Type: Shipwreck (schooner)
Build: Wood
Location: Lake Erie, southwest of Point Pelee
Nearest municipality:
Depth: 40 feet (13 meters)
Visibility: 20+ feet (7 metres)
Approximate length: ( metres)
Built: 1871
Sunk: 1905
Access: Boat
Level: Novice
The large wooden schooner, Tasmania, originally named the James Couch when
she was launched on April 22, 1871, at Port Huron, Michigan foundered on
October 20, 1905. All 8 people on board perished. Considered a menace to
navigation the Tasmania was dynamited on July 13, 1906.
The Tasmania's large timbers remains and iron ore cargo are scattered on
a sand and rock bottom. The site offers many mounds of iron ore, part of
the original cargo, as well as a small donkey boiler used for cargo
handling. One of the most impressive sites on this wreck was the two
enormous wooden stock anchors; some Ohio area divers stole one. Since
then, it has been returned by U.S. Custom's agents and is now back on
the ship with the help of S.O.S. Windsor.
