Publicizing a New Found Shipwreck

I’m frequently asked why we do a national press release when we find a new Great Lakes shipwreck. It may seem somewhat self-aggrandizing, but there is a very tangible reason we publicize our finds.

It stems from a belief I’ve long held that 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 historical sites are the most vulnerable to theft, damage and a general lack of local appreciation. A case in point is the story of Wisconsin’s oldest shipwreck, the fur trading schooner Gallinipper, which was lost off Sheboygan in 1851. She was located by commercial fishermen in 1994, but she was kept secret as a private playground for a small handful of divers and no work was done to identify her or tell her story. In the ensuring years, divers cut the ornate figurehead off the wreck as a trophy and stole her wheel from its mount. Neither of these artifacts have ever been seen again. It took almost ten years before the wreck was identified as the most historic shipwreck in Wisconsin waters and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Had the ship been identified and her story told, it is highly unlikely that divers would have taken these artifacts, but as an old anonymous schooner, they felt little compunction about cutting artifacts off as dive trophies.

When we find a new wreck, we have a “magic window” of about two weeks to bring the ship’s story to a large audience, tell its story, and establish its historical significance to the public. After this, interest quickly wanes and the opportunity for large-scale education diminishes.

Telling the story to a broad audience helps accomplish a few important goals. First, it establishes the historical importance of the site and puts a name on the ship. It allows us to humanize its story by relating its final moments and giving the background of its captain, owner, home port and cargo. It also allows us to put the ship’s story in its historical and regional context by relating why it was built and what trades in ran in. Second, it allows us to tell the story of the Great Lakes role in building America to a larger audience. Many people are unaware that the Lakes hold thousands of shipwrecks and few know how important the Lakes were in the industrialization of America.

Most importantly, however, it allows us to educate the local community about the site and helps them incorporate it into their historical narrative. When a shipwreck site becomes part of the story of a nearby port city, it becomes tourist destination, not just for divers but also for paddle boarders, kayakers and shore visitors who might find an interpretive sign or purchase a maritime history book.

For nearly every nationally publicized find that we’ve made, we’ve been contacted by descendants of the captain, owners or crew who would never have known about a fascinating aspect of their family story if we hadn’t publicized the find. These descendants are eager to learn about their ancestor, but also often provide fascinating family oral history concerning the shipwreck and their ancestor.

In Wisconsin, most of our wrecks are nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, which helps establish the historical significance of each, but bringing the story of the ship and its discovery to a national or international audience, even for a few weeks, does a great deal to ensure that the local community is aware of and appreciates their new public history resource. This greatly reduces the vulnerability of the site to impacts, intentional or otherwise, and brings the story of the ship, her crew and her career back to life.

Story Submitted by Brendon Baillod

Brendon Baillod is President of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association.