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Click the Wreck Name or Image on the Map
to Link to that Page
Copies of this accurately located
wreck site map are available at the
Books
& Video Store
The video "Shipwrecks of Long
Point" brings you to the center of Lake Erie shipwrecks where
the longest peninsula in the Great Lakes harbours the largest
collection of shipwrecks found in one area. The area
around Long Point in Lake Erie, contains more than 200
shipwrecks. Long Point shipwrecks vary in depths from 15
feet to 195 feet deep. Diving Lake Erie has increased
considerably in the last few years due to increased
visibility. More Lake Erie Dive Charters are starting to
emerge every year. The Long Point shipwrecks have also
become a focus for geological studies of silt conditions in
the Great Lakes by Canadian scientists.
Travel by ship on the lakes
during the 1860's was at an all time high and of all of the
lakes, Lake Erie seemed to attract the most activity. The
popular run from Buffalo to Detroit often ended in the Long
Point area. During the earlier years of shipping, the point
was a natural site for shipping disasters.
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Because Long Point was a
navigational landmark for travel up and down the lake, sail
vessels would try to head toward the shelter of the land
spit during storms and quite often be driven onto it or
founder in the violent seas that can occur here. Early
steamers fared not much better, with their limited steam
ability of four to five knots in a gale.
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Shipwreck sites in this area
reach more than 200. Zebra and quaga mussels have
given us remarkable visibility and laid down many hazardous
fishing nets, with modern technology providing the means for
finding these wrecks.
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Some deeper waters off Long
Point have been producing remarkably intact shipwrecks. The
tug "Smith", with its fascinating wheel house and the
"Mystery Schooner X", with both masts standing, bring forth
the history of yesteryear shipping in the Great
Lakes.
Recent Discoveries in the
Long Point Area
(click on the image or name)
Trade Wind at
120' This
wreck lies in 120' about 11 miles southeast from Long
Point. John Veber and myself have done extensive
photography and videography of this wreck which has aided Ian
Morgan to complete a fantastic colour artist drawing of this
wreck. Click on the link to see this beautiful drawing
and the story of the Trade Wind.
"St. James"
(Mystery Schooner X) This
remarkably intact schooner portrays some excellent details of
an era gone by. With her two masts still standing 80
feet from the bottom and cabin roof still attached, one can
only expect that this ship went down slowly. She has a
cargo of grain in her hold stocked full along with a thick
layer of mud. The wheel is still mounted in place half
buried in mud along with two bilge pumps, one of which is
wooden. The fiddle head on the bow stem resembles a
ram's head flanked on top by the bow sprit. This wreck
is of important value to geologists Steve Blasco and Darren
Keyes who are studying silt patterns in around the Long Point
area. The mud line around this wreck shows unusual
current action along her hull. The mud line profile
drops dramatically at her stern around the rudder. I'd
like to thank Gary Kozak who found this wreck in 1984 while
conducting his intense search for the "Dean Richmond".
We were able to locate this wreck using Gary's loran
co-ordinates. I'd also like to thank Art Amos, Bill
McNeil, Patrick Folks and the Ontario Marine Heritage
Committee for their exhaustive research into the identity of
this shipwreck. Our findings relayed to them have been a
small portion of the efforts necessary to positivily ID a
vessel of this sort. Art and his friends have done a
remarkable job sifting through the spec's on thousands
of vessels to come up with the identity.
Schooner Scow at 200' This wreck
also nicknamed the "Cracker" was found (side scanned) by
Mike Fletcher and Jamie Nadrofsky in the late 1980's.
The wreck was initially located by fishermen who have hooked
their nets on it. A wreck that has never been seen by
divers, our SeaView crew had the chance to do a virgin dive on
this wreck in August of 1999. Our thanks to Jamie
Nadrofsky for supplying the location for us. When I
initially arrived on the bottom I was viewing the anchor and
seen a square end to the wreck. Thinking this was the
stern but wondering why the anchor was here, I
continued. After traveling down the wreck and eventually
seeing the fully intact cabin, I realized we have something
quite different here. During the later half of the
1800's there were several ships built that had a square
bow. They were schooner scows. This is one.
So far in two dives here I have noted that there are three
sets of dead eyes indicating three masts. There is no
sign of a wheel although we do see a triangular mount that
would indicate there may have been one mounted there.
The wreck has many nets strewn over her with steel
cables.
Yawlboat Wreck
(Sir C.T. Van Straubenzie) This awesome
wreck has it's forward mast still standing with wire rigging
hanging from the crosstree. It lays in 200 feet of water
and shows evidence of a collision to the port side. The
bow and stern are quite intact. The cabin has
fallen. A yawlboat sits leaning against the starboard
stern of the wreck. This ship sank in a hurry.
Fishermen's nets (steel cables) have pulled the starboard
anchor off the wreck and it now lays over on the port side on
the lakebottom. This is another wreck that has never
been seen before untill I dove it in August of 1998.
Comparing numbers with Jamie Nadrofsky I found out that he
also had the wreck located in the late 1980's along with
the Schooner Scow mentioned above. The ships cast iron
bell can be found up on the bow. No inscription can be
found on this mussel infested rusty bell. A new mystery
ship for Long Point. For now at least.
Wild
Rover
This wreck was found by the SeaView filming crew with the help
of Brantford Airport Mechanic/Pilot, Bob Nelles. Bob had
found this wreck from the air a few years ago and by flying
over the wreck and meticulously locking in the GPS
co-ordinates, he was able to guide us in the boat to within a
few yards of the wreck. Unfortunately the visibility in
the water was only 2 feet and photography/video was
difficult. Here are a few clips from the wreck that day
it was found. The Wild Rover was carrying quarry stone
at the time it foundered on shore and broke up. All that
remains are the quarry stone and the ribs underneath the
stones (3'x3'x2'). The rudder post is visible, the
capstan that dates from the era of the Wild Rover and the
anchor chain up near the bow.
Steamer at
190 Ft. This wreck is badly burned.
Resembles the "Persian" at first glance. Located 1.5
miles from the "Persian" this wreck has boilers, engine,
rounded stern, steel plated bow stem, small derricks on the
stern quarters with a guide of some kind. We were able
to find this wreck from GPS co-ordinates given to us from
Jamie Nadrofsky of Nadro Marine who had side scanned the wreck
earlier this year. The documented video footage I took
of this wreck has been logged with the Port Dover S.O.S.
We thank Jamie and the S.O.S. for their co-operation in
helping us find this wreck and make the first dive to her.
Barge at
165'
This barge has not been video documented as of
yet. I have only made one dive to inspect this flat bed
barge which is sitting upright on the bottom. The bow is
slopped up and has a 3-4 foot wall around it to cradle it's
cargo (whatever it may have been). The stern (back end)
of this barge is torn open. It may be only a section of
a barge which broke in two. Again I would like to thank
Jamie Nadrofsky for providing the co-ordinates for this wreck
from their side scanning project this year.
Other Long Point
Shipwrecks
Unknown
Vessel Close to the
Lighthouse This vessel was refound by dive
charter operator Ed McLaughlin the summer of 1998. This
vessel is located in 17 feet of water very close to the
lighthouse and when she grounded up here, most of her
gear and equipment were probably salvaged. No one has a
definite identification on her yet but John Veber believes it
was part of a barge or a steamer cut down to a barge.
The ribs lining the hull are much closer together than those
on a sailing vessel. There is a theory that it may be a
steamer called the "George Washington" which foundered here in
1833 after springing a leak. Reports from the time say
that much of her parts were salvaged. This is an
excellent shallow water dive. There are schools of fish
around this wreck with little weed growth. It's a sandy
bottom. This wreck is another wreck found also by Bob
Nelles of the Brantford Airport. Several others have
dove her before in previous years.
Tug
"Smith"
The tugboat "Smith" was an unknow
vessel untill the summer of 1997. Originally found by
Gary Kozak while searching for the Dean Richmond, the
tug was just a side scan image for many years. It was
eventually chosen as a sight to inspect by the Canadian
Geological Survey with the Cormorant Submersible. The
SeaView Imaging crew had the opportunity to be there that day
and acquired the position of the shipwreck. A subsequent
dive the next weekend found the tugboat lying upright with a
slight list and wheelhouse fully intact. This was the
summer of 1996 and the only dive that year. Early in
1997, I did several dives to the tug hoping to find an
identity. A positive ID was made finally by simply
wiping the quaga mussels off the stern revealing the name
"Smith". Tug "Smith" was on the list of possible names
and this confirmed it's identity. The vessel is
remarkably intact still with only the smoke stack fallen
over. The chadburn (telegraph) and wheel are still
mounted in the intact wheelhouse. On the port bow is a
mushroom anchor sucked up to the hull.
Wilma
Eastern Lake Erie
Shipwrecks
Acme
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