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Technical Dive - Day Trip - Hennepin
Dates: July 20th and September 7th
The story of the sinking of the Hennepin is an often-overlooked tale of loss on the Great Lakes. While the vessel had reached a sorry state of repair after nearly 40 years of plying the Great Lakes, her useful life came to an end without a loss of life.
She was built in 1888 as the wood-hulled steamer, 208 feet long, beasm of 35.1 feet wide.
On August 18, 1927, while under tow by the Lotus and while returning to Grand Haven from another uneventful trip to Chicago to unload a cargo of gravel, the Hennepin's end came.
Leaving early in the morning on the 18th, the Hennepin would have reached mid-lake when she ran into a squall caused by a stiff "Norwester" at about 10:30AM. The old vessel had sprung a leak. The crew worked for four hours before abandoning the vessel for the safety of the tug at 2:30PM. The Hennepin stayed afloat another four hours before finally slipping beneath the waves at about 6PM.
Captain Ole Hansen and his crew of 13 all lived to tell the tale. Captain Hanson was quoted as saying, "She died a hard death."
COST:
$125
Package Includes:
1-tank boat charter
$125
Package Includes:
1-tank boat charter
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