Deep Diver Discovers Historic Sunken Ship In Lake Huron

CANTON, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - It's a nautical mystery solved. A whaleback ship believed to have sunk in Lake Huron nearly a century ago has been discovered.

WZZM-TV reports that deep diver David Trotter, author and owner of Undersea Research Associates, found the S.S. Clifton in September 2016 after beginning his search three decades ago.

While carrying a load of crushed stone from Sturgeon Bay to Detroit on the night of September 21-22, 1924, the vessel was caught in a gale and foundered off Thunder Bay Island in Lake Huron with the loss of her entire crew of 25.

"Of the remaining shipwrecks left to find in the Great Lakes, the Clifton would easily be number one," Trotter said.

Trotter says the ship was located about 100 miles south of where several shipwreck hunters believed the Clifton went down. The exact cause of her sinking was never determined, and her final resting place at the bottom of Lake Huron remained a mystery until now.

Trotter said  he didn't immediately announce the discovery because he wanted his dive team to further investigate and document the ship this summer.

He wants to understand what happened to the ship in its final moments that caused it to sink. Divers haven't been able to find a reason for the sinking from a mechanical standpoint.

Trotter plans to continue venturing out to the site for more documentation.

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