March 28, 2024

History Underwater

July 8, 2016
The Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve

There is an incredible amount of history beneath the Great Lakes’ depths, and scuba divers are some of the people who know the lore best. As they descend into the fresh waters that we are all so familiar with, ghosts of the past slowly come into view: hulking freighters and broken masts. Mussel-encrusted anchors and ships’ wheels softened by decades of algae. Bilge pumps and jibs abandoned as sailors fought for their lives.

Established in 1987, the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve’s dual goal is to promote diving and to protect shipwrecks within the preserve’s range: 148 square miles extending from Wilderness State Park, north of Harbor Springs, and stretching northeast to the northern edge of Mackinac Island and including Round Island, Bois Blanc Island, and St.

Helena Island. It’s an area relatively dense with artifacts — 12 marked shipwrecks in all, with additional sites both in the shallows closer to shore and in deeper waters nearby.

Dan Friedhoff is secretary of the preserve’s managing organization, which was established several years after the preserve itself. “There was an unofficial group of people doing this for years, helping protect and promote wrecks both in the preserve and in the surrounding area, but now we’re an official organization,” Friedhoff said.

Shipwrecks are protected by law; people aren’t allowed to raise, move or take artifacts from them without permission. But in spite of this, Friedhoff explained, some divers still take things like portholes, figureheads, and cargo boxes — items valuable to underwater archaeologists and historians. “These are things that, if not left on the ship itself, should be in a museum, not in someone’s garage,” Friedhoff said.

“There’s still some theft going on, unfortunately, but now there are people like me watching, and we do end up doing a couple of prosecutions every year. ” Great Lakes shipwrecks are always impressive in photos and film, and can be even more astonishing to see in person. Due to the lakes’ cold fresh water, most shipwrecks remain intact, with little degradation, as opposed to ocean wrecks that are slowly eroded by the water’s salinity. Friedhoff points out three in particular that he thinks every diver to the preserve must see, his voice speeding up as he relays the details rendered clear by his own experiences.

“The Eber Ward is a 200-foot wooden steamship that’s five miles west of the Mackinac Bridge,” he said. “It was going through the Straits in the spring of 1909. They thought they saw some slush ice up ahead, which they could usually just go right through, but it was thick ice that cut into the bow.” The Eber Ward now sits upright on the bottom, in water 140 feet deep, meaning you have to be an expert to dive to it.

“It gets tricky because of the depth, the cold water, and the currents going back and forth between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron,” Friedhoff explained. “But once you’re there, you can swim through the cargo hold and engine room and see the loading mechanism with its wheels and crane. And since it’s so deep, there are less zebra mussels on it.”

A second ship, the Sandusky, is a twomasted brigantine that sank in 1856 carrying a cargo of grain; it’s the oldest-known shipwreck in the preserve, felled by a violent September gale that took its entire crew. “It’s sitting on the bottom now, mostly upright with its jib boom sticking out into the distance,” Friedhoff said. “The neat thing about that one is that it had a scroll figurehead on the bow — that’s now on display at the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse’s Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Museum (in Mackinaw City.) But some people from Detroit made a replica of the figurehead and got permission to attach it 25 years ago, so now it just looks like part of the boat.”

The third ship of note is one that Friedhoff has a personal connection to. “The Cedarville is the third largest wreck in the Great Lakes, and my father, William Friedhoff, was a crewman on that boat,” Friedhoff said. When the Cedarville collided with another ship in dense, foggy conditions, it didn’t sink immediately, but its impact still took the lives of 10 men — and changed the lives of the rest of the crew. “My father was one of the engine room men, but he was off-duty at the time of the collision and was up top,” Friedhoff said. “The ship rolled and threw him across the deck. He broke his leg and fell in the water. But when he surfaced, he was right next to a lifeboat. He survived, but after that experience he decided he was done working on ships.”

As difficult as these experiences were for those involved, the wrecked remains help tell the story of the ships themselves, as well as what was going on historically in transportation and commerce during the time of their sinking. Part of the preserve’s aim is to help interested parties visit the shipwrecks safely and respectfully.

Divers don’t need special permission to explore the preserve, but Friedhoff stresses that only experienced divers should go under. “You can book a local charter or take your own boat out,” he said. “But you really have to be careful.” The preserve has established safe mooring buoys above a dozen of the major shipwrecks to prevent individuals from dropping their own anchors. “Anchors can snag onto a loose part of the shipwreck and destroy it,” Friedhoff said. “And also, if you’re diving, and your boat floats away, you can be in real trouble. So we’re protecting both the wrecks and the divers.”

The Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve organization isn’t state-funded. It pays for preserve buoys and other maintenance projects by selling shipwreck calendars and T- shirts at its website. Friedhoff said that all of the effort is worth it to preserve this unique pastime and its attractions, and keep those who participate safe, informed and enthused. “I feel like I’m doing something enjoyable for me and helping enhance other peoples’ visits to northern Michigan,” he said. “And most of all, we’re doing a public service by protecting these important shipwrecks.”

For more information, visit straitspreserve.com, where you’ll also find the preserve store, or find the organization on Facebook.

The Three Largest Shipwrecks in the Great Lakes

THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

About: At 729 feet, the Big Fitz was launched in June of 1958. It was the biggest ship on the Great Lakes, carrying cargo of taconite iron ore pellets from mines in Minnesota to Detroit and Toledo, Ohio. The ship has been immortalized in song by Ontario singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot.

Sank: November 10, 1975. Entire crew of 29 was lost.

Cause: A severe storm on Lake Superior with near hurricane-force winds and 35- foot waves.

THE CARL D. BRADLEY

About: Launched in 1927, the Bradley measured 639 feet in length and was owned by the Bradley Transportation Company, which used the ship to haul limestone from the Michigan limestone quarry in Rogers City, Mich.

Sank: November 18, 1958. Of the 35 crewmen, only two survived.

Cause: Gale force winds and a structural failure on the ship that led to an explosion.

THE SS CEDARVILLE

About: Also put in service in 1927, the Cedarville checked in at 588 feet and was a sister ship of the Bradley and part of the Bradley Transportation Company, which was owned by U.S. Steel. It, too, carried limestone.

Sank: May 7, 1965. Only 25 of the 35 crewmen survived.

Cause: Collision with the Norwegian ship SS Topdalsfjord in heavy fog.

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