Colonel A.B. Williams

MV Great Lakes Diver, Port Sanilac Marina, Michigan. 586 792 2040.

The Colonel A. B. Williams is the oldest wreck in the Sanilac Shores Preserve and is a great dive. She's an extremely photogenic pre-civil war wooden two-masted schooner that sits upright in depths easily reached by recreational divers and remains reasonably intact, still carrying her cargo of coal. Two large anchors were removed from the wreck in the 1980's and one can now be seen on display outside the Sanilac County Historical Museum in Port Sanilac.

Built in Big Sodus, New York, in 1856 she was of typical design for an era when over two thousand other schooners hauled cargo across the Great Lakes. These fore and aft-rigged vessels were lighter and more easily managed than their square rigged counterparts, could sail closer to the wind and could be mannedwith a smaller crew. Maneuverability was of particular importance where frequent course changes were necessary to navigate in relatively limited sea-room and the popularity of two-masted schooners lasted throughout the age of commercial sailing on the Great Lakes.

In the very early hours of the morning on June 5th 1864 the Colonel A. B. Williams collided with a large ore-laden bark named Twilight and sank stern first. Her crew was rescued by the bark and reports from the time indicate that a tug Prindiville may have recovered some of their personal effects that were floating on the surface a few days later. Divers can still see other effects scattered across the wreck site (although seasoned visitors recall there having been more ceramic plates not so long ago), as well as the large chunks of coal remaining in the ships holds. The ships two masts, although broken at their bases, lie off to the port side of the ship and a large midships windlass is kept free of zebra mussels by visiting divers.