Shipwreck May Be Most Intact, Deepest Ever Found in Lake Michigan

The John V. Moran hadn’t been seen in 116 years until early in June, when divers discovered it in deep waters off the coast of Lake Michigan near Muskegon. (Photo by Michigan State Police)

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The crew of the John V. Moran had a do-or-die decision to make on what by all accounts was a miserable day on ice-caked Lake Michigan on Feb. 9, 1899: Jump ship or go down with the 11-year-old, 214-foot steamer, which was taking on water after the violent crustal movement of ice floes punctured its iron-reinforced hull.

Capt. John McLeod and his 24-man reached the safety of a nearby steamer, the Naomi, after a harrowing walk across the cakes of ice in -30 degree temperatures. But the 214-foot ship was lost, beginning what shipwreck researchers now know was a slow, gentle fall to the lake floor, where it has remained, largely intact, for more than 116 years.

As Lake Michigan shipwrecks go, divers’ discovery of the John V. Moran off the coast near Muskegon in June is a pretty big deal. Maritime history experts say it’s one of the deepest and most intact shipwrecks ever discovered in Lake Michigan and perhaps in any of the Great Lakes.

Of the 2,000 ships believed to have been lost to Lake Michigan, 1,200 may no longer exist because they’ve washed ashore and broken apart. About 360 have been discovered and documented, 15 of them by Michigan Shipwreck Research Association dive tams.

“The John V. Moran has been on our hit list for quite a while,” Craig Rich, the group’s co-director, told WZZM-TV. “We’ve quietly been researching it, and decided this year we’d go out after it.”

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No one knew exactly where the vessel landed after it floundered, so the MSRA divers had to scour a 10-square-mile area where it was last seen. A sonar scan on June 5 revealed a big shipwreck, and the team suspected it might be the Moran.

The ship was resting in 365 feet of water, so the dive team enlisted help from the Michigan State Police Underwater Recovery Team, whose high-tech remote-operated vehicle (ROV) could capture hours of video and wasn’t limited to the 15 minutes human divers can remain under water.

After several minutes of suspense as the ROV was lowered and began exploring the lake floor, images began appearing on a computer screen in the police boat. Appearing before their eyes “was this absolutely pristine, beautiful shipwreck sitting on the bottom,” Rich said.

Rich’s co-director at the MSRA, author and maritime historian Valerie van Heest, said the Moran “may be the most intact shipwreck in the Great Lakes, certainly in Lake Michigan.”

“The rigging that holds the mast up is still in place, and all the railings are intact,” she said. “It looks like it’s sitting at the dock on a dark evening.”

MRSA technical divers will revisit the sunken vessel to document it in greater detail, but ver Heest said that after comparing the ROV video to a historic photo, there’s “no doubt” it’s the Moran.