Prinz Willem - Milwaukee - 10/18/1997

A dive fatality occurred on the wreck of the Prinz Willem, five miles off Milwaukee Harbor on October 18, 1997. The wreck lies nearly on its side in 90 ft. of water, with its rail rising to 40 ft.

The fatality was the fourth to occur on the popular wreck since its sinking on October 14, 1954. The 34 year old male diver was with a group of thirteen other divers and descended alone to the stern of the wreck where he penetrated the engine room of the wreck using a wreck reel. About 15 minutes into the dive, two other divers noticed the victim with his ankle wrapped in line from his wreck reel, floating motionlessly near a skylight over the engine room. The diver had ditched all his gear except his drysuit and fins in his efforts to free himself. The two divers removed the victim and brought him to the surface where CPR was administered. The victim's tank was found to have 1800 psi remaining and his pony tank was still full. The Coast Guard was onsite immediately, but the diver was pronounced dead after Police and fire boats arrived at the scene 25 minutes later. The diver had done many dives on the Prinz Willem and was supposedly Trimix certified despite having only three years of dive experience. His equipment was adequate for the dive and he had no known medical conditions.

The most likely scenario for this accident is that the diver's BC/tank became entangled in his wreck line and he ditched them in an effort to remove the line from them. His leg then became wrapped in the wreck reel line, perhaps intentionally, while his BC/tank fell due to being negatively buoyant, leaving the diver with no air source.

Diver Variables:
Inexperience: Contributing Factor
Equipment Failure: Negative
Inadequate Equipment: Negative
Equipment: Single Steel 95, Pony, drysuit
Health Conditions: Negative
Panic: Probable
Solo Dive: Contributing Factor

Dive Variables:
Depth: Novice
Penetration: Contributing Factor
Excessive Bottom Time: Negative
Low Air: Negative
Mixed Gas: Negative
Decompression Stop Required: Negative

Physical Variables:
Embolism: Negative
DCS: Negative
Narcosis: Negative
Oxygen Toxicity: Negative
Drowning: Positive