A marine archaeology survey of the SS Erie Belle shipwreck in Lake Huron is due to take place this summer.
The Township of Huron-Kinloss says volunteers with the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee will be doing a licensed marine archaeological survey of the wreck site.
The Erie Belle was a steam tug that exploded in Lake Huron on November 21st, 1883. It was working as a salvage tug, trying to free the grounded schooner, J.N. Carter, south of Kincardine during a November storm, when its boiler exploded. Four of the 12 men on the ship died. Huron-Kinloss says, “Although boiler explosions were uncommon, they were a known risk and were responsible for several shipwrecks on the Great Lakes during the era of steam navigation.”
The boiler washed ashore on what was later named Boiler Beach and has been a landmark since then.
The Township says, “Relatively little is known about the remainder of the wreck, and the details of the boiler as an artifact have never been formally recorded. Local divers have reported items of wreckage offshore over several years and have provided valuable assistance in planning this project.”
The township says, “The survey will help document and better understand an important part of local marine history before natural conditions and time further affect the site. No artifacts will be recovered or removed as part of this work.”
Archaeologists, divers and historians, will document and record remains of the site, including detailed measurements of the boiler as its details have never been formally recorded.
The results will go into a formal archaeological report for the Province and will serve as a baseline for assessing any future changes to the wreck site and its artifacts.
Huron Kinloss says, the project involves protected underwater archaeological resources governed by provincial legislation. Conditions include not publicly disclosing the locations of underwater archaeological remains to protect the integrity of the site.