“Elusive” 130-Year-Old Lake Michigan Shipwreck Found

Lost Tug John Evenson found off Algoma, Wisconsin
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Lost Tug John Evenson found off Algoma, Wisconsin

The wreck of the lost steam tug John Evenson has been located by Wisconsin maritime historians Brendon Baillod and Bob Jaeck as the result of a deliberate search using historical records and remote sensing technology.

The 54-foot Evenson was built in 1884 at Milwaukee as a harbor and towing tug.  She was lost in June of 1895 while assisting the big steamer I. Watson Stephenson in entering the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal with a string of schooner-barges in tow.  The Evenson’s captain ran across the bow of the much larger Stephenson, which struck the tug, capsizing her and sending her immediately to the bottom.  The tug’s five crew were cast into the water and rescued except for the tug’s fireman, Martin Boswell, who was working below deck and was carried down with the vessel and lost. 

The Evenson’s loss was widely reported in marine newspapers, but the locations given varied significantly.  Some stated that the vessel sank in 300 feet of water, others 50 feet.  Divers began looking for the Evenson in the 1980s without success.  A local dive club even offered a cash reward for her discovery, but she continued to elude searchers. 

Baillod and Jaeck collected all the accounts of her loss as well as an original customs house wreck report prepared by her captain, John Laurie.  They plotted all the locations given and noticed that a few clustered in the same small area as that given in the wreck report, approximately 4 miles northeast of Algoma, Wisconsin.

On Friday, September 13 at 9 AM, the pair had just deployed their remote sensing equipment and were tuning the sonar signals when a huge boiler crawled across the screen only five minutes into what had been planned as three-day search.  They deployed a remote operated vehicle (ROV) which immediately descended on the ship’s giant propeller, steam engine and boiler.  The tug’s hull-bed is present along with all of her machinery, giving a fascinating look at the steam technology of the late 1800s.

Baillod and Jaeck notified Wisconsin State Underwater Archeologist Tamara Thomsen who arrived the next day with diver Zach Whitrock to survey and document the wreck.  A 3D photogrammetry model was created by capturing over 2000 high resolution images, recording the site in detail.  Plans for the site include nominating it to the National Register of Historic Places and making it available for sport divers to visit.

This is the third significant shipwreck discovered by Baillod and Jaeck in the last two years.  The pair located the intact remains of the schooner Trinidad in June of 2023 and the schooner Margaret A. Muir in June of this year.  Baillod and Jaeck use the wrecks as a vehicle for connecting the people of Wisconsin’s port communities with their maritime past, and they work in partnership with community history organizations to preserve and interpret historic underwater sites.

Baillod and Jaeck are members of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association, a non-profit citizen science group that provides opportunities for the public to participate in the study and documentation of underwater history.

Media inquiries may be directed to:

Brendon Baillod – baillod@gmail.com – 608.438.7246

Robert Jaeck – poseidon01@hotmail.com – 262.865.4869

Tamara Thomsen – Wisconsin State Underwater Archeologist - tamara.thomsen@wisconsinhistory.org  - 608.264.6492

 

All of the images included here are approved by the authors/contributors for publication by media outlets.

 


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