Eber Ward

The Eber Ward is a wooden bulk and package freighter that lies upright on the bottom in 145 ft (44 m) of water about 5 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge, with depths from 110 to 140 ft (34 to 43 m). The depth makes it an advanced dive that calls for careful planning. She measures 213 ft by 37 ft (65 m by 11 m).

She was built in 1888 for the Detroit and Lake Superior Line and named for the owner's father, who had been keeper of the Bois Blanc Island lighthouse. Loaded with 55,000 bushels of corn from Milwaukee and bound for Port Huron, she met a field of slush and windrow ice in the Straits on April 20, 1909. Her bow was torn open, and she sank within ten minutes, taking one lifeboat and five crewmen with her.

The hull is intact, headed due south, though the cabins are missing. Equipment is scattered around the deck and several anchors decorate the bow, including a rare mushroom anchor just above the ice-damaged timbers. The engine room and cargo holds are open to trained divers, and the smoke stack and a damaged lifeboat lie off the starboard side.