Dean Richmond

Type

Steamer propeller

Built

1864

Size

239 x 35 x 14

Gross tonnage

1083

Net tonnage

1500

Owner

R.k & H.J. Winslow

Captain

George W. Stoddard, of Toledo. His body washed ashore and was the principal physical clue to the loss.

Cargo

Zinc Ingots, flour, meal, oil cake, pig lead, spelter and package freight

Date lost

Sunday, October 15, 1893

Cause of loss

Storm, Foundered

Lives lost

17 of 18 crew plus 3 volunteers who died the 16th while searching for bodies

Depth

95 to 115, depending on the source. Plan for the deeper figure.

Registry

Official number 6102.

PHMC site number

36ER0332 ( http://www.phmc.pa.gov/Preservation/ )

Position 42.30717, -79.93098 (surveyed on site, from the PASST survey, published by 3DShipwrecks.org (42 18.430 N, 079 55.859 W))

Recorded location: 42.30716, -79.93097. Six miles offshore opposite Northeast, Pa

One of the most popular dives in Pennsylvania waters, roughly five to six miles offshore opposite North East. Boat access only. At 95 to 115 feet this is an advanced or technical dive, beyond novice limits. Reported visibility 20 to 60 feet, bottom temperature in the mid 40s Fahrenheit. Several openings allow penetration and experienced divers report swimming the full length of the interior, which is an overhead environment requiring proper training.

Dean Richmond was a wooden twin screw package and passenger propeller built in 1864 at Cleveland, named for the New York Central Railroad magnate. On 14 October 1893 she left Toledo for Buffalo under Captain George W. Stoddard with zinc ingots, pig lead, spelter, flour, meal, oil cake and package freight. She ran into one of the fiercest storms in Great Lakes history. Other steamers, themselves in trouble, saw her east of Erie with a stack carried away, foundering, no crew visible on deck. She went down some time after midnight with all hands. Her wreck stayed lost for ninety years until Garry Kozak, searching since 1972 with side scan sonar, found her in 1983 inverted off North East. The controversy over her salvage helped drive Great Lakes states and Ontario to pass laws prohibiting divers from removing artifacts.

DOCUMENTED: the manifest cargo was industrial metal and general freight, zinc ingots, pig lead, spelter, flour, meal, oil cake and package freight. DOCUMENTED: Garry Kozak spent roughly nine to eleven years searching for her in the hope of salvaging valuable cargo, found her in 1983, recovered zinc bars plainly stamped zinc and far less metal than he had hoped, found no gold, silver or copper, and abandoned the effort. Maritime archaeologist Benjamin Ford put it plainly: people thought it had some sort of treasure, it didn't. LEGEND, UNVERIFIED: from soon after the sinking, rumours circulated that she was secretly carrying gold, silver or copper, and those rumours made her the most sought after lost ship on Lake Erie for a century. There is no documentary support for a precious metals cargo and the 1983 to 1984 salvage found none. A separate unresolved claim: Swayze lists her cargo as including copper and 1500 barrels of whiskey, which appear in no other source consulted. Documented folklore: immediately after the sinking a man named Clark publicly claimed to be a survivor, was quickly exposed as an impostor, and disappeared.

Foundered in large storm which claimed 15 other vessels; 17 of 18 lives lost; bound Toledo to Buffalo. 1898 Hull located; cargo recovered. 1984 Wreck discovered. Dean Richmond: Propeller freighter of 238 ft sank 10/14/1893 in a terrific storm off Dunkirk, New York with its entire crew of 23. The Dean Richmond was last seen afloat badly damaged, without power and in the trough of the waves by anoth

The wreck lies completely inverted on the bottom and is otherwise largely intact, her upside down hull standing roughly 30 feet off the lake bed. One propeller remains attached at the stern; the other was removed during the 1980s salvage. A hole cut by the salvors is now used for penetration. A large debris field surrounds the wreck, particularly near the stern, and still contains zinc ingots and sizeable structural pieces.