Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates Receives Grants

(Holland, MI - Summer/Fall 2007) -- Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates recently was named recipient of two grants to further its work in shipwreck research, discovery, exploration, documentation and education.

The Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the group a planning grant for their new project, "The steamer Hennepin: Revolutionizing the Bulk Cargo Transportation Industry". The grant will allow MSRA to work with the Heritage Museum, (formerly the Fort Miami Heritage Society) in St. Joseph, MI to develop plans to include information learned from the shipwreck Hennepin in a new exhibit.

Valerie van Heest, Director of MSRA and Project Director for the Hennepin grant Project said “This will be a great opportunity to interpret the remains of this historically significant vessel and share those findings with members of the public.” In addition to the work of the grant, Ms. Van Heest is also collaborating with historian, William Lafferty, PhD of Wright State University to nominate this vessel to the National Register of Historic Places.

If accepted to the register, this will be the first shipwreck within Michigan waters that will be listed within a year of its discovery and before sport divers begin visiting the site. The pristine condition assures that the vessel has not been materially altered by visitation to the site and allows for a more comprehensive study of the remains.

The lost steamer Hennepin was located by MSRA in 2006 during a sidescan sonar search of the lake bottom off South Haven. The historic vessel, which sank in 1927, lies upright and intact in 230 feet of water about ten miles offshore. Captain Ole Hansen and his Grand Haven-based crew all survived the sinking.

According to Kenneth Pott, Executive Director of The Heritage Museum, "The rich maritime history and cultural traditions of St. Joseph/Benton Harbor will be the theme of The Heritage’s next major exhibition, scheduled to open in 2008, and we are looking forward to exploring the roots of the bulk-cargo industry which still accounts for about 80% of the boat traffic through St.
Joseph."

This is is the sixth consecutive year that MSRA was awarded a grant from the group to continue research and documentation activities along the east shore of Lake Michigan. The grant, announced by Kimm Stablefeldt and Bradley Friend of GLSRF was made possible by proceeds from the annual Ghost Ships Festival in Milwaukee, WI in March 2007 and was formally announced at that program.

February 09, 2007 -- Our World Underwater, Chicago Illinois

March 23, 24, 2007 -- Ghostships, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

April 24, 2007 -- Berrien County Historical Association.

May 5, 2007 -- MSRA's own "Beneath The Inland Seas" event, Holland, MI

MSRA has opened an online store at Cafe Press. MSRA members and others may purchase a full line of quality clothing, caps, tote bags and many other items -- all with the MSRA logo. All proceeds will go toward shipwreck discovery and documentation.

(Holland, MI, May 2006) – 56 years after it made headlines as the single greatest aviation disaster in world history, Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates will honor family members of two of the victims of Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 which disappeared over Lake Michigan on June 23, 1950. MSRA’s annual “Mysteries and Histories: Evening beneath the Inland Seas” will be held on May 6th at 7:00 PM at the Knickerbocker Theater in downtown Holland.

MSRA recently has discovered the descendants of two crash victims, who will travel across country to attend the May Program and participate in search operations being conducted as a joint venture between nationally acclaimed author Clive Cussler, and MSRA.

During last year’s program, attendees were treated to a feature presentation about the loss of Flight 2501. This year, during one of the four featured presentations, audience members will learn about the developing research and the continued search for the missing aircraft, and meet the family members of victims.

Sunday, May 7, MSRA will conduct a commemorative service for the 58 victims out on the lake near the site of the crash. Reverend Mark Mast from Trinity Reformed Church, who will conduct the service, will join the families of the victims, MSRA board members, and special guests. The service will take place aboard MSRA member Chuck and Shirley Cooper’s, 53 foot vessel, the Seven C’s, and the group will travel from their dock at Anchorage Marina in Holland to the sight of the crash some 20 miles off South Haven.

Pastor Mast will conduct a non-denominational service honoring Jean Kaufmann originally from Seattle, WA and Kenneth Skoug of Minneapolis, MN, both of whom perished in the crash along with 56 other individuals. Family members will toss a memorial wreath in honor of all the victims.

Jean Kaufmann’s children, 62 year old William Kaufmann and 58 year old Brandi Holstein are traveling to Holland for the program and memorial service from California. Their mother Jean had taken a trip to Europe with family friends, and was returning home on June 22, 1950. She missed her plane and was rescheduled on Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 the following day. Six and two years old at the time, William and Brandi could not really understand the reason their mother never returned home from that trip. Years later, the crash still haunts them.

Crash victim Kenneth Skoug’s son, Ken Skoug II, now 74, will travel from Virginia for the program. He was 18 years old at the time of the loss. He will be accompanied by his son, Ken Skoug III from Detroit. The elder Skoug was returning home to Minnesota from New York City where he was an executive of the Remington Rand Corporation. His second wife and his son had driven to St. Paul from New York earlier. They waited at the airport until nearly midnight but returned home after being given no information by Northwest Airlines about the status of the flight. The following morning a clergyman brought the news that the flight was missing and presumed lost."

In addition to meeting the relatives of Flight 2501 victims, attendees will be treated to four other presentations:

"The Search for the Bonhomme Richard" -- The evening’s keynote speaker, Ralph Wilbanks, archaeologist and sonar operator for Clive Cussler, is returning this year and will take a break from the ongoing Flight 2501 search operation to present his program He will share the ongoing search for John Paul Jones’ ship Bonhomme Richard lost in the North Sea in 1779 during the American Revolution.

Wilbanks and famed author Clive Cussler are committed to locating the ship which sank after a fierce battle with the British frigate Serapis. It was during this battle that Jones cried out the now famous reply, “I have not yet begun to fight”. He went on to win the battle, but lost his ship. Wilbanks will share how he has "Not yet begun to search!”

The audience will also be treated to the following programs:

"Icebound: Found!" -- Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates will relate the story of the 2005 discovery of the S. S. Michigan after a three-year search using side scan sonar. The Michigan was crushed and sank after enduring a 40 day battle locked in the ice in Lake Michigan in 1885. The loss of the Michigan was the subject of a 2004 documentary by MSRA which has now been updated with incredible underwater video of the shipwreck which lies in 275 feet of water off Holland, Michigan. Be among the first to see this exciting video documentary!

"Of Planes, Trains & Ships" – A program about the surprising discovery of the car ferry Ann Arbor No. 5, found last year by the Cussler/MSRA team while looking for the remains of Flight 2501.

"Phantoms of the Deep" -- Share the excitement of four unique discoveries in one year with David Trotter, one of the Great Lakes' most prolific shipwreck hunters, and his Underwater Research Associates team.

The annual shipwreck film festival will be held in conjunction with the
Joint Archives of Holland at the Knickerbocker Theatre, 76 East 8th Street in downtown Holland on Saturday, May 6, 2005 at 7:00 PM.

Tickets are $10 in advance by calling 616-738-9233, $12.50 at the door, or free with a $25 MSRA membership. Proceeds are used to further the search for and documentation of shipwrecks in Lake Michigan.
 

Flight 2501 Search Resumes

(Holland, MI, April 28, 2006) – More than a half century after it made headlines as the single greatest aviation disaster in world history, Holland-based Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates and author Clive Cussler’s National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) will resume their search for a Douglas DC-4 airliner which crashed into Lake Michigan in 1950, later this week.

Research gathered by MSRA over the winter, combined with input from several government agencies has helped the team further define the search area.

Cussler, author of the Dirk Pitt adventure series, the Kurt Austin series, the Oregon Files series and several non-fiction books, again will send his search expert Ralph Wilbanks to lead the search effort. Working for Cussler in 1995, Wilbanks, along with Wes Hall and Harry Pecorelli discovered the Confederate submarine CSS Horace L. Hunley, solving one of the great mysteries of the US Civil War.

This year, Pecorelli, along with Captain Steve Howard, will join Wilbanks and the MSRA crew during the month of May as they scan the bottom of Lake Michigan using sophisticated side scan sonar and magnetometer equipment.

The NUMA organization joined the search late in 2004 when Cussler read about the local group’s interest in the lost airliner. His non-profit organization is dedicated to American maritime and naval history. Cussler and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers have discovered over 60 historically significant wrecks.

Beside the Hunley, NUMA is responsible for locating the Housatonic, the ship the Hunley sank; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; the Cumberland, sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship Akron; the Republic of Texas Navy warship Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, Texas; and the remains of the Carpathia, the valiant ship that braved icebergs to rescue the survivors of the Titanic.

Taking a break from the search, Wilbanks will serve as keynote speaker at MSRA’s annual “Mysteries and Histories: Evening beneath the Inland Seas” event on May 6th at 7:00 PM at the Knickerbocker Theater in downtown Holland.

Wilbanks will present a program on "The Search for the Bonhomme Richard". He will describe the ongoing search for John Paul Jones’ ship Bonhomme Richard lost in the North Sea in 1779 during the American Revolution. Wilbanks and Cussler are committed to locating the ship; which sank after a fierce battle with the British frigate Serapis. It was during this battle that Jones made his famous reply, “I have not yet begun to fight”. He went on to win the battle, but lost his ship. Wilbanks will share how he has, "Not yet begun to search!”

The audience will also be treated to the following programs:

"Icebound: Found!" -- Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates will relate the story of the 2005 discovery of the S. S. Michigan after a three-year search. The Michigan was crushed and sank after enduring a 40 day battle locked in the ice in Lake Michigan in 1885. The loss of the Michigan was the subject of a 2004 documentary by MSRA which has now been updated to include incredible underwater video of the shipwreck which lies in 275 feet of water off Holland, Michigan. Be among the first to see this exciting video documentary!

"Of Planes, Trains & Ships" – A program about the surprising discovery of the car ferry Ann Arbor No. 5, found last year by the Cussler/MSRA team while looking for the remains of Flight 2501 in 2005.

"Phantoms Of The Deep" -- Share the excitement of four unique discoveries in one year with David Trotter, one of the Great Lakes' most prolific shipwreck hunters and his Underwater Research Associates team.

The annual shipwreck film festival will be held in conjunction with the Joint Archives of Holland at the Knickerbocker Theatre, 76 East 8th Street in downtown Holland on Saturday, May 6, 2005 at 7:00 PM.

Tickets are $10 in advance by calling 616-738-9233, $12.50 at the door, or free with a $25 MSRA membership. Proceeds are used to further the search for and documentation of shipwrecks in Lake Michigan.

Further information and a ticket order form is available at the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates’ web site.

North American Shipwreck & Dive Show™
March 18, 2006 - West Bloomfield, Michigan
Sponsored by the Great Lakes Maritime Institute

7th Annual Ghost Ships Festival™
March 24th & 25th 2006 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sponsored by the Great lakes Shipwreck research Foundation

MSRA's own annual Mysteries and Histories™
May 6, 2006 - Knickerbocker Theatre, Downtown Holland, Michigan. Tickets for the event are just $10 in advance or $12.50 at the door.

(Holland, MI, June 2005) --A recent expedition by Holland-based Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates has led to the discovery of the final location of the Great Lakes passenger steamer S. S. Michigan, the remains of the car ferry Ann Arbor #5, and an unnamed barge.

The S. S. Michigan is one of MSRA’s six most-sought-after shipwrecks and is the subject of a 2004 documentary called, “ICEBOUND! The Ordeal of the S. S. Michigan”.

The S. S. Michigan sank on March 19, 1885, just four years after her launch. The 30-man crew made is safely to shore after being stranded on the ice for 42 days.

MSRA board members Craig Rich, Valerie & Jack van Heest, Jan Miller and Ross Richardson teamed up with renowned Great lakes shipwreck hunter David Trotter for the search in early June, 2005.

The vessel was found upright in over 275 feet of water off Holland, making it a “technical dive” for experts only. MSRA-affiliated scuba divers have made several deep dives to the wreck, beginning the process of documentation. So far, they have seen the ship’s massive anchors, the ship’s wheel and the smokestack. Most intriguing, they located the capstan with the name “S. S. Michigan” and “Wyandotte, Michigan” inscribed on it. There is no doubt as to the identity of this shipwreck.

Built in 1881 as a sister ship to the S. S Wisconsin by the Detroit Dry Dock Company at Wyandotte, Michigan for the Goodrich Transportation Company, the S. S. Michigan was a sturdy iron-hulled passenger steamer. She was 204 feet long and 35 feet wide, powered by a compound engine, which drove a single propeller.

The discovery of the Michigan came exactly one year after the team discovered an unnamed barge in the same general location. Due to its clean condition and lack of equipment, his barge is believed to have been scuttled. The site, off Holland, will make a fine technical-diver training locations since it lies in 275 feet of water.

Earlier this year, a joint expedition between MSRA and Clive Cussler’s National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA) produced a number of interesting finds, but the location of Northwest Airlines Flight 2501 remains a mystery. The DC-4 airliner crashed into Lake Michigan off South Haven in 1950 with the loss of all 58 persons aboard.

Flight 2501 was en route from New York to Minneapolis when it encountered a severe thunderstorm late in the evening of June 23, 1950. Three crewmembers and 55 passengers perished in the disaster.

MSRA and NUMA are further researching the details of the crash, and will expand the search grid for the 2006 expedition commencing in May.

MSRA teamed up with Ralph Wilbanks and Steve Howard of NUMA for the month-long search. MSRA supplied the search vessel and crew while Wilbanks, who is well known for discovering the confederate submarine Hunley in 1995 off South Carolina, supplied the side scan sonar.

While the DC-4 remains elusive, the team did discover the final resting place of a portion of what is believed to be the car ferry Ann Arbor No. 5. This 360-foot long, steel-hulled vessel was built in Toledo, Ohio in 1910, working the Great Lakes for nearly 60 years, before being cut down to finish her life as a barge.

In 1969, under the ownership of the Bultema Dock and Dredge Company, the barge was used as a temporary break-wall during construction of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in South Haven. Reports say that during the winter of 1969/1970 she was damaged by ice and broken up. In the spring, the remains were supposedly recovered and scrapped. However, the large portion of ship discovered by MSRA confirms that a large portion of the ship lies intact on the bottom of Lake Michigan. MSRA is seeking input from any individuals associated with the construction of Palisades Power Plant, former employees of Bultema Dock and Dredge, or those involved in scrapping the vessel.

This newly discovered shipwreck will quickly become one of West Michigan’s premiere SCUBA diving sites. The wreck juts out of the lake bottom at a 45-degree angle, with the massive propellers and rudder accessible in about 120 feet of water – just within recreational diving limits. The remainder of the wreck is in nearly 160 feet of water providing more experienced and “technical” divers a challenge. While the upper works were removed during conversion to barge use, the railroad tracks, propellers and rudder remain in place. The exact location of the wreck will be released to sport divers once a complete survey is conducted to document the remains.

MSRA is a Michigan non-profit corporation, the focus of which is to “Preserve Michigan’s Submerged Maritime History for now and forever.” To that end, the organization’s work includes RESEARCH, EXPLORATION, DOCUMENTATION and OUTREACH. The organization operates solely on a volunteer basis with financial support from its Board of Directors, memberships, grants and private funding.

For the past eight years, MSRA board members have raised funds to conduct side-scan sonar surveys in Lake Michigan off West Michigan in an attempt to locate historic ships and share their stories with the interested public. To date we have covered approximately 200 square miles of bottomlands, and discovered the passenger steamer H.C. Akeley, the passenger steamer S. S. Michigan, the remains of Ann Arbor #5, and a 200’ long modern barge (probably scuttled). Perhaps one or more of these wrecks was previously discovered back in the 1970s or 1980s but their locations were kept secret.

Our policy is to document the condition of the ships for the public record, through video, drawings, articles and film documentaries. We make our work available to the state and its concerned agencies. We also share our work with the public. Once that effort is complete, it is our policy to make the coordinates available to the diving public. We do this because the public partially funds our efforts.

Craig Rich
Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates
www.michiganshipwrecks.org/michigan/htm

Presenters will include MSRA, Dave Trotter, Joyce Hayward and SPECIAL GUEST Ralph Wilbanks, the man who, along with author Clive Cussler, located the Confederate Submarine CSS Hunley! Click here for a pdf version of the invitation with all the details. Print it out and mail it in to reserve your seat today!

MSRA to present at "Ghostships 2004"

MSRA Awarded "Ghostships" grant for second straight year

March 16, 2003 -- Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates, a non-profit organization whose purpose it is to research, search, discover, and document shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, and create related educational programs was ward a grant to continue documentation work on the wreck of the H. C. Akeley.
The exact amount of the grant, from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Foundation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has yet to be announced. GRSRF raises funds through their annual "Ghostships" festival held in Milwaukee March 15 & 16, 2003. Exact grant amounts are dependent on the proceeds from the event. This is the second year the organization has been recognized for it's efforts to document the wreck of the H. C. Akeley -- discovered by members of the organization in May 2001.

March 13, 2003 -- Representatives from Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates will team up with the Tri-Cities Historical Museum in Grand Haven, Michigan to present a joint program celebrating the life of Healy C. Akeley and revealing -- for the first time locally -- the story of the discovery of the sunken ship bearing his name.
The program will be held at 7:00 PM on Friday, May 2, 2003 at Covenant Life Church at 101 Columbus Street in Grand Haven. Admission is just $10 and proceeds will be divided equally between the MSRA and the Museum.
The museum is currently in the midst of a renovation program to turn the century old Akeley Building in downtown Grand Haven into the new home of the Tri Cities Historical Museum.
The program will feature multi media presentations about the ship and the man.
If you have Adobe Acrobat's free reader click here for your personal invitation.

MSRA To Present Akeley Story at Ghostships

MSRA Web Page Debuts

Copyright 2003-2008