should the Great Lakes sink ship like the Oriskany?

[do it easy]

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the fresh water stuff- less teeth and nothing that stings. I just associate reefs with salt water (from my whopping 11 salt water dives). I keep asking myself why no one makes one of those little pciture slates- "Fishes of the Great Lakes" I think that I've seen 3 different species so far- gobi (non-native?), schooling alewives (non-native?), and that lazy fish with the funky tail.

 

[tterry1]

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.

I agree. A large part of the charm of the Lakes is that the shipwrecks all have a history to them. Yes, they frequently have damage and are sometimes on their sides (or, in the case of the bow of the aforementioned Cedarville, nearly upside down), but that's part of the history that makes it so interesting.

As to the cold, well, it's the price of admission. At least that's what I was telling myself two weekends ago while doing a hang in 40 degree water . . . above the thermocline.

 

[diverbrian]

I agree. A large part of the charm of the Lakes is that the shipwrecks all have a history to them. Yes, they frequently have damage and are sometimes on their sides (or, in the case of the bow of the aforementioned Cedarville, nearly upside down), but that's part of the history that makes it so interesting.

As to the cold, well, it's the price of admission. At least that's what I was telling myself two weekends ago while doing a hang in 40 degree water . . . above the thermocline.

I am not a huge fan of diving the already sunken ships. I am a bit of a snob there. I like the history and ghost stories surronding the ships that I dive. I like the eerie feeling of being on a mid-late 1800's wooden schooner that looks like a haunted house.

I like the sound of the current when I am swimming around in the Cedarville making spooky "wind type" noises and actually helping to put a former engine room sailor's ashes back where he lost so many of his friends, but survived himself.

I like feeling when I dive the Pewabic of visiting the passengers who still watch over her.

As to cold hangs, been there, done that, and will gladly do it again to enjoy some awesome diving.

I wouldn't really be excited about diving a "sanitized" wreck when we have so many real ones.

 

[PerroneFord]

The "price of admission" as you put it, is what makes it worthwhile. Not just everyone is gonna jump over the side of a boat, drop 200ft into 35 degree water, and call it fun!

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I like cold water dives down here. The snapping turtles don't bother you that much. God bless their cold-blooded little hearts *rolls eyes*

 

[tterry1]

The "price of admission" as you put it, is what makes it worthwhile. Not just everyone is gonna jump over the side of a boat, drop 200ft into 35 degree water, and call it fun!

That's why I keep paying that price. It's funny, but I only get cold on the hangs, never on the bottom. When I have an intact wooden wreck in front of me and 50 feet of visibility (we've been really fortunate in that regard the last few years), I have too much to do and see to be cold.

 

[bladephotog]

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.

It's still in service. Saw it in Toledo last spring.

The Wolfe Islander II in Kingston, Ontario is a ferry sunk as a dive site. And I believe there is a boat or two specifically sunk for diving in Tobermory. But getting anything really big here would be problematic. And I probably wouldn't be as interested in diving it as I would a "real" wreck anyway.

We've got so many incredible wrecks in the Great Lakes already. And many are within recreational limits.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

The Niagara II was purposely sunk in Tobermory and according to the shop we dove with last year people often ask to spend both of their dives there instead of moving to another (historical) wreck.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[DA Aquamaster]

"History" is not just equated with "tragedy".

It would have been great to have acquired and sunk a WWII Gato class sub given the number built in the great lakes. They were also I believe the largest ships ever launched sideways.

A WWII era CVE (escort carrier) would have been great given the number of naval aviators trained in the great lakes. They had lengths around 500 ft with 65' beams making them fairly close in size to the converted paddle wheel steamers Sable and Wolverine (both scrapped in 1947-48) used to train naval aviators in Lake Michigan during WWII.

 

[TCDiver1]

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.
Jim

Actually there is quite a Naval and Coast Guard ship history to the Great Lakes. And not just in and around the Naval Facility or shipyards.

One example was during WWII when the Great Lakes were used for pilot training and a program called the TDN drone. The TDN drone was a remote control aircraft to be used a flying bomb. They had limited success with it and the program was evidently scrapped. I think the idea behind the pilot training here was the relatively remote location of the lakes. Back then there were concerns of invasion of our coastal commands.

I have some old newspaper clipping photos which show the USS Sable, a converted flat-top carrier, in West Grand Traverse Bay around 1943. It's pretty to cool to think they were operating within site of downtown Traverse City.

While i love natural wrecks i also thoroughly enjoy artificial ones. The Coast Guard Buoy tender Mesquite was sunk after a bad grounding damaged her enough as to be not salvageable. It is a great recreational and technical dive for practice. It's also unique in that they left many of the contents on board. Racks, desks, file cabinets, microwave ovens, etc. Its a great dive.

There's a movement around here to get some artificial wrecks for our area. I think its a great thing. Any chance to dive a wreck is fine with me. The more choices, the better.