The rail road car wheel set that is pinned under the starboard prop shaft is a favorite spot of mine to visit on this wreck. 125' deep. The 12' diameter props are also photogenic.
On April 20, 1909, the wooden steamer EBER WARD struck a heavy ice floe in Lake Michigan and sank. The WARD was grain-laden from Milwaukee to Port Huron and about six miles west of Mackinaw City. She sank in three minutes. It was early morning and unfortunately five of her crew were below asleep and went down with her. The remaining crew of ten or eleven were on deck at the time and made it to the yawl boat. They were rescued by the steamer BENNINGTON.
The Steamer EBER WARD sits quietly in 145 feet of cold water, just five miles west of the Mackinac bridge. Because this is the narrow chokepoint where Lakes Michigan and Huron meet, there can often be a good deal of current through this area. The one time I dove this popular wreck, there was plenty of current moving from starboard to port across the site. It seems that my diving guardian angels, whomever they may be, while always keeping me safe from potentially dangerous situations, enjoy making my dives more difficult than they need be. There was lots of current.
For six straight days we had been humping our heavy tanks and cameras on and off the dive boat, with long walks from our trucks down docks and piers to the charter boat every morning and back again every afternoon. Our evenings were spent squishing air into our afore mentioned tanks from a portable compressor in a small trailer, until the sun went down. All this in preparation for the following day's adventures, where we would battle the elements of wind, sun, water and current in search of incredible shipwreck photos, again.
We had not been eating as healthy as we might have (think lots of grilled red meat) and we had been consuming more beer and bourbon than water...much more. I tell you all this, so you might appreciate my condition when I made my decent down the line to the awaiting EBER WARD, battling the incessant current I kept hoping would disappear nearer the bottom, but never did.
I did manage to snap the best photo of the trip, out of 14 wrecks that week and one of my all-time favorite photos to this day, in the final moments of this dive. I had made my way back to the bow, where the up-line was vibrating violently back and forth through the water, a consequence of the dive boat riding some very large wind-driven waves 110 feet above us. There I noticed two of my buddies inspecting the three anchors which make up one of the best highlights of the wreck. All three anchors are still right where they were the day the ice stove in her bow, putting her on the bottom in ten minutes, taking five of her crew with her. One anchor lies on the deck near the port side, another type hangs from the starboard side, and the third, a small and rare 'mushroom' style anchor remains snugged up tight to the hawsehole on the port bow, about half way to the keel.
#LakeMichigan #GreatLakes #ScubaDiving #GreatLakesShipwreck #EberWard #CalKothrade #UnderwaterPhotography #Ikelite #CanonCameras #StraitsDiving #HistoricalShipwreck
The two-masted wooden lake schooner Bermuda sank with a load of iron ore in 1870 as a result of a bad storm, taking three of her crew to their death in the middle of the night. Thirteen years later, a salvage company raised her from the bottom, and towed her to Murray Bay where she slipped her chains and straps and once again settled on the bottom. Now she sits upright and intact in less than 30 feet of cold, fresh, Lake Superior water. The wreck is popular with divers, snorkelers, and glass-bottom boat tourists as well. The day these images were shot, we had to wait for a glass bottom boat to leave before we could dive it. The prop wash from the boat constantly maneuvering to stay over the wreck caused a great quantity of sand and silt to kick up off the bottom and become suspended in the water around the Bermuda. While shooting I was upset over the poor visibility, but once I looked at the images on the computer days later, I warmed up to their ghostly mood and now count them as some of my favorite wreck images.
#AlgerUnderwaterPreserve #MunisingMI #ScubaDiving #LakeSuperior #GreatLakesShipwreck #Bermuda#GlassBottomBoat #CalKothrade #UnderwaterPhotography #Ikelite #CanonCameras
On this day 118 years ago, the Walter L. Frost went down not far from South Manitou Island in fog. It's not a deep dive, at about 20-25' it's actually better suited to the throngs of summer snorkelers that visit this area to see the above water wreck of the Francisco Morazan, which lies a short swim away. In fact, the Morazan ran over this wreck when it went ashore in a snowstorm in 1960. The day I shot these images we had pretty good vis, and being that it is so shallow plenty of light and hairy algae to make everything pretty.
#SleepingBearDunes #LakeMichigan #GreatLakes #scubaDiving #GreatLakesShipwreck #WalterFrostWreck #CalKothrade #UnderwaterPhotography #Ikelite #CanonCameras
On January 30, 1881, Milwaukee had been experiencing a fierce snow storm but when the alarm was sounded for what was noticed off shore, hundreds came out to help. This was the day the package and passenger steamer ST. ALBANS was cut through by ice and went down about 16 miles northeast of Milwaukee. Attempts were made to stop the leak but her fires went out and the order to abandon was given. Crew and passengers got into the small boats and safely made shore in Milwaukee. A few suffered frost bite. She had a cargo of flour and livestock enroute from Milwaukee to Ludington.
She had 17 staterooms and during the winter months ran between Milwaukee and Ludington and Manistee. She measured 138 feet in length and 25 feet in beam.
I was pleasantly surprised by the incredible visibility we had my first time diving it, (many times better vis is a byproduct of the deeper wrecks), and we had at least eighty feet of clear Michigan water in addition to lots of natural light. What really made this wreck stand out for me was the massive debris field, flotsam everywhere: wall panels, deck sections, smoke stack, mast, and just general pieces of the ship scattered over a vast expanse of flat, sandy bottom. The ship itself is relatively intact, though the upper cabins and pilot house are no longer in place, quite possibly being the aforementioned debris. The bow section is 'torn' from the rest of the hull and leans slightly over to the starboard side. Her anchors have long since been recovered by ambitious divers from a more liberal time when the taking of wreck items was not only legal, but 'the thing to do'. Her stern section still stands upright displaying a variety of maritime goodies such as the steam engine and boilers that provided the power to turn her prop, a steam driven capstan for hauling in the stern anchor and docking lines, as well as the rudder which is still right where it ought to be, albeit turned slightly to starboard.
#LakeMichigan #GreatLakes #scubaDiving #GreatLakesShipwreck #St.Albans#CalKothrade #UnderwaterPhotography #Ikelite #CanonCameras#MilwaukeeDiving #HistoricalShipwreck
Most Great Lakes wreck divers will unfortunately never know the joy of diving a virgin wreck. To be the first person to see something lost to history and the waves for over a century is usually reserved for the hunters. The man in these photos not only found it by sitting on the bow of the boat as the rest of us unwittingly motored over it, but dove it, and documented it 5 minutes later. This was the first of TWO brand new shipwreck discoveries unseen by others until that special day in 2018. This is the schooner Walrus...grounded on Gray's reef in 1868, and destroyed in a storm two days later. She's not one of those deep, dark, scary dives that require mixed gas, but every wreck dive need not be technical to be special. With the human sonar, Steven Wimer II, Hunter Ross Richardson, Lighthouse man Brent Tompkins on that once in a career day in remote northern L. Michigan. Is it greedy to think there may be a few more days like this left in the cards?
Learn more here https://michiganmysteries.com/walrus/
#LakeMichigan #GreatLakes #ScubaDiving #GreatLakesShipwreck#ShipwreckWalrus#CalKothrade #UnderwaterPhotography #Ikelite #CanonCameras#HistoricalShipwreck #Gray'sReef #VirginShipwreck
On the night of November 28, 1960, the steamship met her end when she ran aground on South Manitou Island during a blinding snowstorm. Before wrecking, the Morazan left Chicago with 1,118 tons of goods bound for the Netherlands and Germany, including canned chicken, empty shampoo bottles, and toys.
All 12 crew members and the captain's pregnant wife were safely removed from the ship, no lives were lost.
Today, her rusted hull still juts from the water, now protected as part of the Manitou Passage State Underwater Preserve. The wreck is now a haunting, photogenic reminder of the lake's power.
#SleepingBearDunes #ShipwreckMorazan #LakeMichigan #GreatLakes #scubaDiving #GreatLakesShipwreck #FranciscoMorazanWreck #CalKothrade#UnderwaterPhotography #Ikelite #CanonCameras
The 132' long, three masted schooner Thomas Hume sailed into history in May of 1891, when she left Chicago empty, bound Muskegon, Mi. She had just delivered another load of timber, and once in open water, she encountered a sudden squall. Another schooner sailing with her, the Rouse Simmons, turned back to the safety of Chicago's harbor, but the Hume pressed on. That was the last time her crew of seven would be seen again. Vanishing without a single trace, no debris, no bodies, she became the object of wild conjecture and legend until finally found more than a century later by a company looking for other treasures on the bottom of the lake, lost aircraft. The wreck's coordinates were given to the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, who over the next few years conducted a survey of the site. I and a few of my friends were afforded an dive on the Hume in 2010, before the site had become public knowledge. The artifacts that still remained in the empty hull were numerous, creating a perfect time capsule of late 19^(th)century maritime life on the Great Lakes. The wreck sits in 150 feet of water, in the middle of Lake Michigan, 20 miles due east of Chicago, IL.
#LakeMichigan #Shipwreck #GreatLakesHistory #ScubaDiving #IllinoisHistory #ThomasHume #GreatLakesShipwreck #CalKothrade #ChicagoDiving #Schooner #Ikelite #CanonCamera #UnderwaterPhotography
The wreck of the Wisconsin lies upright and intact in 130 feet of cold Lake Michigan water off the shores of Kenosha, WI. The 210 foot long steel hulled packet and passenger freighter was built in 1881 in Wyandotte, Michigan. During a bad storm on October, 29, 1929, with pumps unable to keep up with the inrushing water, the engine room eventually flooded, thus killing power to the now doomed vessel. Heroic efforts by the Coast Guard and nearby ships saved many of the 68 souls on board, but 9 crew lost their lives in the ordeal. The wreck is a favorite of advanced and technical divers, and still offers penetration opportunities to the aptly trained.
#LakeMichigan #Shipwreck #GreatLakesHistory #ScubaDiving #WisconsinHistory #ShipwreckWisconsin #GreatLakesShipwreck #CalKothrade #KenoshaDiving #Steamer #Ikelite #CanonCamera #UnderwaterPhotography
A great dive and an impressive find by shipwreck hunter Ross Richardson, the 200' wooden steamer Westmoreland was a virgin wreck when Ross found her in 2010. This steamer and her hogging arches had been on the bottom of northern Lake Michigan a full ten years when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. It rests in 170’ of cold, fresh Lake Michigan water, upright and intact, albeit sans upper decks. Seventeen souls escaped with their lives into the snowy December night, while another seventeen did not. The vessel was reportedly carrying gold Double Eagle coins, government payroll destined for the troops at the garrison on Mackinaw Island, and barrels of 'high wines', most likely brandy or whiskey. For this reason it is known as Lake Michigan's treasure ship. Ross found neither over the course of several dives, and neither have I. The artwork depicts her in 2010, as Ross was doing his discovery dive. It is archaeologically accurate, and was painted digitally by hand using photos and video provided to me. This is NOT AI. The artwork was created for the cover of Ross's book detailing the discovery.
#Shipwreck#GreatLakes #History #GreatLakesShipwreck #UnderwaterPhotography #CalKothrade #Scubadiving #HistoricalShipwreck # Westmoreland #Ikelite #CanonCameras #TechnicalDiving #WreckDiving
The C-53 Felipe Xicotencatl was originally built in 1944 as a US Navy fleet tugboat, but was later sold to the Mexican Navy who used it as a gunboat. In June of 2000, the vessel was intentionally sunk off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico, to create an artificial reef and encourage marine biodiversity. Today the 184' ship sits upright on a white sandy bottom at a depth of 80 feet, making it a highly visited and very accessible site for divers.
My dive model Amanda was great, and we accomplished everything we had set out to do on that shoot. Though admittedly the main priority was nailing the Titanic pose. That photo really took off on pinterest after a dive travel site used it without my permission for advertising trips.
#Shipwreck #CozumelDiving #ScubaDiving #CaribbeanShipwreck #CalKothrade #Ikelite #CanonCamera #UnderwaterPhotography #C-53 #Cozumel #WreckDiving #C53Wreck #ArtificialReef #MarineLife #MexicanNavy
Shipwreck- Prins Willem V
On october 14th, 1954, the Dutch freighter Prins Willem V sank 3.5 miles east of Milwaukee's main harbor entrance. She was leaving Milwaukee bound for one last stop in Canada before returning to Europe, full of goods from the heartland. In the darkness, she struck a barge full of bunker fuel that was being towed by a tug with several hundred yards of steel cable between them. She went to the bottom in 90 minutes. All 30 souls aboard got off without incident save for an injured USCG serviceman from the rescuing cutter 'Hollyhock'. 'Willie' landed on her starboard side (more or less) in 85' of water. This vessel is possibly the most dived wreck in the Great Lakes, and remains an incredible dive time after time, for beginners and tech divers alike. It sank twice in it's life, was once owned for a short time by Nazi Germany during the war, and has changed ownership more times AFTER it sank than some ships do all the years they float! She was 258' long, 40' wide, and was powered by a five cylinder diesel.
This image is a hand-stitched, 55 image mosaic using hi-resolution stills shot with a DSLR. All stills were shot in a single dive on a sunny Saturday morning except for a few images I had to go back two months later in order to complete the project.
#Shipwreck #GreatLakes #History #GreatLakesShipwreck #UnderwaterPhotography #CalKothrade #Scubadiving #HistoricalShipwreck #Willie #PrinsWillemV #MilwaukeeShipwreck #FreighterShipwreck #LakeMichiganDiving #PhotoMosaic #Ikelite #CanonCamera
Built in 1902, the 330 foot long steel railroad car ferry Milwaukee spent decades bypassing Chicago's busy rail yards by transporting entire train cars across Lake Michigan. October 22, 1929, The Milwaukee's captain, 'Heavy weather' Mckay made the decision to leave the safety of Milwaukee's port and sail straight into the teeth of a fierce storm. Not long after leaving, the decision to return to Milwaukee was made but they would never make port, succumbing to the waves with all hands lost, about 52 souls. The vessel was found in 1972, sitting upright in 120' feet of water 7 miles north of it's namesake city. Today the wreck is a favorite destination for advanced divers. The day these images were captured the visability was very good for the site, about 60 feet.
#Shipwreck #GreatLakes #LakeMichigan #HistoryAlive #ScubaDiving #CalKothrade #CarferryMilwaukee #TecDiving
Shipwreck- Frank O'Connor
Built in 1892, the 300-foot wooden steamer spent decades hauling cargo across the Great Lakes as one of the largest wooden freighters ever built. On October 3, 1919, while carrying 3,000 tons of coal from Buffalo to Milwaukee, a fire of unknown origin broke out in the bow just off Door County, Wisconsin. The blaze destroyed the steering gear, leaving her adrift, prompting the captain to abandon ship. Thankfully, the lighthouse keeper at Cana Island spotted the flames and towed the crew's lifeboats to safety with his motor launch, no lives were lost. The vessel burned to the waterline, and sank.
Today the O'Connor rests in 65 feet of Lake Michigan water, her boilers and 12-foot propeller still remarkably intact. On the day I took these images this part of the lake was experiencing a large algae bloom, causing the water to go emerald green.
#shipwreck #greatlakes #history #GreatLakesShipwreck #UnderwaterPhotography #CalKothrade #Scubadiving #HistoricalShipwreck #FrankOconnor
On December 15, 1932, the barge EMBA was towed 5 miles off Milwaukee and intentionally scuttled in Lake Michigan with no lives lost. Built in 1890 as the schooner A.C. TUXBURY, she hauled lumber and coal for decades before becoming EMBA, a coal barge for Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co. Once obsolete, she was stripped and sunk, using large rocks to guarantee she'd go down fast. Today she rests at ~170 ft, a technical dive with an intact self-unloading tower, huge stern, and a split-open bow. A true Great Lakes time capsule. #shipwreck #EMBAShipwreck #GreatLakes #scubadiving #MilwaukeeDiving #CalKothrade #MaritimeHistory
Lost in Big Tub Harbor in 1885 while being towed there for repairs, the Sweepstakes may possibly be the most photographed wreck in the Great Lakes due the throngs of glass bottom boat tourists that come every day in the summer. About 30' deep.