In the fall of 1829 , a ship had set forth from Put - in - Bay , Ohio , but bomb to accomplish its net destination . Now , researcher consider they have finally found its remains , which would make it the oldest wreck ever recorded in Lake Erie , if their possibility is confirmed .
Remote detector detected the wreckage three years ago , and the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo , Ohio , has been working to key out the ship ever since then , according toThe Bladenewspaper in Toledo . expert believe they have constringe down their hunt from 200 potential shipwrecks to three . The museum is now raising money viaIndiegogoto fund an underwater survey and fond excavation of the ship .
potent grounds suggests that the wreckage belongs to one particular schooner — a sailing vessel with at least two masts — that was built in Cleveland in 1821 . It was named theLake Serpentin reference to a sculpture of a sea serpent on its bowsprit , according to themuseum . In the fall of 1829 , it left from Put - in - Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie , where crew loaded limestone onto the ship . It ’s unsung what happened after that , but we do know that the ship never reached its last destination . Local newspapers reported that the bodies of the captain and other crowd members washed ashore in Lorain County , turn up about 25 miles from Cleveland , the ship ’s intend goal .
It ’s a wonder that the shipwreck was even detected at all . Tom Kowalczk , director of outback sensing for theCleveland Underwater Explorers , which has a partnership with the Toledo museum , nearly write off the wreckage as a “ small , barely noticeable anomaly ” when he first notice it in 2015 .
“ The target was so small it was almost push aside as a natural artefact , ” Kowalczk wrote in a discovery report . “ We were looking for shipwrecks ! Curiosity bring the upper hand and the gravy boat was turned for a 2d look . ”
Museum official trust this determination will break unsung details about the purpose of other 19th - century ships from that region . Shipwreck hunters continue their hunting for another schooner calledLexington , which sank in the 1840s .
[ h / tThe Blade ]
