The lost ships of Lake Superior

Meet the group that discovers, preserves and shares the lake's lost shipwrecks. 
Photos by Anthony Souffle
September 24, 2019 — 9:33am

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Split Rock Lighthouse could be seen from the dive boat as the site of the Madeira shipwreck sits just north of it.

Anthony Souffle

Corey Daniel, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Duluth, drove the group's boat the RV Preservation from the Silver Bay Marina out to the site of the Madeira shipwreck near Split Rock Lighthouse.

Anthony Souffle

Corey Daniel, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Duluth, pointed out the Hesper shipwreck's image on the sonar aboard the group's boat the RV Preservation as they drove above it.

Anthony Souffle

Corey Daniel, right, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Duluth, talked with fellow diver Jim Christenson as a group of kayakers passed by as Daniel prepared to dive the Madeira shipwreck near Split Rock Lighthouse.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, splashed into the water after making a giant stride entry from the group's boat the RV Preservation to dive the Hesper.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, cleared his mask as he followed the decent line down to the Hesper.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, swam among the remains of the Hesper.

Anthony Souffle

Jim Christenson a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Columbia Heights, emerged from the swim-through on the Madeira, a schooner barge that sank in Lake Superior on November 28, 1905, during a project dive.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, examined the keel on the Hesper.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, pulled out broken pieces of a plate from the Hesper.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, swam over the massive rudder from the Hesper.

Anthony Souffle

Jim Christenson a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Columbia Heights, explored the stern winch on the Madeira, a schooner barge that sank in Lake Superior on November 28, 1905, during a project dive.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, peered through a hawse hole on the Madeira.

Anthony Souffle

Jim Christenson a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Columbia Heights, looked up the decent line leading from a mooring buoy to the stern winch on the Madeira, a schooner barge that sank in Lake Superior on November 28, 1905, during a project dive.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, pointed toward the underwater direction of the decent line below the mooring buoy on the Madeira.

Anthony Souffle

Jack Decker, a diver with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society from Clear Lake, Iowa, pulled off his drysuit on the group's boat the RV Preservation after diving the Hesper.

Anthony Souffle

Top: Kraig Smith aboard the Deep See. Bottom: camera images of the Hudson shipwreck. (Jenna Ross/Courtesy Kraig Smith)

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