Photo Left: A full length view of the steamship George F. Williams. Seen here in open waters. Wrecked over three quarters of a century off the shores of Hammond.

Photo Right: View of the George F. Williams from the port side as the ship sits tied up to the dock. Note the crew members on board near the front of the ship.

Project Background - - There are thousands of sunken ships in the Great Lakes. Over one hundred of these wrecks lie off the Chicago coast which extends from Waukegan, IL to Gary, IN. The Hammond Shipwreck Project was first founded in 1988, by a local group of sport divers, to help demonstrate the viability of using recreational divers in cooperation with the government and the archeolgical community in preserving and protecting a shipwreck site.

In April of 1988, the United States government passed into effect a law, The Abandoned Shipwreck Act, which transferred title of all shipwrecks to their respective states in an attempt to protect historically valuable wrecks.

During the 1988 dive season, which extended from May 1st to September 30th, divers spent over 400 man hours working at the Hammond, Indiana, shipwreck site. In January of 1989, the ship was identified by Al Konieczka, the Research Director for the Hammond Shipwreck Project, as the steamship George F. Williams, wrecked on April 21, 1915.

Ship Background - - Below are some quick facts on the ship itself.

The George F. Williams built 1899 in West Bay City, Michigan by the F. W. Wheeler and Company.
The George F. Williams was first launched on July 24th, 1889.
The ship's total dimensions were 280 feet long - 41 feet 4 inches wide - 20 feet 3 inches high.
The ship was changed from four masts to one at Cleveland, Ohio on July 26th, 1889.
Part of Gilchrist Transportation Company, until it put part of its fleet for auction in early March, 1913.
Hull built of oak with bow sheathed for ice. Steel boiler housing. Wooden propeller.

Final Resting Place - - On April 21st, 1915 the Steamship "George F. Williams" then owned by Sam Opinski, was towed from the Calumet River to the shore of Lake Michigan and beached. The area was then known as Camp Cuno, that area is just west of the present day Hammond Marina. Then home to a small harbor facility with several piers at the mouth of the Wolf Lake Channel.

The bow (front) is lying about 300 feet from shore. The bow (front) is covered by 7½ feet of water and the stern (back) of the ship is covered with 11½ feet of water. The ship was moored down with steel lines to help prevent it from drifting out into the lake. The ship was reported to be well preserved and in good condition. However the ship was stripped of most of it's valuables, before it was beached.

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Research by the Hammond Shipwreck Project -- Al Konieczka, Research Director -- Tim Early, Project Director
Photographs from the Institute for Great Lakes Research
All information obtained from the Hammond Historical Society -- Calumet Room of the Hammond Public Library
Twentieth Century Time Capsule © 1999 HammondIndiana.com

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