page_title: SS Choctaw
section_title: Discovery
hierarchical_section_title: SS Choctaw / Choctaw wreck / Discovery
caption_attribution_description: English: The steamer Ohio before she sank
context_page_description: SS Choctaw was a semi-whaleback freighter built by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company in 1892. She was a monitor vessel that was designed to evade Alexander McDougall's patent on the whaleback vessel design. She sank on July 11, 1915, on Lake Huron after a collision with the Canadian package freighter Wahcondah. For more than 100 years the location of Choctaw's wreck remained unknown until she was discovered perfectly preserved and on her side on May 23, 2017, in about 300 feet of water.
context_section_description: On May 23, 2017 researchers from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary discovered two shipwrecks deep within the waters of Lake Huron, off the coast of Presque Isle, Michigan. The researchers carried out several investigations between June and August; these investigations confirmed the identities of the early wooden hulled freighter Ohio and Choctaw. Ohio was lost on September 26, 1894 when she collided with the schooner Ironton. Both wrecks are in a place known as "Shipwreck Alley", which is a 448-square-mile area of the Lake Huron shoreline which holds an estimated 200 shipwrecks. The US Federal Government named the area the nation's first National Freshwater Marine Sanctuary in 2000.
  Since the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary did not announce their discovery until September 1, 2017, avocational shipwreck hunters continued to search for Choctaw. On August 13, 2017 independent researcher Dan Fountain found Choctaw using a modified fishfinder. On August 20 he returned to the site with veteran shipwreck hunters Ken Merryman and Jerry Eliason to survey the wreck with Eliason's homemade hi-definition drop video system, positively identifying the wreck as Choctaw.
  "These remarkable discoveries remind us that the mystery is still out there—there are still shipwrecks to find, our team is excited to further document Ohio and Choctaw, and tell their stories. We'll keep looking for other wrecks and working to ensure that these treasures are preserved for future generations."
  — Jeff Gray, the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary's superintendent.
  "Ohio and Choctaw are remarkable examples of two very significant Great Lakes watercraft, and both are beautifully preserved," virtually all of their rigging and deck hardware is intact, and there is clear evidence of the accidents that claimed both vessels. Talk about keeping history alive!"
  — Charles Patrick Labadie, a maritime historian.
  "These discoveries are a valuable addition to our Great Lakes maritime history, even at their great depth, non-divers and divers alike can learn more about the shipwrecks' stories through sanctuary efforts to document and preserve the sites."
  — Steve Kroll, sanctuary Advisory Council member.
caption: Ohio
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