black and white photo of the choctaw covered in snow — *Choctaw* sank after a collision in dense fog and now rests in more than 250 feet of water. Image courtesy of the Great Lakes Maritime Collection, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library

Finding History

Beneath the waves of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary lies an underwater museum. In this section of Lake Huron, nestled up against the shores of northeastern Michigan, are nearly 100 known shipwrecks. Perhaps another hundred are still lost in "Shipwreck Alley," and in summer 2017, researchers found two of them.

Working with NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research to test new archaeological tools like unmanned aircraft systems and autonomous underwater vehicles and seek lost vessels, researchers located the wrecks of Choctaw and Ohio. Both vessels had been lost for more than a century.

Choctaw

Type: steel semi-whaleback

Launched: 1892 by Cleveland Ship Building Company, Ohio

Length: 267 feet

Beam: 38 feet

Gross tonnage: 1,574 tons

Cargo: coal

Wrecked: July 12, 1915

Ohio

Type: wooden bulk freighter

Launched: 1873 by John F. Squires, Huron, Ohio

Length: 202 feet