Steamer Detroit (1994)
Steamer Detroit off Pointe aux Barques, 1854
- From Robert McGreevy's Lost Legends of the Lakes
The steamer Detroit was built in 1846 in Newport (Marine City), Michigan, in Jacob L. Wolverton's shipyard. Pre-Civil War steamers like the Detroit were the lifeblood of shoreline towns—and for many, their only communication with the outside world. Great Lakes steamers were a viable transportation link connecting lakeside towns, the vessels carrying everything from fish packed in barrels for Detroit market, cattle, and coal to perishable crops, world news, and passengers.
The 352-ton Detroit was built for Michigan industrialist Eber Brock Ward and his nephew, Samuel Ward, and the wooden, sidewheel steamer measured 157' long, with a hull width of 23.3', an extreme width of 47—50', and a depth of 10.1'. The steamer Detroit ran from Detroit, Michigan, to Sault St. Marie. During the 1850s, she was instrumental in hauling the construction materials needed in building the locks. Contemporary newspaper accounts recognized the Detroit as "historically significant.. .this boat was part of building Michigan."
On May 24, 1854, the Detroit made her way up Lake Huron with her load. She carried 11 tons of hay, 7 tons of coal, and 10,000 feet of lumber, the supplies destined for the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Company and designated for use on the canal and locks. As the Detroit Made her way upbound, she encountered heavy fog on Lake Huron, off Pointe aux Barques. Out of the fog on Saginaw Bay emerged the barque Nucleus, which rammed into the Detroit's starboard side, just forward of her wheel house. While the Nucleus did not suffer serious damages, the hole in the Detroit's hull began to fill with water.
The crew realized the Detroit's sinking would be slow, but inevitable, and the Detroit went down not long after the collision. The Passengers and crew safely climbed aboard the two scows that the Detroit had had in tow. The scows were towed back to the St. Clair River, and passengers were then transported by the steamer Globe to the city of Detroit. Two severe injuries were reported, including The wheelsman, who suffered a broken leg, but no lives were lost. The vessel was valued at $12,000 and was not insured.
The Detroit lay idle for 140 years on Lake Huron's bottom, when in June 1994, shipwreck hunter David Trotter and his team, Undersea Associates, discovered a sidewheel steamboat sitting upright and mostly intact: they had found the Detroit.
The wreck of the Detroit lies in approximately 200' of water about 10 miles north-northeast of Grindstone City. The steamer still carries some of her original white and green paint, and her find was a boon to historians. Since the first known photograph of a Great Lakes ship was believed to be in 1852, the discovery of this 1846 steamboat allowed maritime historians a better understanding or pre-Civil vessels. At the time of discovery, her paddle wheels hung in place, as did two anchors hanging upside down front the bow rail, with her steering pole positioned between the wooden anchors. The vessel's focal point, her walking beam engine, can be found aft of amidships. The Detroit's good condition lent to the theory that she sank slowly, though her upper deck had collapsed and her smokestack Had broken off on the side of her collision.
China dishes aboard the wreck picturing a sidewheeler and the Ward Line name of E.B. & S. Ward's Steamers, as well as a metal strongbox, were among the Detroit's treasures. The heart of the ship—her bell—hung above the engine room, and despite the time that had passed since it last rang, the bell's nickel alloy still shone brightly in Lake Huron's depths. The bell bore the stamp of "Novelty Works" on one side, and on the other, "New York 1844."
The location of the bell has become a mystery: it vanished. Between September 2005 and July/August of 2006, technical divers who routinely monitored the site discovered the Detroit's bell was missing. Considering the bell's weight in excess of 200 pounds resting at a depth of approximately 200', marine historians speculate if the bell was stolen, the heist would have required supreme diving experience as well as specialized, sophisticated equipment. To remove the bell, a steel pin measuring an inch in diameter would have had to be cut; the bell's rise to the top would then have had to be engineered, likely with the use of flotation devices.
Michigan's Department of Natural Resources followed standard protocol and issued a $500 reward for the bell. It was later established the bell likely valued monetarily at well over $10,000. Historically, the Detroit's bell is priceless.
Over a century and a half of time has elapsed since the Detroit's sinking, however, the fresh water of the inland seas has effectively preserved this 1846 steamer. The Detroit, a ship that helped build the industrialization of Michigan, continues to serve as an excellent example of pre-Civil War technology and shipbuilding.
NOTE: The theft of the Detroit's bell, & other "plundering" & destruction of Great Lake shipwrecks, is the primary reason URA has a policy of NOT releasing the locations of shipwrecks they discover. The URA discoveries are shared widely by the video documentation URA performs and the many public presentations. However, many of the locations, such as the Detroit's, eventually "leak" out or are found later by other wreck seekers. It is unfortunate that now divers and the general public have lost this historic piece of Michigan and Great Lake's history! Hopefully, at some point, the bell will be returned and placed in one of the respectable marine museums for all of us to once again share. Remember … there is a reward!!!!!