michigan, A dangerous current exists in northern Lake Huron off the coast of the USA, which has sunk many ships. Even ‘Irontone’ could not save itself by coming into the grip of this part of the same lake.
A report published on the Thunder Bay National Marine Century website describes a 191-foot (58 m) cargo ship that collided with another grain ship on a stormy night in September 1894, sinking both.
Ironton’s captain and six sailors boarded a lifeboat in the disaster, but were pulled down by the sea before it could be separated from the ship.
Only two crew survived. Superintendent Jeff Gray said in an AP interview that a team of historians, underwater archaeologists and technicians discovered the wreck in 2019 and set up remotely controlled cameras to scan and document it. Although contemporary accounts and eyewitness accounts describe the general area of Ironton’s sinking, the exact location remained a mystery for more than 120 years.
Researchers from Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Michigan State and the Ocean Exploration Trust used state-of-the-art oceanographic technology to locate and document the shipwreck. Gray said the video footage shows that Ironton is remarkably well-preserved hundreds of feet down on the lake floor.
Meanwhile, no human remains were found. But the lifeboat remains attached to the larger ship, a poignant confirmation of what we left 128 years ago. Many organizations were involved in the search and inspection, including the Ocean Exploration Trust, which discovered the sunken wrecks of the Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck.
About 200 shipwrecks are believed to have sunk within or near the lake’s boundaries, including the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena and about 4,300 square miles (11,137 square kilometers) of northwestern Lake Huron.
Stephanie Gandula, resource conservation coordinator for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, said that while a number of factors made the area a “shipwreck lane” for more than two centuries, modern navigation and weather forecasting have reduced the threat. Giving further information, it was stated by the researcher that on the morning of September 26, at around 12.30 am, the steamer broke down in the heavy Lake Huron sea.
As a result, the ship veered off course and struck another freighter carrying 1,000 tons of flour about 10 miles (16 km) off Presque Isle, Michigan. Currently, the research team is busy searching for other shipwrecks on this lake.SS1MS
