Century-Old Shipwreck Found in Superior

[unhappycamper]

This photo provided by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society shows the Cyprus, an ore freighter ship, on her maiden voyage, that sank in Lake Superior in 1907. Shipwreck explorers have discovered the century-old gravesite of the Cyprus, an ore carrier that sank mysteriously during a Lake Superior storm less than two months after it was launched. All but one of 23 crew members died in the Oct. 11, 1907, disaster. (AP Photo/Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society)


Century-Old Shipwreck Found in Superior
By JOHN FLESHER
Associated Press Writer


TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Explorers have discovered a century-old shipwrecked ore carrier that sank mysteriously during a Lake Superior storm less than two months after it was launched.

All but one of the Cyprus' 23 crew members died in the Oct. 11, 1907, disaster. A team with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society found the wreckage last month about 460 feet beneath the surface and planned to announce the discovery Monday, said Tom Farnquist, the group's executive director.

The Great Lakes are littered with thousands of shipwrecks. But the Cyprus is among the more puzzling — especially because it foundered on just its second voyage, while hauling iron ore from Superior, Wis., to Buffalo, N.Y.

The 420-foot-long ship is about eight miles north of Deer Park, a village in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula, where lone survivor Charles G. Pitz stumbled ashore after floating aboard a life raft for nearly seven hours. He died in 1961, following a long career as a mariner.

Pitz's great-niece, Ann Sanborn, said she hoped the discovery would lead to an explanation of the Cyprus' fate.

"The people who died on that vessel deserve that the truth be brought out, whatever that truth is," said Sanborn, a former sailor. She is now an associate professor in the marine transportation department of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.


Rest of article at: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Cyprus_Shipwreck.html

[phantom power]

1. Superior, they say, never gives up her dead / When the gales of November come early

[InvisibleTouch]

2. Thought of that song too when I saw the headline. n/t

[dipsydoodle]

3. Here's one quite considerably older

Viking ship 'buried beneath pub'

The vessel is believed to lie beneath 6ft to 10ft (2m to 3m) of clay by the Railway Inn in Meols, Wirral, where Vikings are known to have settled.

Experts believe the ship could be one of Britain's most significant archaeological finds.
>
"Although we still don't know what sort of vessel it is, it's very old for sure and its Nordic clinker design, position and location suggests it may be a transport vessel from the Viking settlement period if not long afterwards.



Vikings are known to have settled on the Wirral

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/6986986.stm

[Sequoia]

4. Wouldn't it be cool if the pub was haunted?!

Here you are sitting at the bar and suddenly there's a Viking dude sitting next to you.

[dipsydoodle]

5. The headline cracked me up anyway

:rofl:

[phantom power]

6. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!

Shut up, bloody viking ghosts!