Michigan students help discover pair of wrecks during shiphunt in Lake Huron

MLive.com: Michigan students help discover pair of wrecks during shiphunt in Lake Huron

ALPENA -- A small, clearly defined image flickered on the screen as the research crew of Project Shiphunt combed the chilly waters of northern Lake Huron this spring.

The double-masted schooner had an obvious hole near the bow along its starboard side, evidence of a collision that sent the 19th-century cargo ship and its crew of five to the lake floor almost exactly 122 years before.

It was literally history come alive.

Within a week, the crew of Project Shiphunt — which included five high school students from Saginaw — had identified two previously undiscovered wrecks in more than 300 feet of water just outside of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

"That was just powerful, to be the first human eyes to look at these since they went to the bottom," said James Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and expedition leader for Project Shiphunt. "We were looking for a ship that was sunk in a collision, and we ended up finding two other ships that were sunk in a collision."

The project was a joint venture sponsored by Sony and Intel corporations that incorporated technology, oceanography, archeology and history into a hands-on curriculum that brought history to life for the Saginaw students during six days in May. The students directed the mission, charted the map in search of the steamer Choctaw, and manned the massive research vessels as they painted the floor of Lake Huron with triple-beam and side-scan sonars.

That was just powerful, to be the first human eyes to look at these since they went to the bottom," said James Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and expedition leader for Project Shiphunt. "We were looking for a ship that was sunk in a collision, and we ended up finding two other ships that were sunk in a collision."

The project was a joint venture sponsored by Sony and Intel corporations that incorporated technology, oceanography, archeology and history into a hands-on curriculum that brought history to life for the Saginaw students during six days in May. The students directed the mission, charted the map in search of the steamer Choctaw, and manned the massive research vessels as they painted the floor of Lake Huron with triple-beam and side-scan sonars.

Shiphunt team member James Willett operate the underwater ROV via a Sony VA10 laptop and joystick.

"We expected them to do everything, other than the diving," Delgado said.

The crew didn’t locate the Choctaw, but instead found the 138-foot schooner M.F. Merrick and the steel freighter Etruria. The students used historical records and diving experts to identify the ships, and helped to document the vessels in 3-D for the newest exhibit at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.

The mission was filmed for a documentary airing on the Current cable channel at 10 p.m. Aug. 30.

Students explored the ships with remote-operated underwater vehicles and directed divers who collected samples of the century-old cargo. Once the identity of the ships was confirmed, students learned that five crew members -- five men and a female cook -- lost their lives on the Merrick in 1889, when the wooden ship collided with a steamer in dense fog off the coast of Alpena.

The Etruria met the same fate in 1905, and the frigid temperatures in the depths of Lake Huron have preserved both vessels relatively undisturbed for more than a century.

Both ships represent what once was the lifeblood of the American economy, transferring cargo along the Great Lakes shorelines. Their discovery reveals a peek into history often eroded on land by weather or human influence, said Jeff Gray, superintendent of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

"Each (shipwreck) really tells a new story and a new chapter in history," Gray said. "It really shows how they fueled the industrial revolution. The men and women who worked these vessels really made that happen.

"It tells the bigger picture story of the economic history of our country, but also the individual stories of the men and women who worked on these ships."