Most of us visit Lake Erie for mid-summer barbecues or afternoons on the boat, but have you ever considered what lies beneath our Great Lake’s surface? Some people have. In fact, whole communities have, such as the folks from Lake Erie Ship Wrecks, who have spent years diving and documenting their excursions in Lake Erie and beyond. We asked the Ship Wreckers, better known as Mike and Georgann Wachter, as well as one of their featured photographers, Vlada Dekina, if we could share some of their underwater images with our readers. Thankfully, they said yes.

All photos and information courtesy of V. Dekina and wrecksandreefs.com.

Lake Huron – Dunderberg The Dunderberg was built in 1867 and went down on August 13, 1868 in a collision.
Lake Huron – Dunderberg The stern has a gaping hole where the cabin used to be.
Lake Huron – Dunderberg It rests 130 to 155 feet below the Lake Huron surface.
Lake Huron – Dunderberg The holds are big enough to swim through, Dekina says.
Lake Huron – Dunderberg The bow has two intact anchors on each side.
Lake Huron – Cornelia B. Windiate The ship was lost in 1857 near the Alpena/Presque Isle area. Dekina writes: “She was just 136 ft long and 26 ft wide. She was only 2 years old when she failed to make an appearance at her final destination on her last run of the season between Chicago and Buffalo and was given up for lost. Since no records existed of Windiate passing through the Straits of Mackinac, she was thought to be lost in Lake Michigan for almost 100 years until she was discovered in almost 200 ft of water in Lake Huron’s famous “schooner valley” stretching few miles offshore between Rogers City and Alpena, Michigan.”
Lake Huron – Cornelia B. Windiate All masts are still standing and, on a clear day, all three are visible.
Lake Huron – Cornelia B. Windiate “Today, Windiate is one of the most beautiful diveable wrecks in the Great Lakes.”
Lake Huron – Cornelia B. Windiate “On the starboard side at the stern and near the bottom is amazingly intact yawl boat.”
Lake Huron – Cornelia B. Windiate “Windiate carried cargo of wheat on her final voyage.”
Lake Michigan – Eber Ward The Eber Ward was launched in 1888 and went down on April 9, 1909 when it struck by ice. Pictured here is the ice hole.
Lake Michigan – Eber Ward She rests at 112 – 140 feet.
Lake Michigan – Eber Ward She measures in at 213 feet long.
Lake Michigan – Eber Ward She sports a unique mushroom anchor as well as several normal anchors.
Lake Michigan – Eber Ward “Stern still has rudder and propeller and numerous openings into the multi-level deck.”
Lake Erie – John J. Boland She was built in 1928 in England but after a crossing the Atlantic she settled in to her role as a grain hauler on Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and the St. Lawrence River.
Lake Erie – John J. Boland During one grain run on Lake Erie near Barcelona, NY on Oct. 5, 1932 , a storm flipped the Boland and her crew of 19. The ship sunk in under five minutes. There were 15 survivors.
Lake Erie – John J. Boland Access to the engine room.
Lake Erie – John J. Boland She rests at 95 – 140 feet.
Lake Erie – Barge F An unidentified Lake Erie shipwreck, this barge rests at about 145 feet below the lake’s surface.
Lake Erie – Barge F “Her deck was about 6-8 ft off the lake bottom and the holds were still visible but filled with silt.”
Lake Erie – Barge F She looked to be about 100 feet long.
Lake Superior – Vienna She was launched in 1873.
Lake Superior – Vienna “Vienna’s working life ended in September 1892 in collision with the steamer Nipigon.”
Lake Superior – Vienna Close to the bow, there is a capstan that still retains its red paint.
Lake Superior – Vienna An intact lifeboat.
Lake Superior – Vienna View of where the boilers and machinery lived.
Lake Huron – Regina “Regina was one of the large eight freighters to go missing with all hands during infamous Lake Huron storm of November 9, 1913.”
Lake Huron – Regina She landed upside down, 60 – 83 feet under water.
Lake Huron – Regina Supposedly, when the dive team that discovered her found the ship, there were cans of food and alcohol strewn about.
Lake Huron – Regina She’s about 250 feet in length.
Lake Erie – George Finnie The Geroge Finnie wasn’t discovered until 2000.
Lake Erie – George Finnie The wheel, though covered with zebra mussels, is still intact.
Lake Erie – George Finnie It rests at about 90 feet below the surface.
Lake Erie – George Finnie These eerie looking deadeyes, used to rig sails, are also fairly well preserved.

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