Lake Erie shipwreck turns lake into research lab
July 01, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
by Erica Blake | Source: The Toledo Blade
Loaded with passengers and a cargo of liquor and wine, the Anthony Wayne had not traveled far on its voyage from the docks of Toledo to a port in Buffalo, when an inexplicable explosion occurred - one that sent it to the depths of Lake Erie.
Now, more than 150 years later and two years after it was first discovered deep beneath the Lake Erie waves, underwater archaeologists are studying the sidewheel steamboat in its final resting place.
Believed to be the oldest steamboat shipwreck in the lake, the Anthony Wayne is broken up and buried in the lake’s muck.
…archaeologists are working to preserve Great Lakes history by measuring and recording every detail of the vessel to re-create how it was built.
“This is part of the heritage of the lakes,” said Texas A&M University graduate student Brad Krueger, who initiated the project. “You can learn a lot from these wrecks. They shouldn’t be salvaged. … By showing the actual value of underwater archaeology, it gives us a better understanding of our Great Lakes history.”
With hopes of “bridging the gap in maritime history,” Mr. Krueger said his project will result in the re-creation of “architectural elements that we just don’t have.”
Full story with underwater photos, images at the Toledo Blade >>
