Divers have discovered the site of a sunken ship near Colpoy’s Bay, Ont., an inlet off Georgian Bay, at least 136 years after the steamer sank during a winter storm.
Great Lakes shipwreck diver and Minnesota resident Ken Merryman, along with his crew, set out to find the vessel, known as the Jane Miller, on a warm day in July.
The 23-metre-long steamer is believed to have left from Big Bay, Ont., during a snow storm on Nov. 25, 1881.
Between 25 and 30 people were aboard the Jane Miller when it went under. The site of the wreck remained undiscovered until now.
It took Merryman and his team several trips across the bay before they found the site.
“Truthfully, we found it on the third pass going back and forth in the bay, in the general area where it supposedly sank,” Merryman told CTV London.
He added that the ship was sitting upright at the bottom of the Bay “in reasonably good shape,” and the remains were encrusted with quagga mussels, a species of freshwater mussels.
The fate of the Jane Miller is now in the hands of the federal government -- but Merryman said he hopes the discovery gets the recognition it deserves.
“We are the ones who kind of keep the stories alive,” Merryman said.
“You’ve found the shipwreck and now everybody knows about the Jane Miller story. I think there’s a value in that in our culture.”
With a report from CTV London’s Scott Miller
