On this day June 5, 1904, the steamer FOREST CITY stranded on Georgian Bay’s Bear Island in a dense fog. Several attempts to salvage her failed. She eventually filled and slid into deep water. She was valued at $15,000, had no cargo at the time and was owned by M. W. Humphrey of Detroit.
Built as a three masted schooner in 1870 at Cleveland by E. M. Peck for the Northwestern Transportation Co. of Detroit. She was later converted to a wooden bulk freight steamer in May of 1872 and measured 216.7 feet in length and 33.5 feet in beam.
FOREST CITY in Weitzel Lock
The FOREST CITY is now part of the Fathom Five Marine Park and not recommended for sport divers due to her depth. The following is our Shipwreck Ambassador Cal Kothrade’s story of his dive and some of his great underwater photos.
As I have trumpeted in prior wreck dive articles, Tobermory, Canada is a ‘must visit’ destination for any wreck diver. There are a great many sites to choose from there at the top of the Bruce Peninsula, some shallow, some deep. Some are within swimming distance of the mainland, and some that you need a boat to access. Among the deepest of wrecks in Toby, is the steamer Forest City. Originally built as a 216′ long three masted schooner, she was later converted to a prop driven steamer.
In 1904 the vessel rammed the shore of Bear Rump Island in dense fog, causing fatal damage to the bow. She remained there for several weeks despite efforts to salvage her. Eventually filling with water, the ship slid below the waves and down the steep hill where she came to rest upright on an incline.
Today, divers can begin exploring the remains of the bow area at about 60′, but will want to be properly trained and equipped in order to access the much better preserved more interesting stern area from 100′-150′.
Boilers and other mechanicals along with hull superstructure, a deck hatch, and a towing bollard can be viewed there. The lake bottoms out here, at least for as far as I could see, and a diver so inclined can swim off the wreck along the flat lake bottom to a large rock where a wonderful photo can be framed when visibility is good, which it often is.
Due to the depth, Huron’s blue water takes on a relaxing dark hue, helping to create an exceedingly serene environment, and memorable dive. A slow and exploratory pace back up the hill while following the long expanse of deck and hullside timber affords the diver ample eye candy and items of interest to keep them occupied while burning off a good deal of accumulated decompression time.
The Forest City lies outside of the confines of the Fathom Five Marine Park, and is one of the longer boat rides from the harbor, but well worth it, even in less than great weather.
Images were taken with a combination of a Canon T1-I Rebel DSLR mated to a Canon 10-22mm super-wide rectilinear lens, in an Ikelite housing using natural light and Ikelite DS-161 Movie strobes X2, and a Canon 6D full frame DSLR mated to a Canon 16-35mm wide angle lens, in an Ikelite housing using natural light and Ikelite DS -161 photo strobes X2. Post production was performed in Adobe Lightroom.DS -161 photo strobes X2.
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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
Above water photos are from the Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. All underwater photos of the FOREST CITY are by Cal Kothrade.
This story was originally posted on June 5, 2024.
