The Wreck Today: This dive is beyond the limits of sport diving as defined by all major certifying agencies. It should only be attempted by very experienced divers with specialized training for depths in excess of sport diving limits.
When she was found she was also shrouded in mystery. No one knew her identity so she was called Schooner X. Sitting with a slight list to port in 165 feet of water, she appeared to still be under way with her anchors in place, her masts rising eighty feet from the bottom of the lake, her wheel and cabins ready for action, and the silt forming waves around her hull. She has a unique scrolled figurehead and both a wooden bilge pump and a newer cast iron bilge pump. Then, divers discovered her tonnage numbers carved in a main beam 226 76/100. Armed with this information, many measurements, and descriptions of equipment; marine historian Art Amos was able to identify her as the schooner Saint James.
The Saint James is commonly considered to be the best-preserved example of a 19th century schooner anywhere in the Great Lakes. It is an absolute must dive for anyone with the proper training and equipment.
When she was found she was also shrouded in mystery. No one knew her identity so she was called Schooner X. Sitting with a slight list to port in 165 feet of water, she appeared to still be under way with her anchors in place, her masts rising eighty feet from the bottom of the lake, her wheel and cabins ready for action, and the silt forming waves around her hull. She has a unique scrolled figurehead and both a wooden bilge pump and a newer cast iron bilge pump. Then, divers discovered her tonnage numbers carved in a main beam 226 76/100. Armed with this information, many measurements, and descriptions of equipment; marine historian Art Amos was able to identify her as the schooner Saint James.
The Saint James is commonly considered to be the best-preserved example of a 19th century schooner anywhere in the Great Lakes. It is an absolute must dive for anyone with the proper training and equipment.
Saint James
Additional information on the Saint James is on page 172 of Erie Wrecks East.
Official #: 22417
Location: 353şT 20.5 miles off Erie, Pennsylvania, 209şT 7.6 miles off Long Point Light
Coordinates: Loran: 44491.0 58530.4 GPS:42 27.10480 07.331
Lies: Depth: 165 feet
Type: schooner, two mastsCargo:wheat
Power:sail
Owner(s)C.M. Reed of Erie, Pennsylvania
Built:1856 at Milan, Ohio by Gay & Merry
Dimensions:118 x 25Tonnage:226 76/100 gross
Date of Loss:Late October 1870
Cause of Loss:unknown
Location: 353şT 20.5 miles off Erie, Pennsylvania, 209şT 7.6 miles off Long Point Light
Coordinates: Loran: 44491.0 58530.4 GPS:42 27.10480 07.331
Lies: Depth: 165 feet
Type: schooner, two mastsCargo:wheat
Power:sail
Owner(s)C.M. Reed of Erie, Pennsylvania
Built:1856 at Milan, Ohio by Gay & Merry
Dimensions:118 x 25Tonnage:226 76/100 gross
Date of Loss:Late October 1870
Cause of Loss:unknown
Saint James painting by Georgann Wachter