LANSING — The ships Amaranth and the Francie are submerged in Lake Michigan but are closer to Lansing than other ships lost to the Great Lakes.
An estimated 6,000 boats, ships or other vessels have sunk in the Great Lakes, with about 1,500 of them in Michigan’s waters. Their tales have inspired ballads and amateur expeditions, and many remain lost somewhere in the lakes. Most shipwrecks along Michigan’s coasts — off the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron — are north of Mt. Pleasant, with concentrations around the Straits of Mackinac.
However, the Greater Lansing area is within 90 minutes of a handful of shipwrecks. Here’s a look at five closest to Lansing:
The Amaranth
This schooner with two masts was built in 1864 in Milan, Ohio, by William Shupe. It sunk in September 1901, just north of Sarnia, Ontario, in Michigan waters.
The Amaranth was used as a towbarge later in its career and was in tow with the steamer John H. Pauly when the larger ship drove it ashore, according to the state’s shipwreck database. The schooner was a total loss, but no one died. The Pauly’s crew was able to rescue everyone aboard the Amaranth.
The Amaranth’s remains are about 10 feet below the water’s surface. Its scuba difficulty is rated as beginner, and the state says its accessible by small, paddle vessels.
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The Francie
The Francie was built as an oyster dredge vessel that later became a passenger pleasure sailing boat. It sank in its dock in the 1980s and years later is believed to have been towed out to its present location, just north of Saugatuck, and scuttled, meaning intentionally sunk.
The vessel now sits about 102 feet below the water’s surface and isn’t accessible by paddle vessels. The site is rated as an advanced difficulty for scuba divers.
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‘Crane and Barge’
Also just north of Saugatuck, and about 50 feet below the water, are the remains of a crane and wooden barge that sank in the 1980s while it was under tow after delivering a load of steel in Benton Harbor.
The vessel was traveling back to Grand Haven when it sank. No one died in the wreck and the crane bent at a sharp angle when it struck the bottom of the lake. Gobies and other small fish now inhabit the wreck.
The site is rated as intermediate difficulty for scuba diving and is inaccessible by paddle vessels.
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The North Shore Tug
The North Shore Tug is the furthest off shore of the five wrecks closest to Lansing. The steam-propelled tugboat was built in 1931 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by the Burger Boat Co. The name came from its first route, along Chicago’s North Shore.
Over its life, the North Shore Tug had several owners and it’s still unknown why and when it sank. The vessel now sits about 145 feet deep in Lake Michigan.
The site is rated as an advanced difficulty for scuba divers and isn’t accessible by paddle vessels.
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The ‘Fire Boat’
The state’s shipwreck database has little information about this “unnamed fireboat” that sits about 75 feet underwater off the shore from Saugatuck. It’s not known when or why it sank, or when it was built.
The site is rated as an intermediate scuba difficulty and isn’t accessible by paddle vessels.
Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at mjmencarini@lsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Shipwrecks aren’t just Up North. 5 shipwrecks in Michigan waters close to Lansing
Reporting by Matt Mencarini, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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