SAULT STE. MARIE — The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society wants to give you an inside look at the work that goes into finding lost ships.
On Friday, GLSHS director emeritus Tom Farnquist will give a presentation on how he and his friends were able to locate the S.S. Russia, which disappeared more than 100 years ago.
In April 1909, the Russia was enroute from Alpena to Duluth when it went down in 220 feet of water about eight miles from Detour Passage in northern Lake Huron. Actions by the captain and the crew prevented any loss of life.
Farnquist, who’s 80 years old and has been diving and researching shipwrecks for 64 years, decided he would be the one to find the ship. His hard work and research paid off – very quickly!
“People have looked for it for a long time. I made up my mind to go find it and put together the research. Got together some friends from Minnesota that had a research boat with a side-scan sonar they were operating in Lake Huron,” said Farnquist. “We found it in two days.”
The event is Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. at the historic Soo Theatre in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. During the presentation, he will show videos of the five dives he made back in 2022 that led to the discovery.
Farnquist said his next project is locating the S.S. Comet, a steamship that sunk off Whitefish Point in 1875.