Bay State Shipwreck Discovered – One Of The Earliest Propeller-Driven Steamships To Sail The Great Lakes Found


The Bay State shipwreck has been discovered. The wreckage of one of the earliest propeller-driven steamships was found in Lake Ontario. The ship had sunk over 150 years ago due to bad weather, and claimed the lives of all those on board the ill-fated steamer.

A team of New York-based shipwreck hunters have confirmed they discovered the wreck site of Bay State steamship. The shipwreck is embedded in water hundreds of feet deep, about seven miles off Fair Haven in central New York, 155 miles west of Albany, reported ABC News. Bay State sank in 1862 due to extremely bad weather. The ship is believed to have been ferrying general cargo, and sketchy records indicate it had 16 men on board, none of whom survived the sinking.

The discovery of the shipwreck is attributed to Jim Kennard and Roger Pawlowski, who are, without doubt, two of the most accomplished shipwreck hunters in the country. The duo and their skilled crew have managed to hunt and identify many sunken ships in the Great Lakes using state-of-the-art equipment.

The Bay State was built in Buffalo in 1852 and merely a decade into service, sank to the bottom of Lake Ontario, reported the Democrat and Chronicle. However, before sinking, it was regarded as one of the finest examples of craftsmanship and marine engineering. In fact, Bay State is considered to be one of the earliest examples of ships to ply on the Great Lakes that were driven by propellers powered by steam generated by huge wood-fired or coal-fired boilers. The ship made regular trips delivering cargo and was on it one of its mundane voyages from Oswego to Ohio on November 4, 1862, with its cargo-hold full of general merchandise, when the tragedy happened.

Shortly after leaving the port, the Bay State faced terrible weather. Lake Ontario, which can be daunting, doesn’t have any unpredictable weather, but the storm has been noted as one of the fiercest. The location and position of the shipwreck suggests Bay State’s captain decided to turn back to Oswego. However, the force of the storm was too much, and it seems it tore the ship apart and sank it. The storm was the undoing of the ship, said Kennard, who, along with Pawlowski, has been searching for shipwrecks since 1970.

Bay State Shipwreck
The Bay State Shipwreck (YouTube Screen Grab)

Since the wreck is in deep waters, experts suggest the ship may have not have lasted long in the storm and didn’t have much time to take evasive measures. Moreover, in the days following the storm, an empty lifeboat, parts of the wreckage, and a lot of packages from the ship’s cargo have been recorded to drift ashore near Fair Haven, added Kennard.

“Cargo and debris from the wreck washed up along Lake Ontario’s southern shore around Oswego, giving shoreline residents a windfall. It was like opening the store for you for free. They’d come down to the beach and cart this stuff away for free.”

However, there were no signs of survivors. Though the exact number of people on board isn’t available, anecdotal evidence suggests the Bay State had a crew of 7 or 9 men and may have been ferrying seven passengers apart from the cargo.

Since the Bay State shipwreck has been classified as non-military, it belongs to New York State, and the local law doesn’t allow the salvaging of items from historic wrecks, reported MSN. However, the shipwreck hunters are hopeful the state will allow access to the site for photographing whatever remains of the steam engine that is undoubtedly one of the finest examples of engineering of the 19th century.

Lake Ontario is home to many shipwrecks, and the duo plans to keep looking for more such pieces of history like the Bay State shipwreck.

[Photo by Alpena County Library via the Democrat and Chronicle]

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