On what seemed like a routine, fog-draped fishing trip in Lake Michigan, angler Christopher Thuss reeled in not a fish—but a forgotten chapter of history.
Thuss, scanning the lake’s surface near Manitowoc, Wisconsin, noticed something peculiar on his sonar. “I didn’t know exactly what I was looking at at first,” he recalled. But then, “I turned over [in] that direction and the whole ship was right there”.
Just nine feet beneath the water's surface, he had stumbled upon the long-lost wreck of the J.C. Ames, a powerful tugboat built in 1881 and scuttled in 1923. For 102 years, it rested quietly in the depths, cloaked by sediment and time.
A Vessel Built for Giants
Originally christened the J.C. Perrett, the tugboat was no ordinary workhorse. Built in Manitowoc by Rand & Burger, it was considered “one of the largest and most powerful tugs on the lakes,” boasting 670 horsepower and costing a then-whopping $50,000 to build—over a million dollars today.
Throughout its robust life, it towed lumber, pulpwood, and even railroad barges between bustling lake ports. But like many before it, time wore it down. In 1923, stripped of its engine and boiler, the once-mighty vessel was towed out, set aflame for spectacle, and left to sink into memory.
A Family Thread in a Century-Old Tale
What makes this find even more extraordinary is Thuss’s connection to “Shipwreck Suzze” Johnson—his step-grandmother and a legend in her own right. Known for spotting shipwrecks from the sky using a powered parachute and ultralight aircraft, she famously found three wrecks in three days back in 2015.
“It’s pretty unique that I am the first person to lay eyes on this boat since it was last seen,” Thuss told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The J.C. Ames Rises Again
Experts believe that storms and shifting sands recently exposed the wreck, previously buried beneath the lakebed. Fortunately, it’s remarkably well-preserved, lacking the invasive quagga mussels that typically encrust submerged artifacts.
“This kind of discovery is always so exciting because it allows a piece of lost history to resurface,” said maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen. “It sat there for over 100 years and then came back on our radar completely by chance”.
A Living Legacy Beneath the Waves
Now located within the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, the J.C. Ames lies protected by law and holds promise as a future destination for curious snorkelers and kayakers.
“There’s something magical about this,” said Caitlin Zant of the sanctuary. “We can understand how it was constructed, why it was built as big as it was, and tell that story”.
From an unexpected sonar blip to a full-blown archaeological rediscovery, this 102-year-old tugboat has reignited a sense of wonder not just for history buffs but for anyone who's ever cast a line into the unknown—and dreamed of catching something bigger than expected.
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