Was this ship doomed? Ok, given its current watery location it’s easy to say it was, but consider this: the vessel set out on its final voyage on Friday the 13th, AND it had a woman aboard - also considered back luck in those days. Reports of the Dean Richmond are somewhat difficult to decipher because there were actually four of them over time, and they had a colorful history running aground, burning and sinking, engine failures, not to mention getting trapped in ice.

This Dean Richmond was a 238′ long package freighter, the largest on the Great Lakes at the time. She ventured out into a building storm with a rudder known to be damaged, foundered and sunk near Dunkirk, New York. Not all of her 18 crew were lost when she went down, several made it to shore but were smashed against the rocks by the wind and waves as they fought to make it to safety. One made it on to land but tragically died of exposure before reaching help.

The wreck today presents a lengthy swim along an overturned hull. Normally that would be about as exciting as knitting with one needle, but there is actually a good deal to see. One of the two propellers has been recovered, giving the stern an exceptionally odd look to it. Parts of the ship offer large debris fields where the hull was dynamited in an effort to salvage what was rumored to be a precious cargo but turned out to be merely pig zink. There is one spar stuck almost perfectly vertical into the silt just off the starboard side, like a giant harpoon.

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