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Christopher Thuss Went Fishing And Accidentally Found The Wreckage Of The Tugboat JC Ames, Sunk In 1923.
On an ordinary Tuesday night, American Christopher Thuss went fishing on Lake Michigan, near the shore of Manitowoc, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
What seemed like just another fishing trip turned into a historical discovery: a 102-year-old shipwreck.
Unexpected Discovery On The Sonar
While cruising calmly, Thuss noticed something different on the sonar of his boat. The image was strange, and he decided to get closer.
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“At first, I didn’t know exactly what I was seeing,” he told WGBA-TV. “I turned that way and the whole ship was right there.”
Unintentionally, he had found the wreckage of the JC Ames, a 50-meter-long tugboat.
The vessel was only 3 meters below the surface of the lake, according to a statement from the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Confirmation Of The Ship’s Identity
The discovery was quickly analyzed by experts.
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist from the Wisconsin Historical Society, and Brendon Baillod, president of the State Association of Underwater Archaeology, teamed up to confirm that it was indeed the JC Ames.
“This kind of discovery is always very exciting because it allows a piece of lost history to resurface,” Thomsen stated.
According to her, the ship had been submerged for over a century and only reappeared by chance.
Experts believe that winter storms may have stirred up the sand and revealed the wreckage.
The fact that the structure was almost devoid of quagga mussels — common invasive mollusks in such cases — supports this theory.
Family Legacy Of Discoveries
The discovery had a special significance for Thuss.
His adoptive grandmother, nicknamed “Suzze The Wreck Finder,” became known for locating various shipwrecks, including three in three days, in 2015.
Therefore, Thuss’s first phone call was to his father, who shared the news with Suzze.
“It’s very special that I am the first person to see this boat since it was last seen,” Thuss told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
History Of The JC Ames
The JC Ames was built in Manitowoc in 1881 by the Rand & Burger company.
At the time, it was called JC Perrett and cost US$ 50 thousand to build — a value that would exceed US$ 1 million today, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
According to the book Green Bay Workhorses: The Nau Tug Line, published in 1990, the ship was “one of the largest and most powerful tugs on the lakes.” Its compound engine generated 670 horsepower.
Initially, it was used in the lumber trade and had the capacity to tow up to five barges to port.
In 1889, the tugboat suffered damage after a collision with the steam barge MT Greene, but it was repaired.
Changes Of Ownership And New Uses
In 1895, the vessel was sold to the Lake Michigan Car Ferry Transportation Company. The company used it to transport railroad barges between Chicago and Peshtigo, Wisconsin.
During this period, the tugboat received new boilers and was renamed JC Ames.
In 1908, it was purchased by the Nau Tug Line. Its main function was to tow barges loaded with wood for pulp between the ports of Lake Superior and Green Bay.
Ten years later, it was sold again, this time to the Newaygo Tug Line, based in Appleton.
Over time, the ship became obsolete. In 1923, the JC Ames was dismantled in Manitowoc. The engine and boiler were removed, and the structure was towed out of the harbor, burned, and abandoned.
According to Thomsen, this was the common procedure at the time for disposing of old vessels.
Burning ships even became entertainment for the residents of the Great Lakes region.
Historians believe that more than a dozen ships sank in the same area where the JC Ames was discovered. However, only a few of them have been located to date.
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