The Montezuma
Schooner Montezuma
In June 2016, Trotter and his team of skilled divers found another wreck – the schooner Montezuma, which went down in Lake Huron October 3, 1871. The Montezuma was built in Cape Vincent, New York in 1848. Her dimensions were 123-feet long with a beam of 25.1. “We were excited about finding [the Montezuma] because she was one of the earliest-built vintage schooners of the time period,” said Trotter. Trotter says he and his team were searching in Lake Huron about 35 miles east of Oscoda, Michigan, when an image appeared on the side-scan sonar in an approximate depth of 170 feet. Trotter's team of divers descended to the wreck site and began exploring. It took longer to identify the Montezuma than it did the Venus. "Some of the historical records indicated that the Montezuma had three masts, but we only located two masts," said Trotter. "With some very good descriptions in historical newspapers about the collision [with the Hattie Johnson], we were able to locate the damage, then make a confident identification that the vessel was in fact the Montezuma." The Montezuma sank on October 3, 1871. A heavy haze, caused by enormous fires that were burning near the area, had covered portions of Lake Huron, making visibility nearly impossible. Despite the conditions, the shipping lanes in Lake Huron remained open and active. According to historical records, the schooner Hattie Johnson was traveling two points off her course when suddenly a green light of the Montezuma appeared across her bow. The Johnson struck the Montezuma just forward of the main rigging with such force, the Montezuma nearly split in half. As the Montezuma was sinking, its crew abandoned ship and went aboard the Hattie Johnson, which sustained some damage, but wasn't sinking. The Johnson dropped anchor and waited for a tug to toe her back to port. "The Montezuma is a great, intact piece of history, despite the impact area of the collision," said Trotter. "Many times, the bottom of the lake is hard, or while sinking, ships hit at a particular angle and they literally explode and dismantle themselves. "That didn't happen with the Montezuma, which allowed our dive team to capture some stunning imagery." Montezuma shipwreck Trotter says he thrilled to be able to go public with these two discoveries, and to be able to share the raw footage his divers were able to collect during the respective expeditions. "Each vessel lost in the Great Lakes is a unique piece of history," added Trotter. "They represent a time period that you can only go back to when you leave the surface and descend down onto that shipwreck." David Trotter's shipwreck discoveries have been featured on the Discovery Channel, PBS, NBC, The New York Times, Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, just to name a few. Over the past 30 years, he's surveyed well over 2,500 square miles of Lake Huron. His solving of many of Michigan's maritime mysteries has been recognized as some of the most important historical and archaeological discoveries in Great Lakes' maritime history. |
MONTEZUMA
Other names : none Official no. : 16421 Type at loss : schooner, wood, 2-mast Build info : 1853, L. Goler, Cape Vincent, NY, as a brig Specs : 237 nt Date of loss : 1871, Oct 3 Place of loss : 30 mi SSE of Thunder Bay Isl., MI Lake : Huron Type of loss : collision Loss of life : none Carrying : corn Detail : She collided at night and in heavy weather with upbound schooner HATTIE HOWARD. She sank quickly in deep water, her crew transferring to HOWARD. Bound Chicago for Buffalo. Owned by H.S. Halstead of Chicago. Rebuilt and enlarged, winter of 1860-61. Sources: slh,(mv),hgl,nsp |