A team of researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , the body politic of Michigan , and the Ocean Exploration Trust have incur and explored the wreck of theIronton , confirming tragical written report of the ship ’s demise .
TheIronton , a three - masted wooden schooner that transported goods through the Great Lakes , sank in September , 1894 . The large steamer shipCharles J. Kershaw , which sweep other ships along with it , was sailing across Lake Huron on September 26 whenone of its engines failed . To head off potential collision with the ship adrift , the bunch edit ties to theIrontonand other smaller barges .
The crowd attempted to get control of the ship , using the steam locomotive and sails , but terminate up veering into the track of another ship .
" At this prison term we sighted a soft-shell clam on our starboard bowknot , " a surviving crew member of theIronton , William Wooley , state local news show after his saving . " She come up across our bowing and we discover her on the quarter about aft of the steam boiler house . A light was lowered over our arc and we saw a hole in our port bow and our stem splintered . "
TheIrontonhad hit the soft-shell clam shipOhio . Both ships would sink , with all of the crew of theOhioreaching lifeboats speedily . But nearby ships demand in the rescue effort lost track of the gravely - damagedIrontonas it float away .
The crew of theIrontongot in their own lifeboat , but did n’t notice that the boat was still secured by a Mexican valium to the slump ship . for certain enough , over a hundred later , researcher research the wreckage of theIrontonfound that lifeboat , still lashed to the ship that sank it .
Two of the work party – Wooley and William Parry – were able-bodied to cling to debris from the wreckage , and were discern and deliver by a the steamerCharles Hebard . Five other gang members , including Captain Peter Girard , died at sea .
researcher map the lake seam in 2017 and found theOhio , but theIrontonwas nowhere to be see . Another projection in 2019 lucubrate the search area , and locate the ship on sonar .
Since then , the ship has been take and photographed up close , and confirmed as the wreckage of theIronton .
" The uncovering illustrates how we can use the past tense to create a honest future , " Jeff Gray , Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary superintendent , say in a command . " Using this cutting - sharpness technology , we have not only locate a pristine shipwreck mislay for over a century , we are also learning more about one of our nation ’s most important natural resourcefulness – the Great Lakes . This research will help protect Lake Huron and its rich history . "
