An independent referenceOhio · Pennsylvania · New York · Michigan · Ontario
Lake Erie Gazetteerlakeerie.info

East Breakwall Barge (Cleveland)

Ohio waters

  • Cause unknown
  • Lives lost: Unknown

No public position. General area: Just off Cleveland's eastern breakwall, Ohio.

In August 2009 two Cleveland divers searching off the city's eastern breakwall found a large wooden wreck that no record names. Their survey suggests a heavily built barge about 103 feet long, probably flattened after she sank, with a scatter of small stones that may have been bound for the breakwall.

The story

On August 16, 2009, David VanZandt and Kevin Magee of Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE) were searching off Cleveland's eastern breakwall when they found a large shipwreck. VanZandt dived it that day, and on August 24 the pair returned in calm water with good visibility to photograph, measure and sketch the site, according to their report as published by Ohio Sea Grant.[1] CLUE lists the wreck in about 40 feet of water.[2]

What they found was the lower hull of a big wooden vessel, about 103 feet long and 26 feet wide. Most of it had been flattened, probably, they suggest, because it would have been a hazard to navigation, so little more than the bottom stands a few feet off the sand. The bow, pointing northwest, keeps some structure on the port side and a heavily reinforced centerline timber studded with large metal spikes.[1]

The hull was exceptionally strong, with four longitudinal stringers on each side of the keelson and frames only about two feet apart. A triangular metal plate with a line chock, probably from the bow, suggests she was towed, which is why the divers tentatively call her a barge. A narrow slot about 22 feet long along the centerline puzzled them: it is too small to be a normal centerboard box, and its purpose is unknown.[1]

A trail of wood and small stones runs off behind the square stern. The team concluded that she was probably a wooden barge carrying small stone, possibly for work on the breakwall itself. Her name, age and the date of her loss are unknown, and the finders hoped further research and survey would reveal more.[1]

Lives lost: Unknown.

Questions people ask

What is the East Breakwall Barge?

An unidentified wooden wreck about 103 feet long found off Cleveland's eastern breakwall in 2009 by Cleveland Underwater Explorers. Its features suggest a towed barge.

How deep is the East Breakwall Barge?

Cleveland Underwater Explorers list it in about 40 feet of water off Cleveland's eastern breakwall.

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.[3][4][5]
  • 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.[6]

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.

Nearby lighthouses

Nearby shipwrecks

Nearby · Sponsored

Run a heritage-tourism business near East Breakwall Barge (Cleveland)? Sponsor this page: $79/year. Sponsor this page

Sources

  1. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: East Breakwall Barge, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  2. Welcome to Cleveland Underwater Explorers, Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE). Accessed .
  3. 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 .
  4. 43 U.S. Code 2101 - Findings (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  5. 43 U.S. Code 2102 - Definitions (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  6. Ohio Revised Code 1506.32 - Application for salvage permit for submerged watercraft or aircraft, Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Accessed .

Page checked . Spotted an error? Send a correction.