Indiana

Type

Bark

Built

1852 at Oswego, New York, by G.S. Weeks

Size

136 9'' x 25 2'' x 11'

Gross tonnage

260.75

Owner

Palmer and Pennington Cleveland, Ohio and Captain A. Mc Adams

Captain

Captain A. McAdams, who was also a part owner.

Cargo

Paving stone, curbing and flagstone, for construction in downtown Cleveland

Date lost

24 September 1870 per the Wachters' Erie Wrecks East; 25 September 1870 per Swayze. The crew estimated she went down about midnight, which straddles the two dates.

Cause of loss

Storm

Lives lost

0

Depth

90 to 95

Registry

PHMC PASS number 36ER0335.

PHMC site number

36ER0335 ( http://www.phmc.pa.gov/Preservation/ )

Position 42.29600, -79.99830 (surveyed on site, from the PASST survey, published by 3DShipwrecks.org (42 17.760 N, 079 59.898 W))

Recorded location: 42.28333, -79.98333

Known to local divers as The Stone Wreck, and described by RSC as Erie's most unique and probably most visited wreck. This is the signature recreational wreck dive of the area and is regularly run by local charters. Boat access, roughly 90 to 95 feet, an advanced recreational depth beyond novice certification limits. The upright intact hull with masts down, visible cargo and abundant deck fittings makes it an unusually rewarding site. The collapsed bow is disorienting and is the one part divers consistently report trouble navigating.

A photogrammetric 3D model of the site was captured by Jeremy Bannister for PASST in 2018 and is published by 3DShipwrecks.org and by the Regional Science Consortium.

Indiana was a three masted wooden bark built in 1852 at Oswego, New York by G.S. Weeks, an uncommon rig on the Great Lakes by the time she was lost. In late September 1870 she left Buffalo for Cleveland loaded with paving stone, curbing and flagstone for construction in downtown Cleveland. Tacking westward she began leaking. Captain McAdams tried to duck into Port Maitland and the Grand River for shelter but could not get in, and continued toward Long Point, where a squall and a northeasterly gale drove her into the open lake. The dense stone cargo pinned the leak beyond the crew's reach and she settled steadily, so McAdams turned and ran downwind for Erie around ten in the morning. Several hours later, with the old bark nearly swamped, the captain and crew abandoned her about twelve miles off Erie and pulled to shore in the lifeboat. They reckoned she went under around midnight. Nobody was lost.

Erie's most unique and probably most visited wreck is the barque Indiana which is known to local divers as "The Stone Wreck". Indiana was 18 years old and the end of her useful life as a wooden sailing vessel when she left Buffalo bound for Cleveland in late September 1870. She carried a load of paving stone and flagging for use in construction in downtown Cleveland. As Indiana tacked westward tow

Sits completely upright and is remarkably intact for her age. The bow is badly broken and collapsed, and she appears to have landed bow first, leaving a tangle in which the stem is hard to make out. The stern is quite intact, with the rudder broken off and lying flat on the bottom. Her masts are down, snapped roughly three to four feet above deck level. The stone cargo is still in the hold. Surviving fittings include the windlass, a sizeable capstan, the bilge pump, deadeyes and other rigging, belaying pins and two wood stock anchors; the stove lies in the debris field off the stern.

3D survey model published by the Regional Science Consortium.