(FOX NEWS) – Wisconsin researchers recently discovered a
145-year-old shipwreck in a murky river, and it was a complete
surprise. The vessel was found with sonar during the search for
a different ship.

Archaeologists were trying to map a different shipwreck, the
Berlin City vessel (shown below).

The Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association (WUAA),
the organization that led the trip, confirmed the discovery of
the L.W. Crane to Fox News Digital. The ship was found near
the city of Oshkosh.

Historians believe the vessel, built in 1865, sank in 1880. 

A lifeboat full of survivors from the ill-fated Andrea Doria
which is sinking in the background.

At 11:10 p.m. on July 25, 1956, 45 miles south of Nantucket
Island, the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish
ocean liner Stockholm collided in a heavy Atlantic fog. Fifty-
one passengers and crew were killed in the collision, which
ripped a great hole in the broad side of the Italian vessel.

The badly damaged Stockholm limped into New York
and offloaded its passengers, along with survivors
from the Andrea Doria. It proceeded to the Bethlehem
Steel Shipyard in New Jersey where it was fitted with
a brand new bow.

LONDON (AP) — When a schoolboy going for a run found the
ribs of a wooden ship poking through the dunes of a remote
Scottish beach, it sparked a hunt by archaeologists, scientists
and local historians to uncover its story.

Through a mix of high-tech science and community research,
they have an answer. Researchers announced Wednesday that
the vessel is very likely the Earl of Chatham, an 18th-century
warship that saw action in the American War of Independence
before a second life hunting whales in the Arctic — and then a
stormy demise.

“I would regard it as a lucky ship, which is a strange thing to
say about a ship that’s wrecked,” said Ben Saunders, senior
marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, a charity that
helped community researchers conduct the investigation.

Saunders said “I think if it had been found in many other
places, it wouldn’t necessarily have had that community
drive, that desire to recover and study that material, and
also the community spirit to do it.”
 

Peter Iredale in Seattle, circa 1900.

Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel barque that ran ashore
October 25, 1906, on the Oregon coast en route to the Columbia
River. She was abandoned on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens
in Warrenton about four miles (6 km) south of the Columbia
River channel.       

       
Wreckage is still visible, making it a popular tourist attraction as
one of the most accessible shipwrecks of the Graveyard of the
Pacific.

The ship was named after Peter Iredale, who not only owned the
vessel as part of his shipping fleet, but was also a well-known
figure in Liverpool, England, where his business was
headquartered.   (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)  
    

     

Peter Iredale
     
Iredale retired in 1899 at the age of 76 
and died shortly afterwards on the 26th 
of October the same year.

Peter Iredale shortly after grounding in 1906.

Peter Iredale in Seattle, around 1900.

Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel Braque sailing vessel that
ran ashore October 25, 1906, on the Oregon coast en route to
Portland, Oregon with 1,000 tons of ballast and a crew of 27,
including two stowaways. She was abandoned on Clatsop Spit
near Fort Stevens in Warrenton about four miles south of the
Columbia River channel.

The ship was named after Peter Iredale, who not only owned the
vessel as part of his shipping fleet, but was also a well-known
figure in Liverpool, England, where his business was located.

Wreckage the Peter Iredale is still visible, making it a popular
tourist attraction as one of the most accessible shipwrecks of
the Graveyard of the Pacific.

    
Peter Iredale