesting and informative time worth the 3 hour drive each way.
Afterward, because I had been a participant and contributor, rather than just a spectator, made me think about why was I really there. What thoughts did I have at the end of the meeting? What are my expectations from both the local preserve and council?
With that said, as I understand it, the performance of a preserve is dependent upon three major things: the physical support of interested individuals, the active participation of local divers, and money.
Any organization is only as good as the depth of its membership and the enthusiasm they bring with them. But as I think about the need all organizations have for membership and member retention, it seems to boil down to one point. What is the organization giving members that makes them want to join and remain a member? In short, how do you benefit from being a member of this organization?
Now, I don’t know your reason, but here are a few reasons why some people are active members of the preserves:
• They have a passion for diving in all its various dimensions.
• They have a passion for exploring shipwrecks.
• They want to be active in the search for new shipwrecks, and document its find. (Along with this is the distinction of being known as the “finder” of the missing ship which makes you part of its history.)
• They obtain self-satisfaction from being part of the dive team who places shipwreck buoys on wrecks to make them more accessible to all divers.
• They want to be part of the groups that remove the buoys before the storms and ice of winter, and then and replace them for the spring and summer diving.
• They have a passion to understand why a ship sank, its history, its personality, and its effect on a community, state, and country.
• They want to be a spokesperson and tell the stories of Great Lakes ships.
• They want to ensure the history of the Great Lakes and its marine life is recorded.
• They are looking to the future to see how the health of the Great Lakes impacts those that are dependent upon it for their livelihood, as well as their life in that everyone has a need for quality water.
• They are individuals not physically able to support preserve activities, but are willing to provide material, funding, or administrative support to meet identified needs of a preserve.
I am sure there are more, but the key is participants and members feel that they are being useful and understand their contributions are making a difference in the preservation of the Great Lakes.
If you are a diver, Which one are you?
For more information on Michigan Preserves, visit: www.michiganpreserves.org.
Replica ships the Nina and Pinta. The Nina was built completely by hand and without the use of power tools. Archaeology magazine called the ship, “the most historically correct Columbus replica ever built. On display at the Michigan Maritime Museum.
Nina and Pinta.
NinaThe South Haven Piers and light towers. That large sailing ship in the background is the “Friends Goodwill” based in South Haven.
March 25: Several Muddies attended the annual series of films shown by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates (MSRA). Looking forward to next years presentations.
