WHITEFISH POINT (WWJ) - The wreckage of a steel bulk freighter that served in World War I and sunk on Lake Superior 100 years ago has finally been found, Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced on Wednesday.
The society identified the shipwreck as that of the Huronton, a 238-foot long vessel, which was discovered in extreme depths of more than 800 feet after it collided with another ship exactly a century ago on Oct. 11, 1923.
According to officials with the GLSHS, the Huronton was empty on the day it sank and was traveling upbound on Lake Superior in fog and smoke emitting from forest fires.
The 416-foot-long bulk freighter Cetus, which was fully loaded, was traveling downbound in the same area when the two ships crashed into each other.
The bow of the Cetus smashed a gaping hole into the port side of the Huronton, momentarily locking the two massive ships together. The Captain of the Cetus realized his ship could "plug" the hole and keep the Huronton afloat.
The Captain maneuvered the Cetus just long enough for the other crew to evacuate the doomed ship, including when the Huronton's first mate, Dick Simpell, went back onboard to rescue the crew's mascot -- a bulldog -- who had been left tied up.
When Simpell and the dog made it back onto the Cetus, the Huronton then flooded with water and plunged into the dark, cold depths of Lake Superior where it rested unseen for a century.
“Finding any shipwreck is exciting. But to think that we’re the first human eyes to look at this vessel 100 years after it sank, not many people have the opportunity to do that," said GLSHS Executive Director Bruce Lynn in a press released about the vessel's discovery. “I think about some of the more interesting aspects of what we do as an organization, but the searching for, discovery and documentation of shipwrecks… especially if it’s a vessel that sank a hundred years ago, is pretty exciting because, it’s truly a part of our past.”
The GLSHS said the ship went under in an "extremely deep" part of the lake and finding it was almost didn't happen had it not been for the suspicions of Marine Operations Director, Darryl Ertel.
Ertel said the R/V David Boyd was towing the society's sonar towfish when suddenly, the lake depth dropped from 300 feet to 800 feet.
"It was just a small 800 foot hole and there was a little sliver in there that was a straight line, but it looked like the size of a thread," Ertel stated. "And because it was a straight line, I marked it as a possible target, 4 hours later, we come back on our way home to check it. And sure enough, it was a shipwreck.”
For more on the shipwreck “Huronton” and other discoveries made by the GLSHS, visit shipwreckmuseum.com.