BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A group of shipwreck hunters wants to raise a 19th-century schooner from the bottom of Lake Erie and put it on display in a museum on Buffalo’s waterfront.
Shipwreck salvagers using sonar first detected the vessel in the early 1990s in 175 feet of water about 20 miles off Dunkirk, 33 miles southwest of Buffalo.
Officials with North East Research believe the ship could be a British-made vessel that sank two decades after being captured by the Americans during the War of 1812.
The group recently met with Buffalo officials to discuss the idea of raising the ship and preserving it in a giant water tank on the city’s Lake Erie harbor.
Researchers believe the ship sunk in the 1830s. while hauling a cargo of wheat and barley.
Information from: The Buffalo News, http://www.buffalonews.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
