Sidewheel Steamer Detroit Shipwreck

3D Model

The shipwreck Sidewheel Steamer Detroit sits in 210 feet of water in Lake Huron. It’s a wreck i dreamed of doing a 3D model of since I began a few years ago because it’s one of the best examples of an intact sidewheel steamship in the Great Lakes. It sank in a collision with the brig Nucleus in 1854 while carrying lumber and coal. It was discovered by David Trotter in 1994. To think this ship went down 7 years before the Civil war and 7 years before Abraham Lincoln was president is like going back in time. The wooden wheels are intact, the walking beam engine, wood stock anchors on the bow, steering pole off the starboard side and a strongbox on the port side. There is a lot of debris on the lakebottom. This model took me 3 dives to 210 feet spending 35 minutes of bottom time on each dive and 60 minues of decompression on each dive. It totaled 4812 images. It took a great amount of efort and planning and I’m proud of producing the first 3D model of this beautiful ship. Becky Kagan Schott / Liquid Productions