On September 6, 1914, the wooden steamer MONTANA burned at Thunder Bay off Sulphur Island in Lake Huron. She had 14 on board at the time and all were saved.
The MONTANA was built in 1872 at Port Huron, Mich., by Alexander Muir for the Western Transportation Co. of Buffalo. She had wooden arches, two stacks, gangways and measured 236.3 feet in length, 36 feet in beam and 14 feet in depth. She built for the package freight trade and would later be cut down as a coarse freight carrier.
Like most vessels of her time she had made contact with other vessels and hard surfaces. A few of those contacts are listed below.
In June of 1877, on her way to Buffalo she struck upon the rocks at the Lime-Kiln Crossing, causing her to leak. When placed in dry dock it was discovered about six feet of her keel was carried away along with a bottom plank being broken.
In August 1895, down bound in the Detroit River with a cargo of flour for Buffalo, the MONTANA ran across the sunken steamer BRITANNIC which had sunk about a week earlier and displayed no lights on the wreck. She had to be run aground to keep from totally sinking.
In August 1897, the MONTANA went on the rocks next to the channel while entering the Coit Slip at Buffalo. When released, she struck the schooner BELLE HANSCOM on her way out. Both were slightly damaged.
In June 1911, she was down bound with a cargo of pulp wood and went aground in the lower Detroit River.
Not too bad for a 42 year career. Below is the Wisconsin Maine Historical Society’s Shipwreck Ambassador Cal Kothrade’s recollection of diving on the wreck of the MONTANA in his favorite Great Lake – Lake Huron.
As I have previously mentioned in other wreck notes, my annual invitational dive trip for 2013 was the year I first dove Lake Huron. The MONTANA was but one wreck in a string of popular sites our charter operator Brian Anderson introduced us to. We spent an entire week diving from his boat the BLACK DOG, starting in the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary at Alpena, Michigan, which is where the MONTANA sits. We dove several other wrecks in the Sanctuary, the first of its kind in the Great Lakes. As the week wore on, we moved up the shore toward Presque Isle for one deep dive, finally finishing off the week with two days of diving in the Straits of Mackinac.
MONTANA succumbed to fire in September of 1914, and came to rest in 65 feet of Huron water on a sand bottom. Despite losing the upper hull and cabins to the inferno, what was protected by the water consequently sank, providing a wonderful attraction for scuba divers of any skill level. For underwater photogs such as my travel companions and myself, she presented us with a multitude of opportunities worthy of pulling the shutter lever on our camera housings.
We had entered the water near the bow, and upon reaching the bottom, we made a leisurely swim toward the stern. The hull is clearly visible, with her sides and other structural elements helping to define our swim path. We first encountered her massive compound steam engine standing three stories tall, rising up from the debris littered bottom like some eerie steampunk contrivance with tubes and levers running every which way. Just aft of that was her boiler and steam drum. We were further directed aft by the driveshaft to where the imposing prop still sits. It was here that I captured (albeit a bit out of focus) a picture of Dirk taking a picture of me at precisely the same time.
Several feet further aft, laying on its side in the sand is the heavy wooden rudder, still boasting her roman numerals carved deep into the wood, which in better times would denote her current draft. On the end of the rudder shaft, the steering quadrant is still attached. After taking the entire tour, we began our return swim to the bow which afforded us another chance to take in this highly interesting wreck site.
I remember capturing Dirk photographing Scott playing with a metal poker at the open door of the boiler where coal was no doubt shoveled in. At shallow depths like this, we were able to take our time on a wreck, investigating the things that caught our attention, and occasionally goof around.
We were blessed with fairly good visibility on this dive, easily sixty feet. The good vis and shallow depth allowed for plenty of natural light as well.
A side note about Lake Huron not necessarily related to the wreck of the MONTANA, is that this lake would eventually become my clear favorite (no pun intended) over the other four. As the years went by, my dive career increasingly took me back to Huron time and again. Despite living on the shores of Lake Michigan and having many memorable dives in all the other Great lakes as well, I very early on fell in love with Huron’s impossibly blue water, which often times mimics the Caribbean in both color and clarity. Michigan is a close second, also exhibiting that cool blue hue at times, but my heart beats strongest when I’m immersed in Huron.
Images were created with 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. Post production was performed in Adobe Lightroom.
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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 and a wall of his photos are on display at Milwaukee’s Riverfront Pizzeria.
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Suzette Lopez is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
Photo at top of page: Underwater view of diver with metal poker by the boiler
Other photos:
Photo Credit: Above water: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. Under water: Cal Kothrade.
