March 2006 Vol 4 Page 1
Letter From the Board Greetings MSRA supporters, With the anticipation of spring, MSRA is in full swing with preparations for the upcoming search season. This time of year is traditionally the busiest for MSRA. As we have done for the last seven years (including our pre-MSRA years), we will host our annual spring event“Mysteries and Histories Beneath the Inland Seas” Besides being our only major fundraising event, we view this program as a way to share with our members and the general public the unique history that was and which is unfolding just off our shores. Last year we had an unprecedented 350 people attend the show, and we hope to reach as many, if not more people this year. The invitation can be found on page four of this newsletter. Please plan to join us for this unique event and please invite your interested friends. In addition to our own show, MSRA will be presenting the story of the discovery of the SS Michigan at three other national venues: Chicago’s Our World Underwater in February, New Jersey’s Beneath the Seas, & Milwaukee’s Ghostship Festival, both in March. This spring has also kept us busy planning not one, but two search efforts. Clive Cussler has asked Ralph Wilbanks to return to West Michigan for a third season of searching for the missing Northwest Flight 2501 during the month of May. MSRA’s board is diligently continuing to research and develop a more probable search area for the lost airliner. David Trotter is scheduled to work with MSRA in mid June to continue our pursuit of the lost steamer Chicora. As we develop the refined search area, our research indicates the possibility of locating the Hennepin, SeaMar III or the fishing tug Richard H., lost in 1940, in that same area. This could prove to be a very exciting search season. We appreciate your continued support and hope to see MSRA’s membership turn out for the May event!
Valerie Olson VanHeest
Schooner or Later Over the past four years, the MSRA has made four major shipwreck discoveries, three of which are steampowered vessels, or steamers, and the last is an unpowered barge. Though MSRA members were involved in the discovery and identification of the schooner Helen, which lies just off the beach north of Muskegon, we have yet to find a schooner during our offshore surveys. But we are confident we will discover and identify the schooners in our area. It’s only a matter of time. There are a number of schooners which have a strong possibility of being in MSRA search areas in the next few years. Here are their names, and their stories
Hamilton was struck by heavy weather, and soon found herself in trouble. The crew took to their yawl boat and tried to remain close to the dying vessel. The schooner capsized and the yawl made for land. After eighteen hours, the yawl boat reached shore a mile north of South Haven. The lifeboat was reported to be “a mass of ice” when she finally reached shore, but all seven of the Hamilton’s sailors were safe. The Hamilton was reportedly painted blood red. The date of her loss was November 12, 1873. The schooner Monsoon fell victim to a fresh water monsoon. This 105-foot long schooner sailed out of Muskegon for Chicago, in November of 1881, and disappeared without a trace. The Monsoon was built in 1847, at Milan Ohio, which made her over 34 years old at the time of her disappearance. She was rumored to be rotted and in ill repair.
The Lizzie Throop, a two masted, 86-foot schooner was built in year 1849, at Mill Point, Michigan. Today we know Mill Point as Spring Lake. The Throop was one of the first ships built in Ottawa County. She had a breadth of 21 feet, and was considered a “beamy”, or wide boat. She spent many years carrying diverse cargos to and from different local ports. In 1873, the aging schooner found herself in the lumber trade, regularly making the Muskegon to Chicago run. On October 16, 1873, the Throop left Muskegon with a load of wood slabs, a little before sunset. Just before 11pm, she was struck by a squall. At 3am, she sprung a leak, and started taking on water. The first mate later reported: “At 1pm, she filled with water up to her decks. At this time we were away from land about fifteen miles. At half past 6pm, she rolled over. The men took to the rigging except the mate, who steered her until she rolled over. Three of the men got into the boat, the Captain and cook having before this washed off and drowned. The three men, including the mate, left the boat and got into the hull and made a line fast to the boat and let her hang to the hull. The vessel began to break up and the three men were washed off of her. One was drowned, and the other two got ashore on a piece of the wreck.” The survivors came ashore nine miles north of South Haven. The schooner Hamilton suffered a similar fate, less than a month later. Traveling the Muskegon to Chicago course, and carrying a heavy load of board lumber, the
The Thomas Hume left Chicago with her fleet mate, the Rouse Simmons . Both were heading for Muskegon, to pick up another load of lumber. They encountered heavy weather, and the Simmons turned back to port, the Hume did not, and became one of Lake Michigan’s greatest mysteries, for over 100 years. A schooner was discovered off Chicago recently by A & T Recovery, of Chicago, in over 100 feet of water. While the wreck has not been positively identified, many are leaning towards it being the Hume. The Ellen Stevenson foundered mid-lake on a run from Grand Haven to Kenosha. When the schooner was 40 miles off shore, she started taking on water at an alarming rate. The crew took to the lifeboat, after rowing many hours, arrived in Holland. The Stevenson was reported
The Explorer is a regular publication of MSRA and is distributed via email. For more information visit www.michiganshipwrecks.org
Schooner or Later From Con’t Page 1 to be 61 feet in length. The date of her loss is recorded as October 6, 1897. In October 2003, the owner of a scuba store in Holland, relocated the wreck of a schooner off Saugatuck. Acting on information given him from a marine contractor, he relocated the wreck in slightly less than 300 feet of water, but has not been able to determine the schooner’s identity. Based upon photos of the wreck, MSRA believes it may be the Lizzie Throop, or the Monsoon. Measuring the wreck will reveal the name of the long lost vessel. Hopefully this will be done in the summer of 2006. These are the stories of the schooners we know are out there. But as the Ann Arbor No. 5 has shown us, there is more out there than we know about. So when will the MSRA find one of these deep water mysteries? Schooner or later, of course! Ross Richardson
An Amazing Discovery!!
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By now everyone should be familiar with the story of the loss of the 32-foot Trojan F32 yacht SEA MAR III. (See MSRA’s web site for the full story) This pleasure craft was lost with four local men aboard while enroute from Chicago to Holland on September 25, 1980, During the search effort in 1980, Holland attorney Jack Coté discovered what everyone believed was the vessel’s only life ring floating in the water along with other debris. The life ring was just one piece of evidence in a trial during which Coté won a settlement for the families of the missing men. But who would have thought a major update to the story would be needed 25 years later? In January 2006, MSRA board member Craig Rich discovered a second Sea Mar III life ring! This discovery, however, was not made during a shipwreck search but, rather, at a West Michigan antique store. Rich spotted the life ring at Depot Antiques in Spring Lake. Its authenticity has been verified by Jack Coté as the hand written boat name is identical, as well as the stamped date on the USCG approval tag. After investigating the life ring’s history, Rich discovered that it was found on a Lake Michigan beach, just south of M-45 by Clinton Bekins of Grand Haven about a week after the sinking of the SeaMar III. Mr. Bekins simply stored it away for 25 years before his brother Clifford Bekins sold it to a man who placed it on consignment at the antique store. It was fate that led Craig Rich to the store that weekend. This new piece of evidence could shed some new light on the location of the lost vessel and its four occupants. The two life rings were brought back together for the first time in 25 year, 4 months on January 21, 2006. It was an emotional moment as Jack Coté held the two life rings from the lost vessel that captured his heart decades ago. MSRA is dedicated to locating the remains of the SeaMar III and will continue to include potential locations in its annual shipwreck search.
And Yet Another Discovery! MSRA’s research into Northwest Flight 2501 continues to grow and expand. First it was the discovery of Naval and Coast Guard log books, then 1950 weather records, then a 1950 aeronautical chart showing the flight path of Flight 2501 across Lake Michigan, and most recently the actual photo of the DC-4 used in Flight 2501! Now we have discovered a pilot, 93 year old Retired Captain Freddie Stripes, who was flying a Capital Air (Now United) passenger plane on June 23, 1950 just ten minutes behind, and on the same course, as Captain Robert Lind who piloting Flight 2501. As Freddie approached the Lake Michigan shoreline over Glenn at about midnight, he saw the ominous sign of a severe thunderstorm and lightning storm beginning to separate from the thick cloud cover. Knowing it would be too dangerous to fly through the storm, Freddie believed the only way to bring his passengers safely to their destination in Minneapolis was to turn back to Detroit to wait out the storm.
proceeded into the storm, but once “inside”, he may have realized the danger and deviated his course. While pilots back then had no GPS by which to navigate, they could stay on course by following pulse tones emitted from airline beacons located in major cities. Captain Lind could turn any way necessary to avoid the storm, feeling confident that he could tune into the Milwaukee Beacon to get back on course. It would be dangerous, however, to alter his altitude without consent of air traffic controllers as that was the only way to avoid midair collisions. Experienced in flying DC-4’s and familiar with Lake Michigan crossings, Freddie described many scenarios that could have caused Flight 2501 to crash. A lightning strike near the cockpit has been known to blind pilots long enough to loose control of their planes. Wind shear can rocket a plane thousands of feet up or down. In either of these cases, considering Captain Lind was flying at about 3000 feet, he would not have had much room to maneuver.
In a visit to the Stripes home in Lake Forest, IL in December last year, Jack and Valerie VanHeest were able to talk with Freddie about the weather conditions that night, and his theories about what may have happened to Flight 2501.
Freddie himself was once caught in a storm while flying a DC-4. Hail damage to the rear “elevators” caused his plane to loose altitude quickly. Had it not been for his quick thinking in which he purposely acelerated causing his plane to catch wind and head up, he would not be alive today to give us his thoughts. Freddie believes that if something similar happened to Flight 2501, Captain Lind would not have had enough altitude to pull up.
Freddie believes that when Captain Lind approached the storm front near the Lakeshore with the intent of crossing over to Milwaukee, the worst of the storm was “imbedded” behind cloud cover. Captain Lind may have unknowingly
The research continues to build, and as the third search season fast approaches, MSRA feels confident that the discovery of the plane and answers to why it crashed are not far away. Stay tuned....Jack & Valerie VanHeest
MSRA Board of Directors Jan Miller Valerie Olson VanHeest Craig Rich Ross Richardson Jack VanHeest Geoffrey Reynolds
Associates Brendon Baillod Historian/Writer Arthur Allen Oceanographer, U.S. Coast Guard Dr. Guy Meadows University of Michigan Kenneth Pott Maritime Archaeologist Dr. David Schwab Oceanographer, GLERL
MSRA ‘s VanHeest elected to Hall of Fame MSRA’s own Valerie Olson VanHeest, originally from Chicago and now a 10-year Michigan resident, has been elected to the Women Divers Hall of Fame for her volunteer work in documenting and preserving Great Lakes Shipwrecks over the last 20 years. Members of WDHOF are an elite group that includes the most notable women leaders and innovators in the scuba diving community. The goal of its founders is to recognize and honor these women while raising public awareness of their exceptional contributions. VanHeest was nominated by 2001 inductee Joyce Hayward of Ohio, who was a presenter at last year’s Mysteries and Histories Program, and Joan Forsberg, a diver and historian from Illinois.
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She served as its President for over six years through its official dedication in 1999. Valerie then linked up with fellow divers and historians (pictured and named at far left) to cofound MSRA in 2001. During these years, she served two terms on the State of Michigan’s Underwater Salvage and Preserve Committee, has written articles for Michigan History Magazine, has written and directed numerous shipwreck documentaries a n d regularly speaks at shipwreckrelated events. Valerie will accept the award during a banquet at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey on March 25 at the 30th annual “Beneath the Sea” exposition where she also will present MSRA’s documentary on the discovery of the S. S. Michigan.
Valerie began scuba diving in the Chicago area at age 16. After becoming fascinated with shipwrecks and maritime history, she cofounded the Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago in 1989, Van Heest is one of only about 150 women serving as Director for eight years, and leading to be named to the Women Divers Hall of Fame the documentation efforts on over two dozen and only the third Midwest diver. She lives in shipwrecks. Holland with her husband Jack. After 25 years in architectural project management and marketing, In 1995 she married and relocated to Holland Valerie now focuses her efforts on the work of Michigan, where she joined the Southwest MSRA as well as serving as a graphic design Michigan Underwater Preserve Committee just as consultant while raising two young daughters, the grass-roots organization was beginning efforts to establish Michigan’s 10 th Underwater Preserve. Cella and Taya, who hail from China. Article Submitted by Craig Rich
Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates, is a Michigan nonprofit corporation, whose mission is to P r e s e r v e M i c h i g a n ’ s submerged maritime history. To that end, the organization’s work includes research, exploration, documentation and education regarding historic shipwrecks within Michigan waters, with an initial emphasis on the area off West Michigan. MSRA works in cooperation with State Agencies. As a Holland-based volunteer-driven organization, MSRA relies on memberships, fundraising events and grants to continue its work.
Flight 2501 Relatives Found At the Spring program last May, MSRA had not yet heard from any relatives of victims of Flight 2501, but expected, with the large amount of publicity due to Clive Cussler’s involvement, that we would eventually hear from them. As announced in Volume 3 of this newsletter, the son and grandson of victim Ken Skoug and the son and daughter of victim Mrs. Winfield Kaufmann contacted us last summer to express their interest and support of the search effort. We are pleased and honored that both sets of family members will be joining us at the May 6th event! MSRA would like to take them out to the site of the search effort where a memorial ceremony will take place to honor and remember their parents and the other 56 victims, as well.
Boat OwnersYour Help is Needed!
MSRA is currently seeking the participation of an individual with a boat large enough to ferry at least 12 individuals out to the site about 18 miles west of South Haven on May 7th, with a weather date of May 8th. Please contact an MSRA board member if you or anyone you know would be willing and able to help with this very important undertaking in early May. 1134 Goodwood Court Holland, Michigan 49424 www.michiganshipwrecks.org
MSRA members with their own boats are invited to participate in this ceremony. Please let us know if you wish to join the team, so that we can make arrangements.
Join MSRA
$25 Annual Individual Membership Includes two free admission to Mysteries and Histories event, daily search emails and MSRA newsletters.
$50 Annual Family Membership Includes two free admissions to Mysteries and Histories event, daily search emails and MSRA newsletters.
$100 Supporting Membership Includes two free admissions to Mysteries and Histories event, daily search emails and MSRA newsletters, plus a complimentary documentary in video or DVD.
$250 Supporting Membership Includes two free admissions to Mysteries and Histories event each year, daily search emails and MSRA newsletters, plus two complimentary documentaries in video or DVD.
$500 Sustaining Membership Includes the above plus the opportunity for you to join the MSRA search crew on a side scan expedition for one day during the June 2006 “Wreck Quest”.
$1,000 Lifetime Membership Includes the above plus opportunity for you and a friend to join the MSRA search crew on a side scan expedition for one day during the June 2006 “Wreck Quest”. To join, please send your check, made out to MSRA, to the address at the left. Please indicate if you plan to attend the event on May 6th, and how many tickets you need held for you.
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Icebound Found! Presented by MSRA
“Difficulties are just things to overcome after all.” This quote, made famous by Captain Ernest Shackleton when he & his crew returned from Antarctica after his ship Endurance sank, could certainly have been the sentiment of Capt. Prindeville as a similar drama played out in 1885 on Lake Michigan when the S.S. Michigan became icebound and sank after a 40-day ordeal. If you attended “Mysteries and Histories” in 2004, you saw a program about this ship which had not yet been found. Join MSRA’s search team tonight as you experience how working with noted shipwreck explorer, David Trotter, the team persisted over three years and 50 square miles to finally locate the wreck in deep water off Holland. The multifaceted tale is told through a riveting reenactment, an unfolding search effort punctuated with highs and lows, and the camera lens of a technical diving team, as MSRA explores the intact remains of this historic vessel, 275 beneath Lake Michigan, and learns first-hand just how difficulties can be overcome!
The Search for the Bonne Homme Richard
Presented by Ralph Wilbanks Last year’s highly acclaimed (and downright funny) keynote speaker returns to share with us the unfolding search effort that he and Clive Cussler have been undertaking for John Paul Jones’ ship the Bonne Homme Richard lost in the North Sea in 1779 during the American Revolution. After incurring a huge amount of damage from enemy ship Serapis, Jones cried out the now famous reply “I have not yet begun to fight”. He went on to win the battle, but lost his ship. Wilbanks will share how he “has not yet begun to search!”
Of Planes, Trains &Ships
Presented by MSRA You’ve read about it in the newspapers, seen it on the TV news and, if you were here last year, you saw the story of the disappearance of Northwest Flight 2501 which crashed in Lake Michigan in 1950 with the loss of all 58 persons aboard. Join MSRA as they unveil the results of the 2005 search effort , a joint venture with Clive Cussler’s National Underwater Marine Agency, and the surprising discovery of the Ann Arbor No. 5, among other things. The search team will share the details of the the 2006 continued search for the remains of the plane, and discuss the difficulties of obtaining information to help pinpoint the epicenter of the crash.
Phantoms of the Deep Presented by David Trotter
Share the excitement of four unique discoveries in one year with the URA team, including the SS Michigan, the first airplane to be discovered in Lake Huron, the mysterious “A” frame and the Steamer A. Everett on her first, and final run, in 1895, when it met its demise in Lake Huron, in circumstances not unlike the Michigan where on a brutally cold, April evening, ice stove in her bow planking, sinking her within an hour. It would be 110 years later that a team of intrepid explorers were to touch the ship and began their “swim into history”. Share the excitement of the exploration as we uncover the secrets of the “”ice water” mansion sitting upright, but not forgotten, in the floor of Lake Huron.
Sign Up Early & Save! Tear Here and Mail. Support Local History in the Making. Admission: $10.00 Per Person in Advance. No tickets will be mailed, your name will be held at the door.
Admission available at the door for $12.50 per person. All proceeds will be directed MSRA’s Shipwreck Quest 2006.
Name:_________________________________________Address:________________________________________________City, State, Zip:____________________________________ Phone:_____________________________________E-Mail_______________________________________No. of Children Under 12 free______________________________________ Annual MSRA Membership* includes 1 free Ticket @ $25.00 __________Number of tickets:_____________x $10.00 = Total enclosed___________________________________ *Membership includes one free admission, special seating for members and guests, post show party, daily emails during the annual shipwreck search, and quarterly MSRA newsletters.
Mail to: MSRA 1134 Goodwood Ct. Holland, MI 49424
Questions: Contact Valerie van Heest 616-566-6009
Further Details and Directions to the Theatre: See MSRA’s website www.michiganshipwrecks.org
Payment: Make Checks payable to MSRA Sorry, no credit cards accepted.