Scuba diver dies exploring Lake Michigan shipwreck

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A scuba diver has died after exploring a shipwreck on Lake Michigan.

The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin says dispatchers received a distress call around 11:30 Tuesday morning for a diver who had not returned to the surface.

The diver, identified as 72-year-old Patrick Kelly, from Illinois, was exploring the wreckage of the S.S. Wisconsin off the coast of Pleasant Prairie — a village about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. The wreckage is about 6 miles off the coast and 130 feet under the surface of the water.

“When Mr. Kelly did not resurface when he was scheduled to do so, his wife, who was on board their vessel, sent out a distress call requesting immediate help,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release .

The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office responded, along with local fire crews and the U.S. Coast Guard. After several hours of searching, the lake’s conditions deteriorated and recovery efforts were postponed. Crews returned the next morning and eventually recovered Kelly’s body.

“Using a combination of sonar and several remotely operated vehicles, Mr. Kelly was located approximately 125 feet below the surface on the bottom of Lake Michigan in the area of the S.S. Wisconsin,” the release stated.

According to the Wisconsin Historical Society , the S.S. Wisconsin was built in 1881 and went down on Oct. 30, 1929, claiming nine lives. The ship was reportedly caught in a storm, which caused its cargo to shift and forced the boat to take on water. The ship sank after its pumps couldn’t keep up with the incoming water.

What’s left of the boat is sitting upright at the bottom, including some I-beams that remain intact. Divers can also see three cars trapped in the ship’s rear cargo hold.

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