The Venus
www.undersearesearch.weebly.com The Schooner Venus:
The Venus was a two-mast schooner, 122.8-feet long and a beam of 27.1 feet. She was built in 1872, and worked the Great Lakes shipping lanes for 15 years before she foundered in a gale storm on Lake Huron, taking all hands with her, on October 4, 1887. Six lives were lost aboard the Venus. “We discovered the Venus in May 2014,” said Trotter, who is the founder and owner of Undersea Research Associates. “The Venus had been on my bucket list for quite a while.” Trotter says his search area for the Venus was 40 miles off the coast of Pointe Aux Barques, Michigan, which is near the thumb. Once an image appeared on his side-scan sonar, Trotter sent three divers down to the treacherous depth of nearly 300-feet to check it out. “Typically, it’s quite difficult to immediately identify schooners,” said Trotter. “But as soon as my divers touched down on the deck, and saw several grindstones scattered around, we knew we had found the Venus.” Trotter knew from reading historical records that the Venus was the only schooner on Lake Huron that sank transporting a load of grindstones. “The Venus is in amazing condition for a ship that sank 130 years ago,” added Trotter. “Often times when a ship containing heavy cargo sinks, it dismantles when it impacts the lake bottom, but fortunately that didn’t happen to the Venus. Venus shipwreck “In this instance, the ship is amazingly intact. The cabin structure is still upright and present. Our divers were able to swim along the rails of the ship, which were also intact. The decking is in place, and so is the anchor which is still attached near the bow.” Trotter says he sat on his discovery of the Venus for two years because he was busy finding other wrecks, including the infamous Hydrus, which sank in Lake Huron during the Great Storm of 1913. Trotter’s crew was able to dive the Venus again earlier this past summer, with the second mission designed to obtain clearer video footage of the wreck. “We hope to dive her [Venus] again and continue exploring the interior of the cabin, where we suspect many artifacts from that time period can be found,” said Trotter. Schooner VENUS, of 221 Tons. Built 1872, Home port, Caseville. Owned by Stone, class A 2. On October 4, 1887 vessel with a cargo of stone, foundered in Lake Huron, becoming a total loss. Property loss, hull $7,000 cargo $4,000 1887 Casualty List (Total Loss) Marine Record, Dec. 15, 1887 p.4 Cleveland.---Marine insurance people think the vessel which went down off Thunder Bay was the schooner VENUS. But this is simply a guess. The Marine Record Thurs. Oct. 20, 1887 p.1 Milwaukee.---John Pritzlaff, the consignee of the cargo of grindstones on the schooner VENUS, supposed to have been lost with all hands, says the last advice he had was that the schooner left Grindstone City on October 2, for this port. The Marine Record Thurs. Oct. 20, 1887 p.1 Detroit.---It is now certain that the schooner VENUS, Captain James Thompson, was the schooner seen to founder in Thunder Bay some time ago and that all hands were lost. She had a cargo of grindstones, from Grindstone Island for Milwaukee. The VENUS, was insured for only a small amount, $1,100. The names of other officers and members of the crew are as follows: Peter Nelson, mate, John Nelson, brother of the mate, and Anton Blerk, before the mast. The name of the cook is unknown. Six persons in all were drowned. The Marine Record Thurs. Nov. 10, 1887 p.5 |
VENUS
Other names : none Official no. : 61088 Type at loss : schooner, wood Build info : 1872, MacLeod, New Jerusalem, OH Specs : 123 ft., 233g 221n Date of loss : 1887, Oct 3 Place of loss : near mouth of Black R., S of Thunder Bay, MI Lake : Huron Type of loss : storm Loss of life : 7 [all] Carrying : grindstones Detail : Foundered in gale with all hands. Owned out of Caseville by A.G. Stone. Official no. is that of unrigged barge Major repair in 1880 after stranding on Lake Michigan near North Manitou Island. |