Editorial by Curt Bowen

Photography by Thaddius Bedford


Heading northwest towards Whitefish Point, the 191- foot vessel Nipigon had two schooners in tow, Melbourne and Delaware. Up ahead, the Vienna was sailing towards her. As the distance between the two vessels closed both captains sounded port-to-port passing signals. All seemed to be going well when suddenly the 626-ton Nipigon veered sharply to port crashing into the Vienna just behind the pilothouse.


The bow of the Nipigon sliced deep into the hull of the Vienna locking the two vessels together. The crew of the Vienna, dazed from the impact, scrambled to the safety of the undamaged Nipigon. Noticing that the two vessels were locked together the captain of the Nipigon attempted to push the Vienna into shallow waters just south of Whitefish Point.  
 
With a shutter the two vessels separated and the Vienna’s bow submerged below the surface. As the vessel’s bow plummeted towards to lake floor, the force of the water rushing over its hull ripped the crews’ cabins free and snapped its mast off at the deck. The bow smashed into the lake floor with such great force that the upper deck was ripped from the hull, splintering the port and star- board sides out like a banana peal. Vienna’s pilothouse was ripped from the deck and fell to the lake floor in front of the wreckage. With the bow firmly anchored, the ship’s deck and many interior braces cracked in half, unable to support the weight of the stern. The Vienna settled quickly to its icy grave, where it would lay undisturbed for over seventy years.


Curator of the Whitefish Point Historical Society Museum, Tom Farnquest, Lake Superior Dive Charter Capt. Mike Zee and Great Lakes shipwreck explorer Thaddius Bedford contacted videographer Rusty Farst and myself to conduct an extensive survey of the Vienna for documentation.  
 
 

Above: Videographer Rusty Farst systematically video surveys the entire wreckage. The footage is used to further study the wreckage for mapping purposes.

Below: Survey diver Curt Bowen surveys the Vienna using a cloth measuring tape and completes hand sketches from the wreckage.  
 
 
The Wreckage lies in 147 feet of freezing, 37-degree Lake Superior water with her deck at 135 feet. The cold alone limited our dive to no more than 45 minutes on the bottom and one hour of decompression. The long decompression was possible due to the late-summer thermocline at 40 feet where the water was almost 60 degrees. The visibility was its normal 15 to 20 feet.


Due to the cold water and limited visibility the survey took five days and 22 dives to complete, totaling 38 1/2 hours of dive time. Air was used as the bottom gas with 100% oxygen for the 20-and 10-foot decompression stops. Argon was used for drysuit inflation. We used standard line survey methods along with hundreds of photos, hours of systematic video and multiple underwater sketches. The information collected gave us an accurate picture of how the vessel sank, locations of key artifacts and structural deformity, and a good idea of the Vienna’s current condition after one hundred and eight years underwater. All the data collected will be used by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum to promote the conservation of our underwater shipwreck heritage located around Whitefish Point and the Great Lakes.


Lake Superior is known for its spontaneous gale force winds, high seas, dense fog and crowded shipping lanes. Every ship moving on Lake Superior has to maneuver past Whitefish Point and over the last hundred and fifty years many have been lost due to rough seas, grounding or accidental collision. Below is a list of some of the more popular wrecks located within a few miles of the point.