SS Vienna

DATE OF LAUNCH: 1873

DATE AND LOCATION OF LOSS: September 17, 1892, Lake Superior, near Whitefish Point

DATE LOCATED: 1975

SHIP DETAILS: Quayle & Martin built the wooden steamer Vienna with an octagonal pilot house and sail rigging in 1873 for the Cleveland Transportation Company during the era when insurance companies still required ships to carry sails to maintain liability coverage.

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE LOSS: In fair weather at 12:25 am on September 17, 1892, the steamer Nipigon was light and upbound in Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior towing the schooners Melbourne and Delaware. Vienna under Captain J.W. Nicholson was downbound from Marquette, Michigan and towing the schooner Mattie C. Bell. Both were heavy with a cargo of iron ore. Vienna and Nipigon exchanged signals for the normal port to port passing but the 191 ft., 626 ton Nipigon suddenly veered and rammed the 191 ft., 1,006 ton Vienna on the port side. Both vessels immediately dropped their consorts. Nipigon tried to tow Vienna to shallow water but after an hour they were still about one mile from shore when the ore-laden, mortally wounded Vienna dove into deep water. No one could explain why the Nipigon failed to obey her helm. Vienna was valued at $46,000 but she was only partly insured. Vienna’s crew and papers were transferred to the lumber hooker Nipigon. Nipigon’s stem and forefoot were badly crushed but she was not leaking much and she was able to proceed on her way. A tug towed Mattie C. Bell to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

DISCOVERY AND FINDINGS: The wreck of Vienna was discovered in 1975 by the United States Fisheries research vessel R.V. Kohvo while setting fish sampling nets. She was then extensively explored by divers Kent Bellrichard of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Tom Farnquist, Director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

Vienna lies in 120 to 148 feet of water. Vienna is one of the more accessible wreck dives in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve because she is about 1.5 miles from shore. She is known as a “blow-off” wreck dive because she lies closer to shore and extended-range divers go to this wreck during high winds and rough seas or when they have limited time. Her wreck is moored to protect her remains and enhance the safety of divers. However, the greater accessibility of Vienna belies her ability to ensnare even technically skilled, experienced scuba divers. The four diving fatalities on her wreck are the most of all the wrecks in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve. Her remains are intact and upright and divers especially enjoy exploring her intact bow cabins.

INTERESTING FACTS: Michigan’s Antiquities Act of 1980 prohibited the removal of artifacts from shipwrecks on the Great Lakes bottomlands. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) 1992 raid on the GLSHS offices and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum included seizure of artifacts that were illegally removed from the Vienna. Artifacts from Vienna are on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a loan from the State of Michigan by a 1993 settlement agreement with the GLSHS following the DNRE raid on the museum in 1992. Vienna is now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum.