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Mecosta

41.53° N, 81.88° W (rounded) · Ohio waters · lost 1922

  • Foundered
  • Lives lost: None recorded

41.53° N, 81.88° W · Rounded; not a dive position. Source: Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Mecosta.[2]

Built in 1888 at West Bay City, Michigan, the 282-foot wooden steamer Mecosta was converted to carry new automobiles in 1919 and reportedly reduced to a barge in her final year. She foundered under tow off Rocky River, Ohio, in October 1922. No one was lost.

The story

The Mecosta was built in 1888 by F.W. Wheeler & Company at West Bay City, Michigan, a wooden propeller steamer about 282 feet long and 40 feet wide, first enrolled at Detroit that April.[1] Ohio Sea Grant lists her owner as the General Transit Company.[2]

She was launched as a bulk freighter. In 1919, according to a vessel history quoted by Ohio Sea Grant, she was converted at Ecorse, Michigan, into a combination bulk freighter and automobile carrier, with a small elevator amidships to lower new cars into the hold and lift them out again.[2] The vessel record at Bowling Green State University notes that she was reportedly reduced to a barge in 1922.[1]

On October 29, 1922, the Mecosta was being towed by the steamer Thomas Maytham from Lorain toward Cleveland when she foundered about six miles northwest of Rocky River and ten miles from the Cleveland piers. No lives were lost.[1] Wikipedia's list of Great Lakes shipwrecks also records that she foundered under tow near Rocky River.[3]

The wreck lies in about 48 feet of water, according to Ohio Sea Grant, which lists her among the wrecks of its Cleveland trail region.[2,4] The HCGL record gives her final position as west by half north, ten miles from the Cleveland piers.[1]

Questions people ask

How did the Mecosta sink?

She foundered on October 29, 1922, while being towed from Lorain toward Cleveland by the steamer Thomas Maytham, about six miles northwest of Rocky River, Ohio. No one died.

Did the Mecosta carry cars?

Yes. Ohio Sea Grant reports she was converted in 1919 into a combination bulk freighter and automobile carrier, with an elevator amidships to move new cars.

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.[5][6][7]
  • 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.[8]

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: MECOSTA, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  2. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Mecosta, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  3. List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie section), Wikipedia. Accessed .
  4. Shipwrecks and Maritime Tales of Lake Erie Shipwrecks - an Ohio Sea Grant website, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  5. 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 .
  6. 43 U.S. Code 2101 - Findings (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  7. 43 U.S. Code 2102 - Definitions (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  8. Ohio Revised Code 1506.32 - Application for salvage permit for submerged watercraft or aircraft, Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Accessed .

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