By Cal Kothrade
These photos are the fruits of two separate dives on the ST. ALBANS over the span of a couple years. The wreck sits about seven miles east of Milwaukee in approximately 165’ of water. On both occasions, I was blessed with excellent visibility, somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 to 85’. This is not so rare at these depths, though diving the Great Lakes is akin to playing the lottery, sometimes you win more money than others, but you’ll never ‘win’ if you don’t dive.
Different factors conspire to move visibility from bad to good in the Great Lakes. Things like wind, rain, currents, temperature, storms, and seasons all have some effect on water clarity, especially the closer you get to the surface.
The ST. ALBANS is a wonderful dive site due to it still being in great condition, save for a section just aft of the bow that has collapsed since it’s sinking. The stern still sits upright and displays the rudder, prop, engine and assorted other hardware including a capstan on the aft deck. The lake bottom here is pretty darn flat and really showcases the vast expanse of the debris field, including the smoke stack lying on the bottom, just off the starboard side of the stern. There is little to no opportunity on this wreck for penetration. Both anchors were salvaged by Milwaukee area divers in the ’70’s, prior to the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1988, which made this type of activity illegal.
I shot these images with a Canon T1-I cropped sensor digital camera body, Canon 10-22 mm super-wide rectilinear lens, inside an Ikelite housing using natural light.
The 136 foot wooden steamer ST. ALBANS was 13 years old when she sank off Milwaukee on January 30th of 1881. She was attempting to make one of her regular runs from Milwaukee to Ludington, Michigan.
At the time she had onboard a crew of 20, six passengers, 2800 barrels of flour and a cow and her calf. The vessel struck ice shortly after leaving port.
As the story goes, they turned the vessel around and began making their way back to Milwaukee after realizing they were taking on water, but their efforts proved fruitless. The ice was no longer plugging the hole in the bow and the lifeboats were launched. Thankfully no human lives were lost, but the cattle did not survive the ordeal. It was reported that some effort was required to row the several miles back to shore.
The wreck was found by Milwaukee diver Kent Bellrichard in 1975, on the same day he found the EMBA which was intentionally scuttled in 1932.
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Cal Kothrade is the Shipwreck Ambassador of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society, a diver, a photographer and an artist. His work can be viewed at www.calsworld.net
Photo at top of page:
Bow of the ST. ALBANS wreck with diver. Photo Credit: Cal Kothrade.
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