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Adventure

41.62° N, 82.68° W (rounded) · Ohio waters · lost 1903

  • Fire
  • Lives lost: None recorded

41.62° N, 82.68° W · Rounded; not a dive position. Source: Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Adventure.[2]

The little steamer Adventure caught fire while loading barrels of lime at a Kelleys Island dock in October 1903 and was towed burning into North Bay, where she sank in shallow water. Her remains, now an Ohio archaeological site, show how the island's lime trade worked.

The story

The Adventure began in 1875 as a two-masted schooner built at Detroit by John Oades.[1] In her later years she was rebuilt and, in 1903, converted to steam at Sandusky, becoming a small propeller freighter for the busy limestone and lime trade of the Lake Erie islands.[1,2] She had already survived a grounding on Chickenolee Reef in 1895.[1]

On October 6, 1903, she sailed from Sandusky to Kelleys Island, and the next day she loaded a cargo of burned limestone in wooden barrels at the lime company's dock in North Bay. Fire broke out aboard; Ohio Sea Grant says it may have started near the boiler or in the wet lime cargo itself, and it spread fast. The captain, his wife and young daughter and the crew escaped, losing all their belongings.[2] A steam tug pulled the burning vessel away from the dock, which saved the wooden pier and a schooner moored nearby. The Adventure burned to the waterline and sank about 200 feet offshore.[2,3]

Because the wreck lay so close to shore, salvagers took her boilers soon afterwards, and other artifacts disappeared over the years. Her 1,600-pound propeller was removed by a dive club in 1964 and spent decades on land before the same club returned it to the site in 1997, an unusual act of restoration.[2]

The remains lie in about 5 to 7 feet of water, depending on lake levels, and are recorded as an Ohio state archaeological site. Burned timbers, planking, the centreboard trunk, a winch, the propeller and pieces of machinery are still there, scattered by waves and ice and coated in mussels.[2] Ohio Sea Grant and the Great Lakes Historical Society produced an underwater guide slate for the site.[2]

Lives lost: The captain, his family and the crew escaped.

Questions people ask

What happened to the Adventure?

She caught fire while loading barrels of lime at a Kelleys Island dock on October 7, 1903, was towed away burning and sank in North Bay. No one died.

How deep is the Adventure wreck?

Very shallow: about 5 to 7 feet, depending on lake levels, according to Ohio Sea Grant.

Learn more

Museums and groups are linked for further reading; they are not connected with this site.

Look, don't take

Look, don't take. Shipwrecks and everything on them are protected by law; removing or disturbing anything can be a crime.

  • United States: under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act (43 U.S.C. § 2105) the U.S. claims title to abandoned shipwrecks embedded in a state's submerged lands, or resting on them and eligible for the National Register, and transfers that title to the state.[4][5][6]
  • Ohio: R.C. 1506.32 requires a permit from the Director of Natural Resources, approved by the Ohio History Connection, to recover, alter, salvage or destroy abandoned property on, in or near a submerged watercraft or aircraft in Lake Erie.[7]

How Lake Erie wrecks are protected

Diving Lake Erie wrecks is dangerous: cold water, poor visibility, depth, entanglement and boat traffic. Nothing here is dive guidance or a dive position. Dive only with proper training, a qualified operator and current information from the groups that maintain moorings.

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Sources

  1. HCGL vessel record: ADVENTURE, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  2. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Adventure, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  3. List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie section), Wikipedia. Accessed .
  4. 43 U.S. Code 2105 - Rights of access (Abandoned Shipwreck Act: title to abandoned shipwrecks), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  5. 43 U.S. Code 2101 - Findings (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  6. 43 U.S. Code 2102 - Definitions (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  7. Ohio Revised Code 1506.32 - Application for salvage permit for submerged watercraft or aircraft, Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Accessed .

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