Endless Voyage

Two experienced SCUBA divers reported the discovery of an unusual shipwreck recently. They found a two-masted schooner at the bottom of Lake Ontario with her masts still intact sitting on the bottom as if she had sailed to that spot. The ship is eerily intact.

The schooner is sitting evenly on the bottom with both masts still in place and rising up approximately 70 feet above the lake bottom. The masts go though the deck of the ship which is all that keeps them in place as all of the rigging and sails have long since disintegrated. Deadeyes and pulley blocks can be seen lying on the deck in various places. Just under the bowsprit there is a scroll bow stem, almost taking on the appearance of a very plain figurehead. Upon close inspection, the scroll stem did not appear to have any other markings or ornamentation. Both of the anchors are still firmly in place on either side of the ship near the bow with their chain wound up on tightly on the windless. There are two openings to the hold of the ship. Both hatch covers were found to have been slid open to allow entrance to the openings in the hold, which is almost completely filled with silt. A double common bilge pump is located next to the main mast. The ship’s cabin is still standing, but pieces of the roof were found scattered nearby. This condition provided an easy access to view the interior of the cabin area. There appear to be several feet of silt inside but no visible indication of the contents of the cabin. Two windows are in the rear of the cabin and two smaller windows are on each side of the center companionway. A small cabinet can be seen secured to the rear wall between the two windows. A large tiller is located at the stern of the ship, with the long handle finding its last position to the rail on the starboard side. The stern railing curves upward at its center most point. The schooner has a square stern that is sloped forward, slightly angled at its base. In this area, the faint remains of a large raised oval decorative detail can be seen. The name of the schooner probably was painted in this area. The entire ship is encrusted with Zebra or Quadra mussels, but this +160-year-old wooden shipwreck, is one of the most beautiful, fully intact, commercial schooners that we have seen off the shores of Lake Ontario.

There are a number of really nice pictures at the link. The wreck has been identified as the Milan, a cargo ship that sank in 1849 while on a trip between Oswego, New York and Cleveland, Ohio carrying a cargo of salt. It is very unusual to find a wreck in this good condition. The wreck is in very deep water, well beyond the safety limits for recreational divers.