Thunder Bay · United States · Wreck · Freshwater
Florida
Three masts still on deck at 63 m
Area photo: NOAA's National Ocean Service · CC BY 2.0
An 82-metre (270-foot) package freighter of 1889 that kept three masts from the sailing era and carried them to the bottom in 1897 after a collision in dense fog off Presque Isle. She lies almost completely intact at 63 m, with the crushed stern opening a cross-section through the ship, and the pilothouse blown clear off the bow as she sank.
Where it is and how deep
45.2963° N, 83.2835° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The descent runs to 63 m, deep enough that there is no useful natural light left and the dive is over almost as soon as it starts. What waits is a nearly whole ship: 82 metres (270 feet) of package freighter with a 12 m beam (40 ft) and all three of her masts still lying along the deck. The bow is upright and intact, though the pilothouse that stood over it is gone — air trapped forward blew it clear off the ship as she went down.
The stern is the exception and the reason many teams go. It was crushed when the ship hit the bottom, and the break exposes a cross-section through the hull that shows how a steam-powered package freighter was put together. Most plans take the deck line to the stern break and turn there. Decompression is the bulk of the dive, and everything on the bottom is protected sanctuary property, down to the debris around the hull.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Florida
- Type
- Package freighter, three-masted
- Length
- 82 m (269 ft)
- Built
- 1889
- Sunk
- 1897
- Cause
- Collided with the George Roby in dense fog off Presque Isle and sank so fast her stern crushed on the bottom
- Lies
- Almost completely intact; stern crushed and open, all three masts along the deck
The Florida was built in 1889 by Robert Mills at Buffalo, New York — an 82 m package freighter (270 ft) with a 12 m beam (40 ft), carrying boxed goods alongside bulk cargo such as wheat and corn. Though steam-powered, she was fully rigged with three masts from the sailing era. Travelling in dense fog off Presque Isle in May 1897 she collided with the George Roby, which cut her nearly in half. She sank so quickly that her stern was crushed on impact with the lake bottom, and air trapped in the bow blew the pilothouse clear off the ship; debris floated on the surface for days. The George Roby rescued her entire crew.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Thunder Bay: The season runs late May to early October, with July and August warmest; the lake is unworkably cold and rough otherwise.
Know before you go
- 63 m in cold fresh water demands trimix, redundant lights and full deco support — narcosis and cold compound quickly at this depth.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Florida wreck in Lake Huron?+
She sits in 63 m — 206 feet — of water inside Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which makes her a trimix dive with substantial staged decompression.
Sources
- Florida — NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary
In The Logbook
- How a rebreather works, and what it buys youGear & kit · 8 min read
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