Pere Marquette 18 wreck found in Lake Michigan

EWrice · **Joined:** Wed Jan 15, 2014 9:14 am **Posts:** 367

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/09/0 ... igan-wreck

For those that don't know, the Pere Marquette 18 was one of two railroad carferries that sank on Lake Michigan (the other being Grand Trunk's Milwaukee). Pretty good record for boats that ran all year long.

eze240 · **Joined:** Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:29 am **Posts:** 319

The article is interesting....the wreck is something of a rarity among ship wrecks, in that the stern is embedded in the lake bottom and the now rises at near a 45 degree angle.....I can only recall two or three others where the ship came to rest like that...there's a Russian monitor in a river? that ended up verticle and a British predreadnought in the Med that did the same....
My guess would be, since they were trying to dump railcars, they might have shifted too much weight aft...or perhaps the flooding allowed cars to break loose....

Richard Glueck · **Posted:** Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:55 am

Terrific story and find. Another unknown is made known.

EWrice · **Joined:** Wed Jan 15, 2014 9:14 am **Posts:** 367

eze240 wrote:

The article is interesting....the wreck is something of a rarity among ship wrecks, in that the stern is embedded in the lake bottom and the now rises at near a 45 degree angle.....I can only recall two or three others where the ship came to rest like that...there's a Russian monitor in a river? that ended up verticle and a British predreadnought in the Med that did the same....
My guess would be, since they were trying to dump railcars, they might have shifted too much weight aft...or perhaps the flooding allowed cars to break loose....

Since 18 did not have a sea gate, was taking on water aft, and probably had alot of weight from cars shifted aft, the stars were aligning for a stern fist sinking. That and the reports I have read about the trapped air forward that probably kept her bow high as she headed for the bottom.