Posted by Brendon Baillod on November 25, 19103 at 23:36:14:
All,
Thanks to everyone who participated in the James Carruthers chat session. It was a very nice session with a review of the various claims to her discovery and current efforts to find her. She remains the largest undiscovered wreck on the Lakes. I was emailed a most interesting deep water sidescan image taken in the Goderich/Kincardine area following the chat. Check out the image at:
http://www.ship-wrecks.net/shipwreck/huronwreckscan.jpg
The proportions are about right.
Join us for the Alpena chat next Tuesday at 8PM Central. We will be discussing the historical accounts of her loss, the reports of wreckage following the disaster, efforts to locate her and the probable location of her remains. Basic info on her is as follows:
Vessel Name: ALPENA
Other Names: none
Build Info: 1867, Arnold & Gallagher, Marine City, MI
Type at loss: sidewheeler, wood, passenger & package frt
Official No: 404
Specs: 197x27x12, 643g
Date of Loss: 1880, Oct 15
Type of Loss: storm Lake: Michigan
Accident Place: probably near Holland, MI
Cargo: passengers
Loss of Life: 100 (ca.) [all]
Detail: She was overtaken by a storm and went missing - last seen off Racine, WI. The first indication that she had been lost was when masses of wreckage began washing ashore along the coast near Manistee. It took several days for the magnitude of the disaster to be realized. Her paddlebox nameboard washed ashore at “Alpena Beach,” just north of Holland, in 1909, after a storm, the same location where much wreckage and bodies came ashore after the disaster. The beach is located along Lakewood Blvd. (formerly Alpena Rd.). . . Just 15 days earlier, she almost sank in a storm when waves ripped open her baggage compartment just aft of her wheel and the wash from the wheel nearly filled her before it could be stopped. . . Owned by the Goodrich Line. . . Thoroughly rebuilt in 1875-6. . .