Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott and Ronald Eason for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: John V. Moran OTHER NAME(s): - OFFICIAL NO: 76748 DATE OF LOSS: 3 February 1899 REASON: Ice LOCATION: Lake Michigan, off Muskegon RIG TYPE: Propeller, package & bulk freight HULL TYPE: Wooden, iron plated to help break ice. BUILDER: Frank W. Wheeler, West Bay City, MI - 1888 OWNER(S): Crosby Transportation Co. MASTER: Capt. McLeod TONNAGE: 1350 gt DIMENSIONS: 214 x 32 x 22 CASUALTIES: 0 SURVIVORS: all Her hull was cut through by ice off Muskegon, MI., while en route from Milwaukee to that place. Distress signals were blown and heard by her sister ship, the NAOMI, which went to her aid. The NAOMI attempted to tow the wounded MORAN for three hours but had to give up the attempt. Left to her fate the MORAN slipped to her fate with no witnesses to record where she took her death dive to the lake bottom. The crew of the MORAN were taken aboard the NAOMI and landed at Grand Haven on the afternoon of the 5th. The cargo of flour was valued at $50,000 and hull of the MORAN was uninsured. For 116 years the JOHN V. MORAN kept her resting place on the Lake Michigan floor a secret. On June 5, 2015, Jeff Voss and a group of shipwreck hunters were combing a 10- square-mile area of flat lake bottom with sonar when a large image appeared on the print out. Recording the coordinates, the team kept quiet about the find for over a month. On July 8, working with the Michigan State Police Underwater Recovery Unit, equipment was sent over the side to descend over 300 feet to record underwater images confirming that they had, indeed, found the nearly pristine JOHN V. MORAN still sitting upright. Although her smokestack is missing her deck rails, mast, and lights are still standing, and intact glass remains in her windows. As an interesting note: The first mate of the JOHN V. MORAN at the time of her loss was Robert McKay. The same Robert McKay would later become first mate of the rescueing boat, NAOMI. The NAOMI had been formerly named WISCONSIN and returned to that name in 1924. On October 22, 1929, Robert McKay was captain of the carferry MILWAUKEE when it foundered on Lake Michigan after leaving Milwaukee during a violent storm. One week to the day later, October 29, 1929, the WISCONSIN (formerly NAOMI) foundered in almost the same spot. ======================================================================== Sources: The Marine Record, 9 February 1899 Blue Book of American Shipping, 1899 Shelak, "Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan" Oleszewski "Mysteries and Histories" - 1997 WZZM TV13 (Grand Rapids, MI) 22 July 2015 Associated Press - 25 July 2015 Last updated 25 July 2015