SHIPWRECK OF THE S.S. FLORIDA

July 20, 2015

Shipwreck of the S.S. Florida

Day 3 in Alpena Michigan and the weather worked out for us pretty well to make a run out to the shipwreck of the S.S. Florida and the Kyle Spangler. These two shipwrecks have a reputation of being some of the most interesting in all of the great lakes as they are in excellent condition where they lay to rest at depth.

Shipwreck of the S.S. Florida

The first shipwreck we visit is the wreck of the Florida. We were told that she is at around 205 to the dirt but we found her bottom to be at 197ft. and the deck was very much so enjoyed at a depth of 176ft. which included visiting her upper deck cabins and wheelhouse.

Shipwreck of the Florida, Presque Isle, Michigan

What's interesting about this wreck, the Windiate, the Norman, and others near by is that they are all in amazing super condition and all have some very interesting history to them. The 271x40x15 wooden steamer sank in May of 1897 in 200ft. of water, taking down a lot of merchandise with her. The George Roby rammed her starboard aft and she sank in 10-12 minutes. Today she is in excellent condition with many artifacts to view ( leave them on the ship) as well as her multi deck cargo holds that can be penetrated. Her engine room is in great condition with the gauges that still read that trouble she found herself in when she sank to the depths where she is resting today.

Shipwreck of the Florida, Presque Isle, Michigan

We all dive into 2-4ft. waves and descend down to a depth of between 176ft to 197ft. The first thing I notice is how massive this wreck is, WOW very in tact and very impressive. we were at around a depth of between 173 and 175 feet on the deck.

Shipwreck of the Florida, Presque Isle, Michigan

We swim down her deck and notice the artifact laying all over the deck and in the holds. There were three decks on this ship so she was quite large in size and plenty of fun swim throughs to enjoy.

Shipwreck of the Florida, Presque Isle, Michigan

We notice the bridge house and the axe under the window to the bridge house so we found a way to enter the tight quarters of the bridge house and ended up turning around since it got a bit tight with this mini dive shop on our persons.

Shipwreck of the Florida, Presque Isle, Michigan

A lot of my pictures came out a bit dark and blurred but I managed to get a few decent shots of the ship which turned out ok.

Shipwreck of the Florida, Presque Isle, Michigan

We swam back and about the time we got to the anchor line we started to make our ascent to the surface without any incident

Shipwreck of the Florida, Presque Isle, Michigan

The water at the surface was around 60 degrees and it dropped to a warm 42 degrees at depth

Shipwreck of the SS Florida

The SS Florida was one of the most amazing wrecks I have ever seen and I can not wait to go back to it and get into some more of the lower holds and in the engine room.

shipwreck of the florida. Photo by Jitka Hanakova of shipwreck explorers.

One of the rooms had the metal and wood slowly decaying and it appeared to look like stalactites on the ceiling as they slowly start to decay and crumble. What an amazing experience.

shipwreck of the florida. Photo by Jitka Hanakova of shipwreck explorers

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU0-KMDRx9w

FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157655724858850

More info on our charter check out Thunder Bay Scuba : www.tbscuba.com

more pictures from Jitka Hanakova click here

More information on the S.S. Florida here: http://thunderbay.noaa.gov/shipwrecks/florida.html

Photo from the thunder bay noaa sanctuary

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