GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A shipwreck diver believes he discovered a cluster of missing ship remains from the 1850s.
Ross Richardson, a diver originally from Grand Rapids who now living near Traverse City, said he dives and films his expeditions solo. He shared video he filmed of his latest discoverythis August: five wreck sites Richardson uncovered in northern Lake Michigan around the small island of Skillagalee.
“We call them underwater haunted houses, because there’s kind of a spooky feeling: there are huge wood timbers, and you know they’re over 100-years-old, it’s like going back in time,” said Richardson.”
Richardson’s discoveries rest in the shallow waters between Beaver Island and Cross Village on shore; an area he said he had his eyes and sonar on for years. He decided to dive for three days in August while recovering from recent knee surgery, to stake out large objects Richardson spotted on his sonar.
“You can’t really tell from sonar, I thought it was a ship but it could have be fishing nets; there’s a lot of fishing in the area,” said Richardson. “That’s pretty scary as a diver, fishing nets are deadly.”
From the moment he suits up and dives off his boat, until he surfaces about twenty minutes later, Richardson said he is completely focused. In his video, Richardson films himself scanning huge oak planks of ship remains he believes belong to the A. D. Patchin: a 226-foot side-wheel steamer that sank in 1850.
Richardson also said he believes he discovered the remains of the 150-foot brig called Julia Dean, whose captain blamed Beaver Island pirates for sinking the ship in 1855.
Overall, however, Richardson said it is difficult to be any more certain than an educated guess.
“You have to be kind of a detective, because shallow water wrecks are damaged by the wave action and the ice over the years, especially these: these are a pre-Civil War ships, so they`re very, very old,” said Richardson.
After years of volunteering as a member of the Benzie Area Public Safety Dive Team, Richardson said he has helped find missing people, aircraft, and ships. Richardson told FOX 17 that his goal is sharing his adventures.
“Part of discovering something is being able to share it with other people in a way that they can understand,” said Richardson. “(I can) actually take people down on the wreck, maybe people who might not be able to dive due to physical limitations or they just don’t want to invest the time and money.”
One of Richardson’s latest notable discoveries is from 2010, when Richardson said he believes he found the wreck of Westmoreland.
Now Richardson said he is focused on writing and speaking about Michigan Maritime history and shipwrecks throughout the state. For more information on his writing, talks, or to see his diving videos in full, see Richardson’s website, Michigan Mysteries.
