Great Lakes: Shipwrecks and Wrecks Frozen in the Ice of Lake Huron
At the heart of the North American Great Lakes, Lake Huron hides among its depths unique remnants of maritime history. Ice, storms, and repeated shipwrecks have left a true shipwreck trail, an underwater museum preserved. Today, these sunken vessels fascinate divers and history enthusiasts with their surprising state of preservation and the dramas they narrate.
The Last Voyage of the Cornelia B. Windiate
On November 22, 1875, the schooner Cornelia B. Windiate arrives in Chicago, covered in ice. Like other ships that have faced a terrible blizzard on Lake Michigan, the crew is exhausted from the cold, the deck covered with 20 cm of frozen crystals. For many, it is the end of a perilous sailing season, as ice already begins to doom the Great Lakes for the winter.
But the Windiate is offered one last lucrative mission: to transport wheat from Milwaukee to Buffalo at an exceptionally high rate. Attracted by the remuneration, Captain Alexander Mackey and eight crew members set out on November 25, their schooner so loaded that the waterline barely touches the water.
Ignoring a forecasted storm, they pass through the Straits of Mackinac and venture onto Lake Huron. But the extreme cold and ice will be their downfall.
List: Last Moments of the Windiate
- Departure date: November 25, 1875 (Milwaukee) – Destination: Buffalo
- Cargo: 21,000 bushels of wheat
- Crew: 9 people
- Extreme conditions: snow, ice, temperatures around -17 °C
- Shipwreck confirmed after the official end of the season, mid-December 1875
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