A 119-year-old shipwreck has been found at the bottom of Lake Erie. The wooden steam barge Margaret Olwill sank in 50 feet of water during a nor'ester in 1899. Eight people died, including the captain, his wife and their 9-year-old son.
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But investigating that spot alone would require a year or two of searching. Fair warning: Mike Wachter says anyone who tries to find the M&B shouldn't do it for the gold. “Like most ships on the bottom of Lake Erie, there is no treasure,” he says. “The only real treasure is the stories and the history.”
A ship that hasn't been seen for almost a century and a half has been confirmed as found. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Paradise, Michigan announced an expedition on Lake Superior last year that led to the discovery of the Satellite, a tugboat that sank June 21, 1879.
The Chesapeake // Lake Erie. The Chesapeake was carrying about 45 passengers when it collided with another ship and began to slowly sink in August 1846.
The British pirates led by George Colby attacked from shore in small boats. They would build fires at night on the shore of Lake Erie to lead the French to think they were near a port causing them to run aground on the rocks.
With an average depth of just 24 feet (7 meters), this area is especially hazardous to ships because it features several rocky outcrops, shoals, and islands. (Lake Erie's average depth is 60 feet; Lake Superior's average depth is 149 feet.)
An estimated 6,000 vessels were lost on the Great Lakes with approximately 1,500 of these ships located in Michigan waters. These are unique resources. The history of Michigan can be traced by the material records of its shipwrecks. They are a wood and steel chronicle of the history of naval architecture on the lakes.
The Lake Serpent carried cargo for eight years until it sank in late September or early October 1829. It is unknown what caused the ship to sink, but some experts believe it may have been the result of a bad storm. If this is true, the wreckage is the oldest ever found in the shallowest of the Great Lakes.