Latest news with #WisconsinShipwrecks
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Sunken treasure? Archeologists discover shipwreck while searching for another near Oshkosh
Archaeologists surveying a Wisconsin river believe they unexpectedly stumbled upon a ship that sank in 1880. Researchers with the Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association were conducting a sonar survey of the Fox River in Oshkosh this spring to map previously located shipwrecks, WHS said in a release on Facebook earlier this month. Instead, they came across a new shipwreck in the process, WHS said. "That's the excitement of archaeology, sometimes we find something new that we were not looking for," WHS said. Scans of the wreck revealed a partially buried hull approximately 90 feet long and 23 feet wide. Archaeologists believe the remains belong to the L.W. Crane, a steamer ship that was built in 1865 before burning in the Oshkosh river in 1880. More discoveries: Ghost ship found after 132 years in the murky depths of 'Shipwreck Coast' L.W. Crane was a wooden side wheel steamer built in 1865 in Berlin, Wisconsin, according to a bio from WHS. The ship was used to ferry passengers and freight between Green Bay and Oconto, Wisconsin. During the vessel's career, it ran on the Illinois River as well as the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers, according to the society. In summer 1880, the L.W. Crane caught on fire and burned to the water's edge at the St. Paul Railroad slip in Oshkosh, WHS said. The wreck is believed to have been discovered by researchers during a scan of the Fox River this spring, according to WHS. It was found directly opposite from where the St. Paul Railroad Slip was located, according to historical records. Research is ongoing to identify the wreck, but there is a "strong possibility" that it is the L.W. Crane, WHS said. Related: Wisconsin angler discovers one of the largest tugboats in Great Lakes history off Manitowoc Archaeologists were trying to map a different shipwreck, the Berlin City vessel, when they discovered what they believe to be remains of the L.W. Crane, WHS said. Berlin City was built in 1856 and was used for purposes similar to that of the L.W. Crane, including transporting passengers and freight between Berlin and Oshkosh, the society said. According to WHS, Berlin City was popular with tourists and described as "a tip top steamboat" with the ride aboard called "one of the pleasantest that can be taken." In 1870, Berlin City caught on fire and its remains sank in the Fox River, WHS said. Related: How many shipwrecks are in Lake Michigan, and what happens to them? According to Wisconsin Shipwrecks, more than 60 ships sank in inland waterways in Wisconsin. The Fox River is the site of nine shipwrecks and possibly more. Berlin City, 1856, a steam paddle Bob Teed, 1883, a tug E.P. Weston, 1863, a steam paddle L.W. Crane, 1865, a steam paddle Menasha, 1851, a steam paddle Minnie, 1865, a steam screw Satisfaction, 1894, a tug T.S. Chitterton, 1886, a steam paddle Union, 1865, a steam screw Three may be in Green Bay/Fox River: Belle Laurie, 1876, a schooner Flora Webster, 1871, a steam screw G.A.R., 1877, a tug Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oshkosh shipwreck found may be L.W. Crane sank in Fox River in 1880
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Historic Baileys Harbor shipwreck isn't the wreck they thought, but it's still historic
A shipwreck in the waters off Baileys Harbor was relisted on the Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places under a new name after the Wisconsin Historical Society announced May 29 the wreck isn't of the ship it first thought it was. And it took an old insurance form to make the final call. The wreck is of the Joseph Cochrane, a 131-foot-long schooner that sank in about 10 to 15 feet of water about 563 feet southwest of the Old Baileys Harbor Lighthouse (aka the "Bird Cage" lighthouse). It previously was identified as the wreck of the Christina Nilsson, and was listed on both the state and national historic place registers under that name in 2003, but the historical society's announcement said subsequent knowledge and information that wasn't available back then led the society to now positively identify it as the Cochrane. The Joseph Cochrane was built in Rochester, New York, and launched from there in 1856. According to the Wisconsin Shipwrecks website, it initially hauled mostly grain, bringing corn and wheat from Chicago to Buffalo, but its primary cargo became lumber for the Chicago market, also hauling grain and coal, by the late 1860s as it went through a number of ownership changes. The three-masted schooner also went through a number of wrecks over the years. The Wisconsin Shipwrecks site documents at least four collisions or sinkings in the 14 years the Cochrane plied its trade on the Great Lakes before its final wreck off Door County. That last wreck came after the Cochrane sprung a leak while sailing through a storm and carrying a load of lumber in the northern part of Lake Michigan the night of Oct. 23, 1870. The crew attempted to pump out the ship, before the next morning Capt. Charles Anderson tried to get to Baileys Harbor for shelter. But Wisconsin Shipwrecks says Anderson unfortunately missed the navigation channel and the Cochrane became stranded on a reef on the east side of the harbor. The water was high, so the crew had to remain on the ship until they were rescued by another boat the morning of Oct 25. After that, the Cochrane rapidly went to pieces in high winds and water and sank below the surface within a week. Its lumber cargo washed ashore, and the site says the schooner Market Drayton sailed to Baileys Harbor on Nov. 11 and was able to retrieve 100,000 feet of the lumber. The Cochrane's owners carried no insurance, and its final enrollment document was surrendered June 30, 1871. The Wisconsin Shipwrecks site says the Cochrane's remains are well-preserved, although somewhat flat, with part of its lower hull intact and major structural components, its framing and one windlass stanchion still on hand. Because the wreck site also has enough dynamic water action, few invasive quagga mussels have colonized the interior of the bilge, allowing for detailed observation. As for the Christina Nilsson, it's now thought it also lies near the old lighthouse off Baileys Harbor, close to the Cochrane. The Nilsson also was a three-masted cargo schooner, measuring 139 feet to the Cochrane's 131, that sank with a load of pig iron Oct. 25, 1884. Surveys of the wreck were conducted in 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2021 by maritime archaeologists from the historical society and Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association. But while the wreck was first identified as the Nilsson, it now has been determined to be the Cochrane. The Wisconsin Shipwrecks site says the new identification is based on its dimensions, location and a comparison of vessel losses in the vicinity based on historic newspaper accounts. And Tamara Thomsen, maritime archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society, told the Advocate the most definitive new information came from an insurance claim form on the Nilsson in which the insurance man wrote the Nilsson's remains were in a cove between two reefs on the northeast side of Old Baileys Harbor Lighthouse. The Cochrane is on the southwest side of the lighthouse. That said, Thomsen said the historical society hasn't yet positively identified the wreck of the Nilsson. She said there are pieces of wrecks from at least one other ship around that cove, so maritime archaeologists need to be able to determine which were part of the Nilsson, although she added she's "pretty sure" most or all of its is the Nilsson. Thomsen said the historical society will file documentation with the National Register of Historic Places to relist the site under the Cochrane's name. She said the national register generally agrees to do so, but its staff has to pore through the documentation and verify the accuracy. And Thomsen said because of the number of wrecks in the area, and because Baileys Harbor was an important location in Great Lakes maritime history, she hopes to have the historical society declare an archaeological district there, then get the district placed on the state historic place register. State and federal laws protect the wreck of the Joseph Cochrane. Divers may not remove artifacts or structure when visiting the site. Removing, defacing, displacing or destroying artifacts or sites is a crime. For more information on the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit For more on the Cochrane, the Christina Nilsson and other Wisconsin shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, visit Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@ MORE: Door County man gets max sentence for defrauding clients of $1.1 million MORE: Cellcom will adjust customers' phone bills due to cell service outage FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County shipwreck relisted as historic place with new correct name
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
An Amateur Pilot Found 3 Shipwrecks in 3 Days. 10 Years Later, Her Grandson Found Another One.
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Christopher Thuss was out fishing in Lake Michigan when he discovered a shipwreck just nine feet below the surface of the water. The wreckage turned out to be the J.C. Ames, which sank in a fiery display on that spot more than a century ago. Thuss isn't the only member of his family to make such a discovery—a decade earlier, his step-grandmother earned the nickname 'Shipwreck Suzze' for spotting three different shipwrecks over the course of three days. There's something in the water in Wisconsin. How else can you explain how a grandmother and grandson duo both unwittingly discovered a cumulative four shipwrecks decades apart? According to a press release from the Wisconsin Historical Society, Christopher Thuss was out fishing on a foggy day in Lake Michigan (off the coast of Manitowoc) when he spied—just nine feet below the water—the remnants of a wreckage. 'Thuss reported his finding to Wisconsin Historical Society maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen,' the press release noted, '...who worked in collaboration with Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association president Brendon Baillod to identify the wreck as the J.C. Ames.' Most of us probably wouldn't known just who to contact if we came across a shipwreck. But Thomsen was likely already on Thuss's radar. After all, per an article by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Thomsen had been one of the maritime archaeologists who had conducted surveys based on the discoveries made by 'Shipwreck Suzze' Johnson back in 2015. 'Shipwreck Suzze' made waves a decade ago when—as a byproduct of her retirement hobby of piloting an ultralight plane known as a 'powered parachute'—she discovered three different shipwrecks in the span of just three days. Remarkable as that is, the surprising twists don't stop there: 'Shipwreck Suzze' also just so happens to be Christopher Thuss' step-grandmother. So, what of the ship that Thuss discovered? Well, it's a vessel that has a story to tell all its own. According to the ship now known as the J.C. Ames began life under a different name—the J.C. Perrett. Built in Manitowoc in 1881, the fore-and-aft compound steam engine vessel is described as 'one of the largest and most powerful tugboats ever built on the Great Lakes.' Originally used to haul lumber (up to 'five barges worth' per Wisconsin Shipwrecks), the then-Perrett 'would serve a variety of roles over its long career.' It survived a collision in 1889, changed hands in 1895 to become a hauler of railroad barges between Chicago and Peshtigo, and saw its boilers replaced and its name changed to the J.C. Ames in 1896. It would be sold two more times before 1923, when it was finally retired from service and stripped for parts. After anything deemed valuable was removed, it was sent off in a fashion that might seem unusual to modern eyes: 'Its remaining hull was towed outside of Manitowoc in Maritime Bay and set ablaze for the enjoyment of spectators in 1923. This was a common practice with the elderly ships of the time. The Ames burned to the waterline and sank into 9 feet of water where it was further dismantled by wind, waves, and ice, until it was buried underneath the sand and forgotten.' Now, a century after its fiery descent, the J.C. Ames is headed for a second life as a likely tourist attraction. Per the Wisconsin Historical Society's press release, work has now begun to place the J.C. Ames on the State Register of Historic Places, with an eye towards eventually securing it a place on the National Register of Historic Places. 'Due to the wreck's unique position in Lake Michigan,' the press release noted, 'it has the potential to become a popular destination for kayaking and snorkelers.' 'These kinds of discoveries are always so exciting because it allows a piece of lost history to resurface. It sat there for over a hundred years and then came back on our radar completely by chance,' Thomsen said of the discovery. 'We are grateful that Chris Thuss noticed the wreck and reported it so we can share this story with the Wisconsin communities that this history belongs to.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
