David Trotter is a renowned shipwreck discoverer, deep diver, author, lecturer and photographer. In over 20 years of diving, he has been the first to locate, identify and document 70+ Great Lakes shipwrecks. His shipwreck discoveries and programs have been featured on television and in newspapers throughout the U.S. and Canada. He has written several articles on Great Lakes shipwrecks that have been published in historical journals and national scuba diving publications.
Through Undersea Research Associates, founded to present the Great Lakes community with an electronically sophisticated means of underwater search and survey for archeological and commercial purposes, he presents visual underwater time capsules of marine history. Utilizing state-of-the-art side scan sonar, with outstanding skilled operators, the organization offers high resolution bottom profiling at depths to 1,000 feet, underwater site survey and underwater photographic documentation.This year David will be doing two presentations for Shipwrecks/2005
Two Ships…….. Frozen In Time
The 328′ steel Steamer, W. C. Gilbert, was designed for speed with her large triple expansion engine. Launched in 1892, she was to ply the Great Lakes for 22 years until that fateful day on Lake Huron. Upbound with coal, in heavy fog, she could not outrun the downbound 504′ Steamer Caldera.
The collision was brutal, with the Caldera penetrating deeply into the portside of the Gilbert, nearly slicing her in two. They scrambled to lower the lifeboats, and when just a few feet away from the sinking Gilbert, the ship began to break up as she disappeared beneath the surface of Lake Huron. It had been less than 5 minutes from the collision, to the disappearance of the Gilbert.
Now two ships, generations apart in design, size, and construction, rest quietly just a few miles apart, in the cold waters of Lake Huron. Both ships suffered the same fate, dramatic and deadly collisions in poor visibility, at a time when the upbound and downbound lanes were one and the same.
Morrell Encounter: The True Story of Discovery and Adventure
It was 26 years ago (1979) that a team of explorers, using the latest positioning technology of the time period, relocated the stern and located the bow of the 603′ SS Daniel J. Morrell, five miles apart, on the same day!
In the early morning hours, at the peak of a horrific November 1966 storm, the fury of Lake Huron wrenched the Morrell’s hull in two. The bow section sank almost immediately and the stern, with lights on, steamed off into the stormy night.
Original and rare pictures of the first exploration dives are incorporated into the greatest shipwreck discovery of the time period. Deep air diving at its best (???!) takes you on a true tale of adventure with the underwater explorers.
