Barge 129 finally found in Lake Superior

[Minmus Taster]

This fella is a big deal locally as she was one of the most searched for vessels in lake superior!

Barge 129 was an unusual ship, it belonged to an unconventional class of vessels called "whalebacks" they were unusually rounded and sat low in the water, the design was native to the great lakes but some ships were sent out to work on the ocean, like the City of Everett which was the first US steamship to pass through the Suez Canal.

129 was a barge which meant she had to be towed by another freighter, in this case the Maunaloa, almost 120 years ago to the day she was hauling Iron ore across lake superior when the ships ran into a storm which snapped the tow line.

The Maunaloa tried to turn back around but the heavy sea's forced the ships together, the Maunaloa's port anchor ripped into 129's starboard side, sinking was inevitable so the crew abandoned the ship and were picked up by the Maunaloa.

Whalebacks are now an extinct class of ship with only one surviving today, the SS Meteor tanker in Duluth, the whalebacks that sank in the great lakes have mostly been found and 129 until recently was one of the last one's to remain unfound, it was considered one of the most searched for ships on the great lakes, and just days ago the discovery was announced:

The ship is lying just under 200 meters under water around 35 miles off Vermillion Point, the vessel is badly broken up and is in in several large pieces and thousands of smaller ones on the lake bottom, it is now thought that the Iron ore the ship was carrying ripped it apart when it slammed into the lake bed.

Wreck Pics:

Spoiler

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Minmus Taster