test
Thanks oodles Jim
Historians find century-old Huronton shipwreck in Lake Superior
Updated Oct 12, 2023
WHITEFISH POINT, Mich. (WJRT) - Historians announced the discovery a shipwreck in Lake Superior a century after a crash at sea sent the 238-foot freighter to the bottom.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society found the Huronton lying about 800 feet below the surface of Lake Superior. It crashed with the 416-foot freighter Cetus in dense fog and smoke from wildfires on Oct. 11, 1923.
Historians say the Huronton was empty and heading upbound on Lake Superior that day while the Cetus was fully loaded and heading downbound. Both vessels were traveling too fast for the reduced visibility when the collided.
The Cetus hit the back port side of the Huronton, ripping a large hole in the Huronton and temporarily locking the vessels together. The Cetus captain kept motoring forward and effectively plugged the hole for enough time for the Huronton crew to jump aboard his vessel.
The Huronton crew realized they left their mascot, a bulldog, on board when they escaped. The first mate, Dick Simnell, jumped back aboard the sinking Huronton, braved the flooding stern section, untied the dog and ran back to the Cetus.
Nobody was injured or killed in the collision. The Huronton crew watched as their ship plunged into the depths of Lake Superior, where it was never seen again until shipwreck historians discovered it this year.
"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 Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society Executive Director Bruce Lynn.
The Huronton appears to be well preserved below the frigid depths of Lake Superior over the past 100 years. The shipwreck provides a look at life on the Great Lakes a century ago.
The shipwreck historical society used a towable sonar to locate an outline of the Huronton 800 feet below the lake surface. An underwater submersible made a dive on the shipwreck to confirm its identity and photograph the wreckage.
https://www.abc12.com/news/state/historians-find-century-old-huronton-shipwreck-in-lake-superior/article_d0356e9c-6837-11ee-8355-f38933d144cd.html