Groups Identify Wreck Found Near Site of Diver's Death

Shipwreck hunters on Lake Erie have put a name to a wreck—and it's one tied to their own loss. The National Museum of the Great Lakes and Cleveland Underwater Explorers announced Wednesday that a sunken three-masted stone carrier found off Ohio has been identified as the Clough, a sailing vessel built in 1867 that went down just a year later while hauling stone on Sept. 15, 1868. Photos show the 125-foot ship's wheel and hull still intact on the lake bottom, now coated in underwater growth, CBS News reports.

The work to confirm the wreck's identity was underway when the founder of the nonprofit Cleveland Underwater Explorers, David VanZandt, 70, died in a June 2024 diving accident at the site. The groups said they pressed on "with care, accuracy, and respect," calling the confirmation both a historical milestone and a continuation of VanZandt's legacy. Teams mapped the wreck, revisited the site multiple times, and dug into archival records before making the call, per CBS. A small exhibit at the National Museum of the Great Lakes, running through mid-April, will walk visitors through the Clough's story and how the identification came together.

This is the third such discovery announced in a week, per the Detroit News. The discovery of the Lac La Belle, a luxury passenger steamer that sank in 1872 in Lake Michigan, was announced on Friday. On Tuesday, Underwater Research Associates, a group of volunteer divers, historians and shipwreck hunters, announced it had found the James Carruthers in May. The freighter went down in Lake Huron in 1913, per the News.