should the Great Lakes sink ship like the Oriskany?

[simplybob]

Tomorrow, May 17th, Pensacola Florida gets a new mega dive attraction in the form of the USS Oriskany, an 888 foot long former aircraft carrier. I've been watching the Florida dive forum here and they seem quite excited about it and rightfully so. Anyways, my thought is that the Great Lakes could use a similar dive attraction that is relatively accessible. Yes, we have some big ore carrier wrecks, but most are either remote (around Isle Royale) extremely deep (like the Eber Ward) or off limits (the Fitz, which also falls into the deep category). I suppose the best thing we have going right now would be the Cedarville, and she is broken and on her side. Wouldnt it be nice to have say a 1000 foot ore carrier specially prepped for diver penetration sitting upright on the bottom of Lake Michigan or Huron within recreational limits and within easy reach of major population centers?? Or maybe we could go the military ship route like Florida did since the Navy is looking to sink more ships? (at least that's the impression I got on the florida dive forum)
It's just a thought...what do you all think?

 

[do it easy]

What about the Straits of Mackinac? It's a 200'+ car ferry that is parked off of Chicago. It's been prepped for divers and is in comfortable recreational depths.

 

[PerroneFord]

As a FL diver with a KEEN interest in shipwrecks, I'd say no. You don't need a Disneyworld wreck like the Big O. The Great Lakes are seen as something of a holy grail of wreck diving in the US. It's the place you go when you finally get your s*1t right and can dive well. It's cold, its remote, and the wrecks are REAL, with real stories to them. The Great Lakes wreck guides (Kohl) are magnificent and read like wishbooks to me.

Florida has some very nice deep wrecks too, and nice warmer water, but they have nothing like the history of what you guys have.

 

[mike_s]

Kinda a side question here... but would a ship the size of the Oriskany even fith through the canals to get into the great laks for sinking?

(w/o looking it up, I think the size of the Erie canal is pretty limited isn't it? are they any smaller locks/canals there?)

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Actually you'd be more concerned with the St. Lawrence Seaway (since the Erie Canal connects Lake Erie with the Hudson River if I remember correctly), but it wouldn't pose a problem. Look at how the bulk carriers get around....keep in mind the Fitz was downbound for Cleveland at the time of her sinking.

But while there are a lot of interesting wrecks in the Great Lakes, I think something like an aircraft carrier would be great.

 

[do it easy]

I think PerroneFord has a point. Besides, we would want the wrecks to "fit in." Greatlakes wreck diving is about ghostships and history- elusive ships quietly hiding from time and keeping their secrets from the light of day.

There are amazing wrecks that sank in the 19th century out here- that's wooden, baby! I've even heard rumors that there is a u-boat out here.

 

[SwimJim]

The U-boat was a war prize and was towed around the lakes to show off after WWI. It was sunk in southern lake Michigan, being used for target practice. Its great that we do have many "natural" wrecks to dive on. However a destroyer or two would make some nice artifical reefs to dive on. Lake Michigan is fairly featureless for the most part and the fish do tend to congregate near structure. I can't speak for Chicagoland, but Milwaukee could always use a few extra dollars that the tourist trade would bring in.
So theres a bunch of good reasons to do it. It doesn't have to be a carrier, although I believe carrier pilots once trained out of Great Lakes Nav Fac, so there is a legit tie in. During WWII Manitowoc produced many, many diesel submarines. Check out the Manitowoc maritime museum sometime. Theres another Military tie in. A freighter would be cool although Milwaukee already has one. I see reefing as a way to promote diving in our region. Reefing here would also give you ships that would be around and recogniseable for alot longer.(as opposed to salt water) My dos centavos.

Jim

 

[do it easy]

Reefing? What would grow besides zebra mussels, gobi, and bacterial slime? Am I missing some part of the lake?

 

[DropkickMurphy]

That's just as much "reefing" as anything else. It's not about the type of ecosystem, but rather establishing whatever is native to that area (zebra mussels notwithstanding of course).

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Here's an interesting historical tie-in....anyone know what happened to the Arthur M. Anderson, which was the ship that was behind the Edmund Fitzgerald the night she went down. If the Anderson hasn't been scrapped already, she'd make a great dive if placed correctly.