(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Maritime historians believe a Wisconsin man has uncovered a 122-foot, three-masted ship that wrecked over 150 years ago in Green Bay.
It was August when Tim Wollak was fishing with his 5-year-old daughter, Henley, off Green Island, Wis. — near Menominee — when he spotted something on his fish-finding sonar. He showed the image to his daughter.
“Asked her, you know, ‘what do you think that is?’” he said. “The way I had caught it — I must have hit a little bit of a wave with the imaging as I went by — it made … the ribs of the ship look squiggly. She said, ‘I think it’s an octopus,’ which got a good laugh out of me. I knew it was a shipwreck. I’ve seen some smaller boats before. Nothing of that size.”
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources checked it out recently and took photos. Sure enough, the shipwreck is in about 10 feet of water.
In a social media post, officials with the Wisconsin Historical Society said they believe Wollak found the uncharted 1871 wreck of a ship called the George L. Newman.
The George Newman was carrying lumber when it sailed through thick smoke from the Great Peshtigo Fire, which occurred on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire and is regarded as the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history.
The crew was rescued by the keeper of the lighthouse on the Green Island.
Historical society officials said the ship was buried under sand and was largely forgotten until it became uncovered and was discovered by Tim and his daughter.
The historical society said it will assess the site for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram