Photo: Wisconsin Historical Society / Courtesy
wreck hunters They discovered the intact remains of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881. and is so well preserved that it still contains the crew’s possessions at their final resting place miles off the Wisconsin coast.
The Wisconsin Historical Society reported in a statement that maritime historians Brendon Baillod and Robert Jaeck found the 156-year-old Trinidad in July off Algoma at a depth of about 270 feet.
“Baillod and Jaeck are long-time volunteers and partners with the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) Maritime Archeology Program and have worked closely alongside the society’s maritime archaeologists to document, preserve and share this remarkable discovery,” the published announcement said. on Facebook.
Experts used side-scan sonar to pinpoint its location based on accounts from survivors in historical records.
“The wreck is among the best preserved in Wisconsin waterswith her deckhouse still intact, containing the crew’s possessions and their anchors and deck equipment still present,” states a Thursday press release announcing the discovery of the Trinidad.
The 140-foot-long schooner was built on Grand Island, New York, in 1867 by shipwright William Keefe, and it was used primarily in the grain trade between Milwaukee, Chicago, and Oswego, New York.
However, he was carrying a load of coal bound for Milwaukee when, in the early hours of May 13, 1881, he developed a catastrophic leakto after passing through the Sturgeon Bay Ship Channel.
According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, the captain was nearly killed by a block that fell from the rotting wire rigging as the owners did not invest much money in maintaining the ship.
On her last voyage, the Trinidad “suddenly and violently rocked” and sank about 10 miles off the coast of Algoma, said society.
“The captain and crew immediately escaped on the ship’s yacht. The only loss aboard the Trinidad was the ship’s mascot, a large Newfoundland dog who was sleeping by the stove when the ship began to sink,” the society added.
Captain John Higgins and his crew of eight survived and reached Algoma, about 120 miles north of Milwaukee, after rowing for eight hours on the boat’s yawl.
Higgins believed that the Trinidad’s hull was damaged a few days before the sinking while traversing ice fields in the Strait of Mackinac.
After discovering the Trinidad in July, Baillod and Jaeck reported their find to an underwater archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society, who organized a survey of the site with an underwater vehicle that verified the vessel’s identity and documented historical artifacts, the statement said. press.
A three-dimensional model of the ship has been created to allow people to explore the site virtually. Baillod and Jaeck plan to work with the Wisconsin Historical Society to nominate the site for the National Register of Historic Places.
“The ship was built for Oswego merchants John Keller and Aaron B. Trinidad was a purpose-built “canaller” or canal schooner to pass through the Welland Canal connecting Lake Erie and Ontario. Like a schooner, portions of the vessel such as the davit lifeboat could be specially folded to allow the ship to pass through the channel. It was also fitted with wire rigging for the masts, a rare feature on ships of that time,” the society added.
Experts estimate that more than 6,000 ships have sunk in the Great Lakes since the late 17th century.
In July, researchers searching for World War I minesweepers that mysteriously disappeared in Lake Superior more than a century ago found instead a long-missing ship that sank to the bottom of the lake in 1879.
While in April, researchers found the remains of two ships that went missing on Lake Superior in 1914, and in March, a ship carrying a load of coal was discovered on the lake when it sank in a storm in 1891.
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