John V. Moran Shipwreck Found After 116 Years In Amazing Condition [Video]

The historic steamer, John V. Moran, was found on the bottom of Lake Michigan near Muskegon, in near pristine condition. The shipwreck has been a mystery since 1899, but now researchers are able to understand the causes of the incident.

The Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) called it the “most intact shipwreck” in Lake Michigan, and it’s also one of the deepest wrecks ever discovered there. The John V. Moran carries an equally impressive back story.

The heavy iron steamer, about 214 feet long, according to the MSRA, was transporting barreled flour and package goods from Milwaukee to Muskegon when a collision with some ice ruptured a small hole in the hull. The crew tried to keep the ship afloat, dumping the cargo to lighten the load.

Faced with uncertainty in -30 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, the 24-man crew abandoned the ship and started walking on the ice to another nearby steamer, the Naomi, which luckily saw the men’s lanterns. All the men were saved, but the ship, along with its 1,220 tons of cargo, were lost.

About 116 years later, the John V. Moran doesn’t appear to have changed much.

MSRA coordinator Valerie van Heest described when they first came upon the shipwreck.

“It was 3:30 in the morning on June 5 when several of our crew members were asleep. All of the sudden, the boat operator saw something on side-scan, and woke everybody up in the dark of night.”

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the great lakes are littered with an estimated 6,000 shipwrecks, roughly 1,200 to 2,000 of which are underneath Lake Michigan. The U.S. Coast Guard recently released helicopter footage showing how common ship debris is under the water.

Those pictures showed dozens of ships in the shallow water, but the John V. Moran was discovered at 365 feet below, making it one of the deepest shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, according to USA Today.

The crew had to send a ROV from the Michigan State Police to the site.

MSRA co-director Craig Rich said, “There was this absolutely pristine, beautiful shipwreck sitting on the bottom.”

Aside from a wrecked smokestack, some smashed windows, a hole in the stern, and another smaller gash from the ice, the ship was in perfect condition.

The next step will be to send divers down to do more research on the little-known ship.

Valerie van Heest explained, “Only six historic photos of the John V. Moran exist.”

“We know where it is now, and with this time capsule in hand, there is so much more that we can learn from its exploration.”

Some of the ROV video footage from the John V. Moran shipwreck can be seen below.

[Image via MI State Police]