Milwaukee "Mystery Schooner" Identified

[john j]

In 1981 a fisherman snagged his net on something in Lake Michigan, about 8 miles east of Milwaukee.  Local diver Jerry Guyer soon did a dive and reported a shipwreck had been found.  John Steele dove the site 3 years later and said that it appeared to be a schooner.  Visibility was poor back then and the divers were using air, so it was difficult for them to get a detailed look.  It was therefore named the “Mystery Schooner” and was never identified.  I am told that no divers are known to have visited the site since John Steele was there in 1984.

Recently, Captain Jitka Hanakova (of Shipwreck Explorers) asked me if I would be interested in getting some video of the site and I eagerly agreed to do so.  On 5 September, 2009 she took Tracy X. and I to the site on a beautiful, warm and calm day.  We dropped a hook near what appeared on the sonar screen to be wreckage.  Tracy went in and upon surfacing, reported that there was a good sized wreck down there, but it was a motor vessel, not a schooner.  The mystery deepened.  Jitka and I dove next and I ran the camera.  Upon viewing the video footage, Brendon Baillod positively identified the wreck as the M.H. Stuart, a steamer that was scuttled in 1948.

So, I am happy to report that there is a “new” dive site for Lake Michigan divers!  I don’t have the coordinates and I don’t know if they will be posted or not, but I do know that Jitka plans to run charters to the site and other charters  may also in the future.  The depth is slightly under 200 feet at the bottom and the wreck is 105 x 26 feet.  There is no cabin structure and the bow and stern have some fire damage.  No machinery is left except for the screw and rudder.

I want to express my thanks to Jitka for asking  me to be involved in this project and also say nice job to Brendon for his work in figuring out what ship this is.  The story of the Stuart is very interesting and Brendon will be publishing an article about it this fall,  so keep an eye out for that.

I have posted the video on youtube at the link below.  Enjoy!