Researchers have announced the discovery of ‘magnificently preserved’ shipwreck hundreds of feet below the surface of Lake Huron – in a particularly perilous stretch of water just off the Michigan coast.
Video footage shows the 191-foot Ironton – lost in September 1984 – sitting upright on the lake bottom – ‘remarkably preserved’ by the cold, fresh water like many other Great Lakes shipwrecks over the years.
Making the find in an area of the Great Lake dubbed by seafarers as ‘Shipwreck Alley’, officials from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Wednesday remarked on the discovery’s importance, revealing the boat’s location had long confounded shipwreck hunters for well over a century.
The US cargo ship met an abrupt end one blustery night in 1894, colliding with a grain hauler before sinking in the lake’s frigid waters.
Only two of the ship’s crew survived after a lifeboat carrying its captain and six seamen was was dragged to the lake floor before they could detach it from the sinking ship. Their final resting place long eluded officials from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, who had known of the boat’s fate for years.
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In this image taken from video provided by the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the bow of the Ironton is seen in Lake Huron off Michigan’s east coast
‘The discovery illustrates how we can use the past to create a better future,’ Jeff Gray, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary superintendent, said in a statement shortly after officials were filmed pulling out portions of the ship Wednesday.
Citing ‘cutting-edge technology’ used by members of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and the Ocean Exploration Trust nonprofit to make the discovery, Gray said the discovery not only will prove important to those already aware of the ship’s fate, but to the history of the state and its majestic Great Lakes.
‘We have not only located a pristine shipwreck lost for over a century, we are also learning more about one of our nation’s most important natural resources,’ said Gray, referring to the five lakes that form the largest fresh surface water system on earth.
‘This research will help protect Lake Huron and its rich history,’ the marine-life expert added.
A team of historians, underwater archaeologists and technicians located the wreckage in 2019 and deployed remotely controlled cameras to scan and document it, Gray added in an interview of the recently uncovered schooner barge, which was being pulled by a steam ship when it sank on September 26, 1894.
However, after the leading ship’s engine failed shortly after midnight, crew members cut the tow line to avoid a potential collision – leaving the Ironton’s seven-man crew suddenly adrift in the open water.
Only two of the ship’s crew survived after a lifeboat carrying its captain and six seamen was was dragged to the lake floor before they could detach it from the sinking ship. Their final resting place long eluded officials ‘for over 120 years.’
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. the lifeboat remains tethered to the bigger vessel, a confirmation of witness accounts from 128 years ago
‘Ironton’s crew found themselves suddenly adrift in the dark and at the mercy of Lake Huron’s wind-blown seas,’ the NOAA said in their own statement, before going on to cite the crew’s intrepid efforts to right the vessel, which had been carrying cargo across Lake Michigan.
‘Under the direction of Captain Peter Girard, they fought to regain control of the ship, firing up the vessel’s auxiliary steam engine to help set the struggling ship’s sails.’
Despite those efforts, the Ironton soon found itself in the path of another wooden hulled Great Lakes freighter, the SS Ohio.
The Ohio, a steamer that had been carrying 1,000 tons of grain, would then strike the Ironton, causing both ships to sink at an alarming rate of speed.
Jeff Gray, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary superintendent, announced the discovery in a statement on Wednesday that touted the historical significance of the find
While both vessels were fatally damaged, all 16 members of the Ohio’s crew managed to escape on lifeboats after nearby ships rescued the sailors, according to the records kept by the NOAA.
The Ironton, however, still adrift, moved out of sight of the responding ships, leaving the sailors to their fate. Two of the men managed to survive the ordeal after securing a separate life boat, the NOAA said.
The ship would lay undisturbed on the lake’s floor for more than 132 years, before officials from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary came across a few pieces of the Ohio in 2017.
The discovery helped officials eventually hone in on the location of the Ironton, after a mapping expedition carried out by the Ocean Exploration Trust – an organization founded by deep-sea explorer Robert Ballard, who found the remains of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic in 1985, and the wrecked German battleship Bismarck in 1989.
A team of historians, underwater archaeologists and technicians would then deploy remotely controlled cameras to scan and document the area in 2021.
A team of historians, underwater archaeologists and technicians located the wreckage in 2019 and deployed remotely controlled cameras to scan and document it, Gray added in an interview of the recently uncovered schooner barge, which was being pulled by a steam ship when it sank on September 26, 1894.
‘As the project came to its final days, the team had successfully mapped a large section of the search area, but Ironton remained undiscovered,’ the NOAA said.
‘The researchers expanded the search area. Persistence and determination were rewarded when the sonar returned an image from the lakebed of an unmistakable shipwreck – and one that matched the description of Ironton.’
The Associated Press obtained details of the discovery ahead of the announcement.
With the mystery now solved, officials with Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary plan to reveal the exact location in the next few months, and is considering placing a mooring buoy at the site in the meantime to ward off other seafarers.
Officials have kept the find secret to prevent divers from disturbing the site before video and photo documentation is finished.
Officials have kept the find secret to prevent divers from disturbing the site before video and photo documentation is finished
No human remains were seen. But the lifeboat remains tethered to the bigger vessel, a poignant confirmation of witness accounts from 128 years ago.
‘Archaeologists study things to learn about the past. But it´s not really things that we’re studying; it’s people,’ Gray said. ‘And that lifeboat … 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.’
Founder of the Ocean Exploration Trust Robert Ballard said: ‘We hope this discovery helps contribute to an element of closure to the extended families of those lost on the Ironton, and the communities impacted by its loss.
The Ironton is yet another piece of the puzzle of Alpena´s fascinating place in America´s history of trade, while the Thunder Bay sanctuary continues to reveal lost chapters of maritime history.
Nearly 200 shipwrecks are believed to rest within or nearby the boundaries of the sanctuary, which includes the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena and some 4,300 square miles of northwestern Lake Huron.
Nearly 200 shipwrecks are believed to rest in the stretch of water – known as Shipwreck Alley – where the Ironton was found, which includes the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena and some 4,300 square miles of northwestern Lake Huron
Several factors made the area a ‘shipwreck alley’ for more than two centuries, until modern navigation and weather forecasting reduced the danger, said Stephanie Gandulla, the sanctuary’s resource protection coordinator.
The late 1800s was a busy period for Great Lakes commerce. Thousands of schooners, or sailing ships, and hundreds of steamers hauled cargo and passengers between bustling port cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland.
The sanctuary area was something of a maritime highway cloverleaf. Vessels cruised to and from Lake Huron and Lake Michigan through the nearby Straits of Mackinac. Others ranged northward to Lake Superior, fetching iron ore for steel mills from mines in Minnesota and Michigan´s Upper Peninsula.
‘It´s where the upbound and downbound shipping kind of crossed each other,’ Gray said. ‘Busy intersections are where most accidents happen.’
The weather was notoriously unstable – dense fog, sudden storms. Islands and submerged reefs lurked.
On the fateful night, the Ironton and another schooner barge, the Moonlight, were being towed northward from the Lake Erie town of Ashtabula, Ohio, by a steam-powered ship – a common practice then, much as a train engine pulls freight cars on a railroad. They were bound for Marquette, a port city on Lake Superior.
The steamer broke down in heavy Lake Huron seas around 12:30 am the morning of September 26. The Ironton and the Moonlight disconnected their tow lines and drifted apart, with the Ironton crew setting sails and firing up its engine.
It veered off course and ran into the Ohio, a freighter loaded with 1,000 tons of flour, about 10 miles off Presque Isle, Michigan.
The Ohio soon foundered, its crew of 16 rescued by the Moonlight. The Ironton stayed afloat more than an hour before going down.
Newspapers quoted William Parry as saying he and two other Ironton sailors bobbed in the heaving lake for about 30 minutes until another steamer, the Charles Hebard, showed up. Parry struggled aboard as the Hebard lowered a lifeboat with several of its crew.
They picked up the other two Ironton men. But a wave overturned the craft, flinging everyone into the water. Hebard crewmen tossed lines and pulled all to safety except Ironton mate Ed Boswick, who couldn´t muster the strength to hold on.
‘It’s a powerful, tragic story,’ Gandulla said.
So fierce was the gale that it claimed yet another schooner, the William Home, farther west on Lake Michigan. Six of seven crew members died.
Staffers with the sanctuary, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, took a sonar survey in the area of the Ironton-Ohio collision in 2017.
They detected two images on the lake bed, one later identified as the Ohio. The other was a more recent shipwreck.
It took two more years to track down the Ironton several miles away. Ballard´s organization provided an autonomous surface vehicle designed for seafloor mapping. After days of searching, it spotted a figure that later was confirmed as the Ironton.
The high-resolution scan in 2021 provided more details. The vessel is largely intact, Gray said. Its masts point skyward, with rigging and ropes tied to spars and lying on deck. The robotic camera also showed the lifeboat tied to the ship´s stern.
The sanctuary awaits federal and state permits to plant the buoy, anchored by weights of up to 3,000 pounds on the lake floor. Divers could attach their boats to the floating device and head down to explore the long-lost craft.
‘Then we get to share it with the rest of the world,’ Gray said, ‘and try to protect it so our grandkids can enjoy these sites the same way that we do today.’
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