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1849 shipwreck found in Lake Ontario
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| Chris Allen |
| quote: | 1849 shipwreck found in Lake Ontario
ROCHESTER, N.Y. Dec 12, 2006 (AP)— After more than 160 years, the twin masts of the Milan still stand erect all the more remarkable because the commercial sailing ship sits in the dark depths of Lake Ontario.
"It almost looks like it could be floated" to the surface, said shipwreck explorer Dan Scoville on Monday.
Scoville and fellow explorer Jim Kennard located the schooner in the summer of 2005 off the southern shore of the lake. They videotaped the 93-foot-long, square-stern vessel this year using an unmanned submersible built with the help of college students.
The ship sits upright on the lake bed at a depth of more than 200 feet. Its masts extend 70 feet upward in the dark waters.
"At those depths, and the water being so cold, there's not a lot of oxygen" Scoville said. "It basically helps preserve the wood. If a shipwreck is in shallow, fresh water, the ice will get it or storms will beat it up."
While its rigging and sails have long since disintegrated, much of the 1845 ship appears largely undamaged. Both anchors are firmly in place near the bow. The bowsprit a large, tapered spar extending forward from the bow is intact, as is the tiller, a large handle for turning the rudder.
"If a ship goes down in a big storm, it usually gets broken up," Scoville said. "If it goes down on a nice day, it usually breaks when it hits the bottom. This one looks like it just drifted down and set upon the bottom nice and easy."
The Milan sprung a leak and sank in October 1849 while transporting 1,000 barrels of salt from Oswego, a port 80 miles east of Rochester, to Cleveland.
Crew members recalled being awakened in the forecastle by splashing water, historical records show. The water had risen to 18 inches before they started pumping it out. They removed salt bags from the forward hold and steered south in an effort to get to shore. But the ship ran into southerly winds, made little headway and was abandoned soon before it went under.
Its crew of nine and the ship's Newfoundland dog clambered aboard a yawl and were rescued by a passing ship. |
Link: ABC News
More Information + Pics: ShipwreckWorld.com |
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| King Luis |
suprised the chemicals in the lake didn't mutate it into something...lol
1000 barrels of salt. yummy. |
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| 7-4-7 |
| very cool...thanks...didnt realise how much this stuff interested me. |
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| Djsketchbag |
| quote: | Originally posted by 7-4-7
very cool...thanks...didnt realise how much this stuff interested me. |
yeah definatly +1 here i'm always amazed by that ship @ nigarafalls |
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| Jayx1 |
| cool! they should make it a national marine park |
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| Abercrombie |
| Ya know... we gotta figure out a way to make those zebra mussels bigger so we can eat them. I love mussels, and if they are a problem in our lakes, we should make food out of them. |
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| jchung52 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Abercrombie
Ya know... we gotta figure out a way to make those zebra mussels bigger so we can eat them. I love mussels, and if they are a problem in our lakes, we should make food out of them. |
hahaha. but think of whats in them? like the chems and stuff.
and that wreck at niagra falls? is that the one where they found a ship behind the falls or something? cant remember it totally |
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