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From: Ross
Category: Shipwreck Research
Date: 24 Nov 2006
Time: 13:23:13
Remote Name: 69.87.139.58
Divers reveal more about fate of `Christmas Tree Ship' 11/24/2006, 12:05 a.m. ET The Associated Press TWO RIVERS, Wis. (AP) — The saga of the doomed schooner Rouse Simmons, better known as the "Christmas Tree Ship," has some added chapters after a diving expedition over the summer probed the site where the vessel went down in Lake Michigan 84 years ago. For one thing, the three-masted schooner with a crew of 17 apparently was not going straight south, driven by the gale winds from the north, but was trying to head for a safe harbor when it plunged bow first under the waves, according to state underwater archaeologist Keith Merveden. "We'll never know for sure ... but she wasn't oriented in the direction we expected," Merveden said during a presentation on the two-week expedition he led to the wreck about 12 miles northeast of Rawley Point Lighthouse, between Kewaunee and Two Rivers.
"She was actually pointing north-northwest," Merveden said. "At some point between the distress sighting at Kewaunee and when the ship went down, she turned around and was headed toward a small bay." The ship was believed to be carrying more than 5,000 Christmas trees, piled in the hold and lashed to the deck, on the voyage from Manistique, Mich., to downtown Chicago, where Capt. Herman Schuenemann would sell the trees for 50 cents to $1 each or give them away to needy families. But when the Rouse Simmons set sail on Nov. 21, 1912, the weather was deteriorating. The ship was spotted more than a day later, its sails in tatters and flying a distress flag. A rescue boat couldn't reach it, and it disappeared, along with the entire crew. For years afterward, commercial fishermen reported finding pine trees tangled in their nets. The ship was not found until 1971, when a wreck-hunter spotted it with the help of sonar. In last summer's expedition, Merveden and volunteer divers from around the country did an extensive survey, including creation of a "photo mosaic" of the wreck, combining hundreds of images. Merveden said the project was possible in part because of the lake's growing population of invasive deep-water mussels that have improved water clarity at the depth of 165 feet, where the Rouse Simmons rests. 2"Ten years ago we wouldn't have been able to do this because there would have been less visibility," Merveden said. Each of the daily dives in the 40-degree water lasted about 45 minutes for the survey and 45 minutes to slowly and safely ascend. The divers found the ship's two anchor chains, each 450 feet long, on deck at the bow of the ship. Their weight — and the Christmas tree cargo — contributed to a low-riding bow that probably went through instead of over the storm waves.
"It appears the Rouse Simmons went down with a bit of momentum," Merveden said. "There's a large impact crater at her bow." Paul Bentley, one of the volunteer divers, said the ship appeared to be in good condition. "You could pull her up and she would float," he said. "The wood has been preserved because of the dark and cold at that depth." Merveden's presentation was made during the recent Rouse Simmons Day in Two Rivers. Nearby Manitowoc has scheduled its celebration of the Christmas Tree Ship at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum Dec. 2. ___ On the Net: Wisconsin's Maritime Trails: http://www.maritimetrails.org