1 00:00:03,969 --> 00:00:08,353 [music] 2 00:00:08,387 --> 00:00:09,733 NARRATOR: Chicago, 3 00:00:09,768 --> 00:00:14,773 [music] 4 00:00:14,807 --> 00:00:20,882 Shamelessly ambitious totally uncompromising. 5 00:00:22,332 --> 00:00:27,441 a giant machine, for satisfying appetites. 6 00:00:28,925 --> 00:00:31,376 And making Money. 7 00:00:31,410 --> 00:00:33,792 DONALD: Growth is God in Chicago. 8 00:00:33,826 --> 00:00:36,657 This thing ain't ever going to stop. 9 00:00:42,214 --> 00:00:48,531 NARRATOR: Exploding out of nowhere in the mid-19th century 10 00:00:48,565 --> 00:00:55,538 Chicago owes its success to its location right on the shore of Lake Michigan, 11 00:00:56,918 --> 00:00:59,852 America's original superhighway. 12 00:01:02,993 --> 00:01:05,858 DONALD: No one thinks of Chicago as a maritime city, 13 00:01:05,893 --> 00:01:09,069 but if you don't have the lake you don't have Chicago. 14 00:01:10,967 --> 00:01:16,869 NARRATOR: Hidden in this vast body of water the secret history 15 00:01:16,904 --> 00:01:18,699 of a remarkable city 16 00:01:23,048 --> 00:01:24,739 Tragic wrecks. 17 00:01:30,297 --> 00:01:32,920 NARRATOR: and mysterious structures. 18 00:01:40,824 --> 00:01:46,761 What can draining Lake Michigan, tell us 19 00:01:46,796 --> 00:01:53,561 about the extraordinary risks engineering marvels 20 00:01:54,838 --> 00:01:56,875 and superhuman endeavour. 21 00:02:00,292 --> 00:02:04,469 That create an American icon? 22 00:02:15,031 --> 00:02:19,622 1860, and Chicago is booming. 23 00:02:22,314 --> 00:02:26,629 It's all thanks to its location at America's sweet-spot, 24 00:02:26,663 --> 00:02:31,599 where the Great Lakes meet the waterways that stretch across the country 25 00:02:31,634 --> 00:02:33,843 and down to the Gulf of Mexico. 26 00:02:40,436 --> 00:02:43,128 Lake Michigan is teeming with ships. 27 00:02:44,957 --> 00:02:51,792 Packed with goods and people including ever expanding numbers 28 00:02:51,826 --> 00:02:57,211 of commercial travellers, who rely upon transport across the Lake. 29 00:03:02,216 --> 00:03:07,842 What can some tangled wreckage on the lakebed reveal about boom time 30 00:03:07,877 --> 00:03:14,194 Chicago where success comes with a side order of risk? 31 00:03:20,579 --> 00:03:26,792 A survey team, led by maritime archaeologist Mallory Haas, 32 00:03:26,827 --> 00:03:30,071 is heading out onto the lake to take a look. 33 00:03:33,903 --> 00:03:38,804 They're aiming for an area 16 miles north of the city: 34 00:03:38,839 --> 00:03:44,914 the last known location of a luxury paddle steamer the Lady Elgin. 35 00:03:48,297 --> 00:03:54,199 Known as the 'Queen of the Lakes', she's popular with Chicago's business travellers, 36 00:03:54,234 --> 00:03:59,031 thanks to her reputation as one of the fastest ships on the Lake. 37 00:04:04,623 --> 00:04:09,939 She sails from Chicago on the evening of September 7th, 1860, 38 00:04:09,973 --> 00:04:12,010 heading back to Milwaukee. 39 00:04:15,013 --> 00:04:18,292 VALERIE: So many of the excursionists had had a long day, 40 00:04:18,327 --> 00:04:22,503 they looked forward to returning home to Milwaukee, to business. 41 00:04:22,538 --> 00:04:25,506 This was supposed to be just an overnight trip. 42 00:04:28,475 --> 00:04:31,132 NARRATOR: But less than halfway into her journey 43 00:04:31,167 --> 00:04:36,276 she sinks with 400 passengers on board. 44 00:04:39,451 --> 00:04:43,904 It's one of the worst maritime disasters in American History. 45 00:04:48,736 --> 00:04:52,671 So what happens? 46 00:04:52,706 --> 00:04:56,848 Mallory and her team are looking for clues. 47 00:04:56,882 --> 00:05:01,059 MALLORY: I'm hoping we'll be able to find some material that's easily identifiable. 48 00:05:01,093 --> 00:05:06,409 Parts of the ship structure maybe and even some personal items. 49 00:05:08,377 --> 00:05:10,862 NARRATOR: Fragments of the Lady Elgin were first discovered 50 00:05:10,896 --> 00:05:14,900 by diver Harry Zych in 1989. 51 00:05:17,938 --> 00:05:24,427 Today the expedition is using sonar to scan the entire site. 52 00:05:24,462 --> 00:05:26,912 MALLORY: Uh hah. Oh, oh, oh. 53 00:05:26,947 --> 00:05:30,226 Can we have a closer look at this? 54 00:05:30,260 --> 00:05:32,262 That to me looks like an anchor. 55 00:05:32,297 --> 00:05:36,474 REGAN: Right now it's just an anomaly that matches the parameters of our target. 56 00:05:36,508 --> 00:05:38,407 MALLORY: This is really exciting. 57 00:05:39,649 --> 00:05:45,206 NARRATOR: This should be the wreck but to make certain they need to dive. 58 00:05:48,555 --> 00:05:52,144 The waters of Lake Michigan are notoriously cold. 59 00:05:53,560 --> 00:06:00,118 Ideal for the preservation of shipwrecks but Mallory must wear a dry suit 60 00:06:00,152 --> 00:06:02,741 to cope with the freezing conditions. 61 00:06:14,063 --> 00:06:19,965 As she descends, she spots a snakelike trail of what looks like a rope or chain. 62 00:06:27,904 --> 00:06:34,014 NARRATOR: It leads her to a dramatic sight 63 00:06:34,048 --> 00:06:36,844 the remnants of the Lady Elgin. 64 00:06:55,656 --> 00:07:02,076 NARRATOR: Just a few feet away, the Lady Elgin's anchor upright on the lakebed. 65 00:07:15,296 --> 00:07:22,338 And now by draining away the waters of Lake Michigan we can see it in perfect detail. 66 00:07:28,413 --> 00:07:38,492 1.3 Quadrillion gallons of lake water. Icy cold and crystal clear, drains away. 67 00:07:45,085 --> 00:07:52,092 For the first time in 160 years the Queen of the Lakes emerges into the daylight 68 00:07:56,821 --> 00:08:00,549 Her anchor chain is firmly snagged around a boulder. 69 00:08:04,794 --> 00:08:09,834 Lying on the sand is a remarkably well-preserved wooden structure 70 00:08:11,042 --> 00:08:15,702 but careful examination reveals that this is the bow section only. 71 00:08:19,257 --> 00:08:22,502 So where is the rest of the ship? 72 00:08:26,091 --> 00:08:28,784 The team sets out to find more. 73 00:08:31,994 --> 00:08:33,961 MALLORY: This is an ongoing search. 74 00:08:33,996 --> 00:08:39,829 I would love to know where all of the material from the shipwreck is. 75 00:08:39,864 --> 00:08:44,627 NARRATOR: Scanning expert Regan Lipinski widens the search, 76 00:08:44,662 --> 00:08:47,803 exploring ever further from the main wreck site. 77 00:08:50,495 --> 00:08:54,499 Nearly a mile away he detects something new. 78 00:08:56,501 --> 00:09:01,057 REGAN: I can see a lot of debris that appears to be man-made. 79 00:09:01,092 --> 00:09:03,957 We are seeing a kind of jigsaw puzzle of pieces. 80 00:09:06,442 --> 00:09:09,238 NARRATOR: The drained lakebed is strewn with numerous wooden 81 00:09:09,272 --> 00:09:12,793 and metal fragments from all parts of the ship. 82 00:09:16,314 --> 00:09:20,042 And poignant glimpses into daily life on board. 83 00:09:22,113 --> 00:09:27,946 A hand-truck used to load cargo A washbasin, 84 00:09:27,981 --> 00:09:34,574 And one of the distinctive chandeliers from the Lady Elgin's saloon 85 00:09:34,608 --> 00:09:36,852 REGAN: When I see these different pieces, 86 00:09:36,886 --> 00:09:41,650 it looks like the ship was falling apart as it was moving through the water. 87 00:09:43,928 --> 00:09:48,622 NARRATOR: Analysis of the wreck reveals that the Lady Elgin suffers massive damage. 88 00:09:52,799 --> 00:09:56,250 But her bow section sits nearly a mile away, 89 00:09:56,285 --> 00:10:00,772 having come to a stop when the anchor chain became snagged. 90 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:10,092 What's still missing, is any clue to what causes her to go down. 91 00:10:13,785 --> 00:10:20,171 Then, as they follow the debris trail a new and unexpected discovery. 92 00:10:20,205 --> 00:10:23,657 REGAN: Alright, so we have something here. MALLORY: Okay. 93 00:10:23,692 --> 00:10:25,832 REGAN: Now we definitely have a manmade structure here. 94 00:10:25,866 --> 00:10:27,627 MALLORY: Yes. 95 00:10:27,661 --> 00:10:32,424 REGAN: If we zoom in on them, we can see it looks like it's cylindrical. 96 00:10:32,459 --> 00:10:33,529 MALLORY: Yes, it does. 97 00:10:36,325 --> 00:10:41,330 NARRATOR: What they find stands out clearly on the drained lakebed 98 00:10:41,364 --> 00:10:45,610 The Lady Elgin's distinctive 25 foot boilers. 99 00:10:47,060 --> 00:10:51,892 Importantly they're intact with only minor damage. 100 00:10:54,067 --> 00:10:57,242 So, although many steamships of this era are destroyed 101 00:10:57,277 --> 00:11:04,284 by boiler explosions. Lady Elgin clearly wasn't one of them. 102 00:11:09,841 --> 00:11:14,950 Still hunting for an answer, the team turns to the historical archives. 103 00:11:17,849 --> 00:11:24,649 Historian Valerie Van Heest studies newspapers from September 1860 104 00:11:24,684 --> 00:11:27,445 and discovers some important information. 105 00:11:29,585 --> 00:11:33,485 VALERIE: We know from survivor accounts that the seas were building 106 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,453 all through that journey. 107 00:11:35,487 --> 00:11:37,351 [lightening sound] 108 00:11:39,043 --> 00:11:43,564 The weather here on the Great Lakes can change on a dime. 109 00:11:45,325 --> 00:11:47,879 This is a dangerous body of water. 110 00:11:50,744 --> 00:11:52,815 NARRATOR: And eyewitness statements reveal 111 00:11:52,850 --> 00:11:56,577 that bad weather's not the only problem: 112 00:11:56,612 --> 00:12:01,030 at 2.20 in the morning the captain of the Lady Elgin spies the light 113 00:12:01,065 --> 00:12:05,448 of another vessel heading straight towards them. 114 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,867 VALERIE: Both ships were on a collision course for each other. 115 00:12:17,564 --> 00:12:22,362 NARRATOR: Combining data from scanning Lake Michigan with historical research, 116 00:12:22,396 --> 00:12:28,540 the archaeological team can now piece together the final journey of the Lady Elgin. 117 00:12:33,476 --> 00:12:39,379 It's 11pm on the 7th September 1860 and the notoriously 118 00:12:39,413 --> 00:12:44,971 unpredictable Lake Michigan weather is going from bad to worse. 119 00:12:49,251 --> 00:12:52,979 The Lady Elgin's experienced Captain, Jack Wilson, 120 00:12:53,013 --> 00:12:54,877 considers delaying his departure 121 00:12:57,604 --> 00:13:02,816 But according to newspaper reports he's under pressure from his passengers. 122 00:13:04,266 --> 00:13:09,789 They have businesses to attend to, and meetings the next day. 123 00:13:15,139 --> 00:13:19,729 VALERIE: They encourage Captain Wilson to speed on ahead 124 00:13:20,592 --> 00:13:23,837 and against his better judgement he headed into the open waters 125 00:13:23,872 --> 00:13:29,809 of the lake and into a wild storm of unbelievable proportions. 126 00:13:32,259 --> 00:13:37,782 NARRATOR: 16 miles out on the lake, with visibility getting worse by the minute 127 00:13:39,059 --> 00:13:42,891 the crew suddenly spies another ship sailing towards them: 128 00:13:44,547 --> 00:13:48,448 a lumber carrying schooner called the Augusta. 129 00:13:52,797 --> 00:13:58,907 Eyewitness reports show that the two Captains try to take evasive action 130 00:13:58,941 --> 00:14:05,948 but it's too late. Augusta's jib boom punctures the Lady Elgin's hull like a bayonet. 131 00:14:10,919 --> 00:14:15,164 VALERIE: There were screams as people realised that the Lady Elgin would go down. 132 00:14:16,441 --> 00:14:18,961 And back then people didn't know how to swim. 133 00:14:18,996 --> 00:14:23,690 Drowning was an imminent peril for so many of these people. 134 00:14:27,728 --> 00:14:33,907 NARRATOR: The two ships are tossed apart, but the Lady Elgin has been ripped open. 135 00:14:36,496 --> 00:14:41,846 People and their belongings spill into the lake as she fills with water. 136 00:14:45,091 --> 00:14:48,888 Then the ship's boilers crash through the bottom of the hull. 137 00:14:52,029 --> 00:14:59,036 She's fatally wounded, breaking apart but the bow section remains afloat 138 00:15:02,246 --> 00:15:07,492 blowing south for a quarter of a mile before her trailing anchor chain 139 00:15:07,527 --> 00:15:09,115 catches on a boulder. 140 00:15:11,980 --> 00:15:17,433 It's here that the Queen of the Lakes finally sinks to the bottom. 141 00:15:19,919 --> 00:15:23,888 VALERIE: The real tragedy here is so many people survived the night. 142 00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:29,445 They reached near shore only to encounter the pounding surf where they lost their lives. 143 00:15:32,966 --> 00:15:35,935 NARRATOR: 300 lives are lost. 144 00:15:36,901 --> 00:15:40,525 It's one of the worst ever tragedies on the Great Lakes. 145 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:50,294 In the aftermath, fingers are pointed at the captains of both ships, 146 00:15:50,328 --> 00:15:53,538 but blame is shared with the businessmen and women 147 00:15:53,573 --> 00:15:56,956 who urge the Captain to sail into the building storm. 148 00:15:58,371 --> 00:16:02,754 VALERIE: Time was money and they took risks that they shouldn't have taken. 149 00:16:05,378 --> 00:16:11,798 NARRATOR: In Chicago nothing is allowed to get in the way of progress and making money. 150 00:16:15,284 --> 00:16:18,667 What can a strange underwater structure in the Lake tell us 151 00:16:20,393 --> 00:16:26,226 about an ingenious plan to overcome a deadly threat to the city's success? 152 00:16:36,029 --> 00:16:40,965 Author, Ben Sells, is investigating an unusual building 153 00:16:42,691 --> 00:16:46,108 3 and a-half miles out from the Chicago shoreline. 154 00:16:49,629 --> 00:16:53,805 BEN: I mean, you look at it it's hard to know what it is. 155 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,843 It almost looks like somebody could live in it, but you never see anybody there. 156 00:16:56,877 --> 00:17:01,813 There's a lighthouse there's a horn and now all that's there are the birds. 157 00:17:03,229 --> 00:17:07,681 And it's just this mysterious enigma all alone out here on the lake 158 00:17:07,716 --> 00:17:10,822 and yet so beautiful. It makes you wonder what it could possibly be. 159 00:17:13,963 --> 00:17:18,071 NARRATOR: It's clearly much more than a lighthouse 160 00:17:18,106 --> 00:17:21,902 and it doesn't have the battlements associated with a military fort. 161 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:29,048 What is this strange cathedral like structure? 162 00:17:30,152 --> 00:17:33,845 And what can peeling back the waters of Lake Michigan reveal 163 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:36,848 the true role of this mysterious building? 164 00:17:47,066 --> 00:17:53,002 As the Lake water spirals away it exposes a massive column reaching 165 00:17:53,037 --> 00:17:55,557 38 feet below the waterline. 166 00:18:02,184 --> 00:18:08,915 A steel frame filled with 24,000 tons of concrete weighing it securely 167 00:18:08,949 --> 00:18:10,951 to the bottom of the lake. 168 00:18:12,056 --> 00:18:17,268 Inside a large pipe that disappears underground. 169 00:18:21,893 --> 00:18:26,381 The construction techniques clearly date the building to the 19th century. 170 00:18:36,460 --> 00:18:42,569 This is a boom time for Chicago but a dangerous one too. 171 00:18:45,434 --> 00:18:50,405 In the 1850s, thousands of immigrants arrive in the city every month. 172 00:18:52,303 --> 00:18:57,515 By 1860, there are more than a hundred thousand people living here. 173 00:18:59,034 --> 00:19:01,968 DONALD: They had more Germans in Chicago than they had in Hamburg, 174 00:19:02,002 --> 00:19:07,111 there's more Jews than in Jerusalem, more Irish than are in Dublin. 175 00:19:07,146 --> 00:19:09,941 NARRATOR: And they use the lake on their doorstep 176 00:19:09,976 --> 00:19:12,841 with little thought for the consequences. 177 00:19:12,875 --> 00:19:16,189 DONALD: Chicago stunk to high hell; it really did. 178 00:19:16,224 --> 00:19:19,779 There was no control over the pollution from the factories, 179 00:19:19,813 --> 00:19:23,990 although the biggest pollution was the water pollution. 180 00:19:24,024 --> 00:19:29,271 NARRATOR: Chicago dumps all its sewage and industrial waste straight into its river 181 00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:34,138 from where it flows directly into Lake Michigan. 182 00:19:35,829 --> 00:19:38,970 The city's only supply of drinking water. 183 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,286 It's a recipe for disaster: 184 00:19:44,321 --> 00:19:48,117 A single cholera outbreak in 1854 185 00:19:48,152 --> 00:19:52,018 kills more than 1 in 50 of the city's population. 186 00:19:53,019 --> 00:19:55,849 DONALD: You're healthy at breakfast and you're dead by dinner. 187 00:19:55,884 --> 00:20:00,164 It's like somebody hitting you in the back with an axe. 188 00:20:00,199 --> 00:20:05,721 Chicago became, by the 1850s, almost uninhabitable. 189 00:20:07,206 --> 00:20:12,245 NARRATOR: To learn more about how the early city fathers solve this problem, 190 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:17,043 Ben Sells turns to historic maps of the lakeshore from the city archive. 191 00:20:20,219 --> 00:20:22,807 BEN: What you can see is tunnel after tunnel, 192 00:20:22,842 --> 00:20:27,881 almost like arteries coming from the lake to shore and the question is, 193 00:20:27,916 --> 00:20:29,883 what were they feeding, what were they for? 194 00:20:33,370 --> 00:20:36,959 NARRATOR: Removing the earth from the drained lakebed uncovers 195 00:20:36,994 --> 00:20:39,134 this series of tunnels. 196 00:20:41,999 --> 00:20:48,695 And exploration of the oldest of these structures exposes a brick-lined shaft 197 00:20:48,730 --> 00:20:51,250 almost tall enough to walk through. 198 00:20:52,630 --> 00:20:58,533 It runs all the way back to the shore, and it doesn't stop there. 199 00:20:58,567 --> 00:21:04,332 The tunnel continues straight on into the heart of the city, 200 00:21:04,366 --> 00:21:08,301 finally emerging on downtown Chicago's main artery, 201 00:21:08,336 --> 00:21:16,758 Michigan Avenue from where it runs directly to this grand stone building. 202 00:21:19,416 --> 00:21:22,177 So, what is it for? 203 00:21:27,976 --> 00:21:32,187 NARRATOR: Author, Ben Sells is investigating an extraordinary tunnel 204 00:21:32,221 --> 00:21:33,222 under Lake Michigan 205 00:21:36,709 --> 00:21:41,507 and City records reveal that it is designed by one of Chicago's forgotten 206 00:21:41,541 --> 00:21:47,513 heroes: engineering genius Ellis Chesbrough. 207 00:21:51,551 --> 00:21:54,105 The blueprints of Chesbrough's system 208 00:21:54,140 --> 00:21:56,073 make its purpose crystal clear 209 00:21:59,007 --> 00:22:04,184 Pumping clean water into the city. 210 00:22:04,219 --> 00:22:10,467 Several engineering wonders are interconnected in Chesbrough's ingenious system 211 00:22:14,436 --> 00:22:19,717 The ornate downtown building is a massive pumping station, 212 00:22:19,752 --> 00:22:23,825 sucking water in through the 2 mile long tunnel. 213 00:22:25,033 --> 00:22:29,934 And the circular fort out on the lake turns out to be a 'crib', 214 00:22:29,969 --> 00:22:36,838 a giant reinforced structure housing and protecting a huge intake pipe. 215 00:22:38,909 --> 00:22:45,191 Chesbrough's plan is to bring in fresh, clean water from the middle of the lake 216 00:22:45,225 --> 00:22:49,160 far away from Chicago's lakeshore pollution. 217 00:22:50,748 --> 00:22:55,822 Nothing like this has ever been built before in America. 218 00:22:58,549 --> 00:23:03,554 When completed this awe-inspiring structure has a capacity to pump 219 00:23:03,589 --> 00:23:08,248 10 million gallons of fresh water a day into the city. 220 00:23:11,873 --> 00:23:15,394 BEN: Without Ellis Chesbrough's vision, without his courage, 221 00:23:15,428 --> 00:23:17,913 it's hard to imagine that we would have seen the growth 222 00:23:17,948 --> 00:23:20,640 and that we would have the Chicago that we have today. 223 00:23:24,230 --> 00:23:27,958 NARRATOR: Chesbrough solves the city's clean water crisis 224 00:23:27,992 --> 00:23:30,616 but that's only half of his achievement. 225 00:23:32,238 --> 00:23:36,794 Chicago is drowning in dirt and disease, 226 00:23:36,829 --> 00:23:42,421 and desperately needs a new sewer system but there's a problem. 227 00:23:45,009 --> 00:23:50,670 The city is only 2 feet above water level there's not a steep enough gradient 228 00:23:50,705 --> 00:23:52,707 to drain the waste away. 229 00:23:54,502 --> 00:23:59,092 Chesbrough's radical solution is to create the gradient 230 00:23:59,127 --> 00:24:02,406 by building the sewers above ground. 231 00:24:05,409 --> 00:24:11,864 Then to make it work Chesbrough comes up with a mind-blowing plan 232 00:24:13,417 --> 00:24:19,492 to raise an entire city, every street and every building. 233 00:24:21,287 --> 00:24:28,225 DONALD: I'm talking about fire hydrants, street lights, hotels, houses, the works. 234 00:24:28,259 --> 00:24:32,747 They would dig under these hotels and they would put these platforms 235 00:24:32,781 --> 00:24:36,475 underneath it and you get these jacks, maybe 600 guys 236 00:24:36,509 --> 00:24:39,512 and then each person would turn the screw a little like this, 237 00:24:39,547 --> 00:24:44,793 eek, goes up an eighth of an inch, eek, eek, eek till it's 12 feet high. 238 00:24:49,177 --> 00:24:55,217 NARRATOR: A massive section of city block measuring 320 feet long 239 00:24:55,252 --> 00:25:01,465 and weighing 35,000 tons is raised in one go. 240 00:25:02,777 --> 00:25:09,542 It takes 600 men and 6000 jackscrews to get the job done. 241 00:25:15,375 --> 00:25:20,311 Raising the city out of the mud, installing a modern sewer system 242 00:25:20,346 --> 00:25:26,973 and providing clean water turns Chicago into a modern metropolis, 243 00:25:27,008 --> 00:25:29,010 and a wonder of the age. 244 00:25:31,909 --> 00:25:37,708 By the dawn of the 20th century, it's become the fifth largest city 245 00:25:37,743 --> 00:25:42,126 in the world home to two million people. 246 00:25:44,750 --> 00:25:51,101 But in a city growing so fast, not everyone can keep up. 247 00:25:54,863 --> 00:26:00,075 What does this wreck of an ageing sailboat reveal about the struggle 248 00:26:00,110 --> 00:26:05,046 to keep pace with change in the early 20th century? 249 00:26:09,740 --> 00:26:13,330 Maritime archaeologist, Tamara Thomsen, 250 00:26:13,364 --> 00:26:17,437 is setting out to investigate the wreck of the Rouse Simmons. 251 00:26:19,923 --> 00:26:23,961 She's a schooner that spends 44 years transporting grain 252 00:26:23,996 --> 00:26:26,585 and timber up and down the lake. 253 00:26:28,241 --> 00:26:35,248 But in November 1912, she goes down along with her entire crew. 254 00:26:38,217 --> 00:26:41,910 The wreck location is already known to local divers, 255 00:26:41,945 --> 00:26:45,258 so Tamara and her team head straight there. 256 00:26:49,953 --> 00:26:59,618 Diving to a depth of 170 feet they come face to face with an awe-inspiring sight. 257 00:27:01,965 --> 00:27:05,278 TAMARA: When I dropped down it, it's, it's beautiful. 258 00:27:08,972 --> 00:27:13,079 It's absolutely intact so it looks almost like something Walt Disney 259 00:27:13,114 --> 00:27:16,358 would put there in a shipwreck film. 260 00:27:19,085 --> 00:27:22,848 NARRATOR: Invasive species of mussels coat the ship's timbers. 261 00:27:24,712 --> 00:27:28,025 Billions of these filter-feeding creatures are responsible 262 00:27:28,060 --> 00:27:33,859 for the extraordinary clarity of the Lake water even at these great depths. 263 00:27:36,344 --> 00:27:40,175 But by covering every available surface of the wreck, 264 00:27:40,210 --> 00:27:43,869 the mussels also mask many of the ship's details. 265 00:27:45,836 --> 00:27:52,498 Using the latest sonar analysis it's now possible to drain the lake, 266 00:27:54,155 --> 00:28:01,852 clear away the mussel shells and reveal the secrets of the Rouse Simmons. 267 00:28:06,995 --> 00:28:14,244 As the waters recede the ship's hull emerges almost completely intact. 268 00:28:19,801 --> 00:28:22,770 But strewn along the base of the ship 269 00:28:22,804 --> 00:28:29,742 there's something odd Hundreds and hundreds of sticks. 270 00:28:30,950 --> 00:28:34,609 Close analysis shows them to be the remnants of small fir trees 271 00:28:39,959 --> 00:28:43,204 The nature of the remains discovered on the ship, 272 00:28:43,238 --> 00:28:47,001 combined with the significance of the late November date, 273 00:28:47,035 --> 00:28:49,520 can mean only one thing. 274 00:28:50,694 --> 00:28:55,837 The Rouse Simmons must be carrying Christmas trees! 275 00:28:57,943 --> 00:29:03,327 Researching in the archives Tamara makes a discovery. 276 00:29:03,362 --> 00:29:07,124 Every November when similar ships are safely moored up 277 00:29:07,159 --> 00:29:11,646 for the winter the Rouse Simmons is still on the lake. 278 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:17,410 Her captain, Herman Scheunemann, makes his last journey of the year 279 00:29:17,445 --> 00:29:20,793 bringing fir trees from the far north of Lake Michigan 280 00:29:20,828 --> 00:29:26,247 down to the city Just in time for Christmas. 281 00:29:27,075 --> 00:29:30,907 PROF KARAMANSKI: The Rouse Simmons would come in, sometimes caked in ice, 282 00:29:30,941 --> 00:29:35,221 literally like a floating iceberg but at the top of her top mast 283 00:29:35,256 --> 00:29:38,604 would be tied a Christmas tree and that was a signal 284 00:29:38,638 --> 00:29:41,918 to people in the city that she'd be open for business 285 00:29:41,952 --> 00:29:44,092 and the holidays could begin. 286 00:29:45,300 --> 00:29:50,305 NARRATOR: Scheunemann even earns himself the nickname 'Captain Santa', 287 00:29:50,340 --> 00:29:54,689 thanks to his generosity, giving free trees to poor families. 288 00:29:56,622 --> 00:30:01,420 But in November 1912 all is not well. 289 00:30:05,562 --> 00:30:11,361 As Tamara digs further into the records, she unearths a very significant document. 290 00:30:12,914 --> 00:30:16,849 TAMARA: One of the important discoveries that we found was the bankruptcy 291 00:30:16,884 --> 00:30:19,645 proceedings of Herman Scheunemann so, 292 00:30:19,679 --> 00:30:24,201 it was very important for him in 1912 to be profitable. 293 00:30:26,479 --> 00:30:31,484 NARRATOR: Could this explain the fate of the Rouse Simmons? 294 00:30:38,664 --> 00:30:41,874 NARRATOR: Evidence from the drained wreck of The Rouse Simmons, 295 00:30:41,909 --> 00:30:46,534 reveals that many of her deck planks are dislodged or missing. 296 00:30:53,334 --> 00:30:56,889 The ship's remaining deck beams have V-shaped channels 297 00:30:56,924 --> 00:30:58,580 grouted across their length 298 00:31:03,102 --> 00:31:04,863 It's a vital clue. 299 00:31:08,004 --> 00:31:12,905 Studying images from the dive Tamara realizes that the strange grooves 300 00:31:12,940 --> 00:31:19,912 must be salt channels a 19th century technique intended 301 00:31:20,016 --> 00:31:22,328 to protect the ship's timbers. 302 00:31:23,398 --> 00:31:25,884 TAMARA: So, by laying these salt channels down they thought 303 00:31:25,918 --> 00:31:27,920 that this would preserve the wood 304 00:31:27,955 --> 00:31:30,647 and extend the longevity of the ship 305 00:31:30,681 --> 00:31:33,581 but in fact what it did was break down the iron fasteners 306 00:31:33,615 --> 00:31:38,206 that they were using to attach the decking 307 00:31:38,241 --> 00:31:43,211 NARRATOR Over time, the salt completely corrodes the metal fasteners, 308 00:31:43,246 --> 00:31:45,351 allowing deck planks to work loose. 309 00:31:49,977 --> 00:31:53,946 Which could be why many of them are missing from the ship 310 00:31:53,981 --> 00:31:58,847 and may well have been lost before she set sail on her final voyage. 311 00:32:02,575 --> 00:32:05,820 The nearly bankrupt Captain Scheunemann appears 312 00:32:05,854 --> 00:32:08,927 to be cutting corners on maintenance. 313 00:32:10,859 --> 00:32:14,794 But while the missing planks would certainly weaken the ship, 314 00:32:14,829 --> 00:32:18,798 are they enough on their own to cause her to sink? 315 00:32:21,008 --> 00:32:25,426 Exploring the fore deck area, the team makes another discovery. 316 00:32:28,325 --> 00:32:32,329 A coil of heavy anchor chain lying at the front of the boat. 317 00:32:35,815 --> 00:32:41,649 And underneath the ship's bow, a large impact mark in the sand 318 00:32:43,858 --> 00:32:50,209 It's critical evidence this vessel hits the lake-bed nose first. 319 00:32:51,970 --> 00:32:56,905 Now, by combining all of this detail, Tamara can piece together 320 00:32:56,940 --> 00:33:00,979 what happens on the Rouse Simmons' final, ill-fated voyage 321 00:33:06,363 --> 00:33:10,160 She set sail from Thompson, Michigan. 322 00:33:10,195 --> 00:33:14,958 Her hold and deck crammed with 10,000 trees, 323 00:33:14,993 --> 00:33:17,823 more than she's ever carried before. 324 00:33:19,549 --> 00:33:22,655 Eyewitnesses comment on the excessive load 325 00:33:22,690 --> 00:33:26,176 saying she looks like 'A Floating forest'. 326 00:33:28,799 --> 00:33:33,873 The following afternoon 120 miles further to the south, 327 00:33:33,908 --> 00:33:40,742 the weather takes a turn for the worse, and the overladen ship gets into distress. 328 00:33:42,848 --> 00:33:48,440 As the storm grows in strength, a huge wave smashes down on her foredeck. 329 00:33:51,719 --> 00:33:55,895 The missing deck planks mean she's soon swamped 330 00:33:55,930 --> 00:34:00,659 and the heavy anchor and chain only make make things worse. 331 00:34:03,144 --> 00:34:09,564 Their weight forces her prow underwater and the rest of the ship follows. 332 00:34:14,293 --> 00:34:16,571 It's the likeliest explanation 333 00:34:16,606 --> 00:34:20,368 for the ship's tragic descent to the bottom of the lake. 334 00:34:21,887 --> 00:34:24,648 TAMARA: We know from the reports of the lifesaving station 335 00:34:24,683 --> 00:34:28,100 that they saw the vessel coming south on the lake just before 336 00:34:28,135 --> 00:34:32,898 3 o'clock and that she had been flying an American flag upside down 337 00:34:32,932 --> 00:34:35,280 from her main mast which was a sign of distress. 338 00:34:37,972 --> 00:34:42,494 NARRATOR: A lifeboat races to help but too late. 339 00:34:43,357 --> 00:34:45,152 TAMARA: They saw no sign of the Rouse Simmons 340 00:34:45,186 --> 00:34:50,605 and they saw no sign of wreckage on the surface. 341 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:55,438 NARRATOR: It's only when Christmas trees start washing ashore along the lake 342 00:34:55,472 --> 00:34:59,442 that the crew's families begin to fear the worst. 343 00:35:03,031 --> 00:35:07,484 Captain Scheunemann's debt-driven gamble sailing dangerously 344 00:35:07,519 --> 00:35:09,831 late in the season in his overloaded 345 00:35:09,866 --> 00:35:14,595 and badly maintained ship ends in tragedy. 346 00:35:16,873 --> 00:35:18,771 There are no survivors. 347 00:35:25,951 --> 00:35:29,127 And this is no isolated incident. 348 00:35:33,648 --> 00:35:39,447 The storms that blow up out of nowhere on the Great Lakes take over 200 ships 349 00:35:39,482 --> 00:35:44,866 and over 1,300 lives in the decade following the Christmas tree disaster. 350 00:35:48,870 --> 00:35:55,843 Scheunemann is clearly not the only Chicagoan running risks to turn a profit 351 00:35:57,914 --> 00:36:01,745 DONALD: Chicago is all about risk. 352 00:36:01,780 --> 00:36:04,886 Failure doesn't bother people, it seems, in this town. 353 00:36:04,921 --> 00:36:07,786 They risk things, they fail, 354 00:36:07,820 --> 00:36:10,478 they come back and smack at it again. 355 00:36:11,686 --> 00:36:14,137 NARRATOR: Never is this combination of enterprise 356 00:36:14,172 --> 00:36:18,245 and risk-taking more evident than in time of war. 357 00:36:23,146 --> 00:36:30,118 December 1941 and the USA is dramatically drawn into World War Two. 358 00:36:31,982 --> 00:36:38,748 For Chicago, America's industrial powerhouse, this presents a huge opportunity. 359 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,410 DONALD: Wars have always been good for Chicago. 360 00:36:45,444 --> 00:36:50,691 Chicago made everything from toothbrushes to harvesters 361 00:36:50,725 --> 00:36:55,765 and almost everything that was needed by the army is made in Chicago. 362 00:36:57,698 --> 00:37:01,391 NARRATOR: But this is not the city's only wartime contribution. 363 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:08,122 What can draining a mysterious wreck in the lake reveal 364 00:37:08,156 --> 00:37:11,608 about how Chicago helps America prepare 365 00:37:11,643 --> 00:37:14,232 for a totally new kind of warfare? 366 00:37:18,028 --> 00:37:21,031 Maritime archaeologists from the US Navy, 367 00:37:21,066 --> 00:37:25,864 working alongside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 368 00:37:25,898 --> 00:37:28,246 are surveying an area of Lake Michigan. 369 00:37:28,798 --> 00:37:32,560 They're in search of Chicago's wartime secrets. 370 00:37:33,837 --> 00:37:38,117 The team uses the latest scanning technology to scour the lakebed. 371 00:37:39,843 --> 00:37:43,053 After several days of painstaking work, 372 00:37:43,088 --> 00:37:50,820 they pinpoint an object of interest and send a dive team down for a closer look. 373 00:37:53,098 --> 00:37:56,653 DR NEYLAND: Well we've got 2 divers down looking at a possible wreck. 374 00:37:56,688 --> 00:38:00,864 We don't know for sure what it is, but it's definitely manmade, 375 00:38:00,899 --> 00:38:02,349 it's really exciting. 376 00:38:04,903 --> 00:38:11,634 NARRATOR: Around 100 feet down, the divers discover not a boat, but an aircraft. 377 00:38:16,604 --> 00:38:22,300 The plane has at least two seats. 378 00:38:22,334 --> 00:38:28,720 The fuselage has completely disappeared, but the wings are still perfectly intact. 379 00:38:32,827 --> 00:38:40,110 It's an intriguing discovery but it's far from clear what type of plane this is 380 00:38:40,145 --> 00:38:42,561 or what it's doing here. 381 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:52,260 Peeling back the waters, and draining Lake Michigan offer a better view 382 00:38:53,814 --> 00:38:57,265 The full outline of a square-winged aircraft 383 00:38:57,300 --> 00:38:59,544 becomes visible on the lakebed. 384 00:39:02,409 --> 00:39:07,862 Using CGI to remove silt below the wings, uncovers a surprise. 385 00:39:09,864 --> 00:39:13,592 The undercarriage has been engaged this plane appears 386 00:39:13,627 --> 00:39:17,838 to be trying to land in the middle of the lake. 387 00:39:18,839 --> 00:39:21,220 Why would it do this? 388 00:39:27,019 --> 00:39:30,057 NARRATOR: Divers have discovered the wreck of an aircraft which appears 389 00:39:30,091 --> 00:39:33,854 to have been trying to land in the middle of Lake Michigan. 390 00:39:38,790 --> 00:39:44,554 Extraordinary US Navy footage from World War Two may shed light on this mystery. 391 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:53,114 It shows military aircraft training to land on aircraft carriers 392 00:39:53,149 --> 00:39:55,185 on the waters of Lake Michigan. 393 00:39:58,982 --> 00:40:02,883 But why train here, so far from the ocean? 394 00:40:07,301 --> 00:40:12,720 In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the US realizes that war in the Pacific 395 00:40:12,755 --> 00:40:14,860 can only be won from the air. 396 00:40:18,485 --> 00:40:22,109 Aircraft carriers will be the decisive weapon. 397 00:40:24,767 --> 00:40:28,426 There's an urgent need for specially trained pilots 398 00:40:29,565 --> 00:40:32,809 DR DELGADO: Now you can train men in airfields around the country 399 00:40:32,844 --> 00:40:35,536 but what you're not able to train them in is something essential 400 00:40:35,571 --> 00:40:38,815 particularly for the Pacific War and that's flying 401 00:40:38,850 --> 00:40:40,886 off of and landing on an aircraft carrier. 402 00:40:43,544 --> 00:40:47,928 NARRATOR: Safe from enemy attack, and with its massive lake, 403 00:40:47,962 --> 00:40:52,519 Chicago is the perfect place to practice carrier landings. 404 00:40:55,349 --> 00:41:04,462 But in 1942, America has only 7 carriers in commission and all are needed in combat. 405 00:41:07,879 --> 00:41:09,777 So what's the answer? 406 00:41:11,538 --> 00:41:15,749 Historical research into the US Navy archives reveals 407 00:41:15,783 --> 00:41:19,822 an ingenious solution devised by Chicago engineers. 408 00:41:21,548 --> 00:41:26,691 DR DELGADO: So what is decided is to take 2 steamers in the Great Lakes, 409 00:41:26,725 --> 00:41:31,385 cut 'em down, put flight decks on them and turn them into aircraft carriers, 410 00:41:31,419 --> 00:41:34,284 far away from the theatre of war. 411 00:41:35,216 --> 00:41:41,947 NARRATOR: The navy gives the shipyards 120 days to deliver and in true Chicago 412 00:41:41,982 --> 00:41:45,917 spirit the first ship is ready in just 59. 413 00:41:49,299 --> 00:41:56,272 These 'steamer carriers' relaunch as the USS Wolverine and the USS Sable. 414 00:41:58,964 --> 00:42:02,865 So what are the aircraft that train on these carriers 415 00:42:02,899 --> 00:42:06,178 and why has this one crashed into the lake? 416 00:42:10,458 --> 00:42:14,186 Careful analysis of the design details of the wreck enables 417 00:42:14,221 --> 00:42:17,673 the team to close in on an identification. 418 00:42:21,055 --> 00:42:23,920 The plane's cockpit is positioned distinctively 419 00:42:23,955 --> 00:42:26,095 close to the front of the aircraft. 420 00:42:28,787 --> 00:42:34,344 The final clue is the tell-tale aerodynamic design of the turret. 421 00:42:35,449 --> 00:42:38,797 There's no doubt: this is a Grumman Avenger. 422 00:42:42,214 --> 00:42:46,253 DR DELGADO: This big aircraft is a US Navy TBM Avenger of World War II. 423 00:42:46,287 --> 00:42:52,086 These carrier based aircraft were used in large numbers in the Pacific War. 424 00:42:53,571 --> 00:42:58,955 These craft in particular were designed to drop out of the sky, launch a torpedo, 425 00:42:58,990 --> 00:43:01,406 and send it into the side of an enemy ship. 426 00:43:05,893 --> 00:43:10,104 NARRATOR: With its long range and large bomb payload, 427 00:43:10,139 --> 00:43:14,488 the Avenger plays a vital role in the destruction of the Japanese navy. 428 00:43:16,835 --> 00:43:24,256 But landing an Avenger is no mean feat: pilots say it's like flying a truck. 429 00:43:25,085 --> 00:43:28,536 DR DELGADO: Not every pilot can take off and land 430 00:43:28,571 --> 00:43:31,091 on a tiny little piece of a ship out in the middle of the ocean 431 00:43:34,335 --> 00:43:36,441 DR TROIANI: So it's a lot of coordination, 432 00:43:36,475 --> 00:43:42,620 and a lot of calculation in your head, to make that landing on a postage stamp. 433 00:43:47,625 --> 00:43:50,662 In a typical day, you would maybe have 100 pilots training. 434 00:43:50,697 --> 00:43:53,458 It was constant. 435 00:43:53,492 --> 00:43:57,911 As soon as that sun came out, pilots were landing and taking off. 436 00:44:00,845 --> 00:44:04,952 NARRATOR: For the rookie pilot there are many challenges judging 437 00:44:04,987 --> 00:44:08,887 the strength of a headwind and the speed of the carrier. 438 00:44:10,406 --> 00:44:14,755 Vital for a successful landing is the pilot's ability to deploy 439 00:44:14,790 --> 00:44:20,588 the tail hook, catching the cable on the carrier deck to bring the plane to a halt. 440 00:44:21,693 --> 00:44:25,145 DR TROIANI: Catching that wire was critical, because if you missed a wire, 441 00:44:25,179 --> 00:44:27,492 your aircraft was not going to stop, 442 00:44:27,526 --> 00:44:32,117 and that's like going from 80 miles an hour to a complete stop. 443 00:44:35,017 --> 00:44:38,503 NARRATOR: Not every attempt at landing is successful 444 00:44:49,790 --> 00:44:54,139 The wartime evidence, and data from the drained wreck 445 00:44:54,174 --> 00:44:56,832 proves this must be one of the casualties 446 00:44:56,866 --> 00:44:59,869 of the World War Two training programme. 447 00:45:02,769 --> 00:45:06,462 Further scanning of the lake by the naval search team 448 00:45:06,496 --> 00:45:10,880 reveals that the drained Avenger is not alone. 449 00:45:10,915 --> 00:45:13,331 ARCHAEOLOGIST: As you can see here pretty well preserved. 450 00:45:13,365 --> 00:45:17,749 It's extraordinary Yeah pretty much intact. 451 00:45:17,784 --> 00:45:24,756 NARRATOR: Second World War records show that between 1942 and 1945, 452 00:45:24,791 --> 00:45:28,208 eight trainee pilots are lost on Lake Michigan 453 00:45:30,072 --> 00:45:35,111 and more than 120 aircraft disappear beneath the water. 454 00:45:38,183 --> 00:45:44,017 Fighter planes, dive bombers And 36 Avengers. 455 00:45:47,952 --> 00:45:51,369 The identity and fate of the wrecked aircraft are now clear 456 00:45:53,509 --> 00:45:58,307 but the identity of the pilot who crashed into the lake remains unknown. 457 00:46:00,412 --> 00:46:05,521 It's a powerful reminder of a vital episode in the story of America's war 458 00:46:05,555 --> 00:46:10,181 in the Pacific, and testimony to the courage 459 00:46:10,215 --> 00:46:16,359 and innovation of the men who served and trained on Chicago's lake. 460 00:46:20,467 --> 00:46:25,748 Today, Lake Michigan is busier than ever. 461 00:46:25,783 --> 00:46:32,341 Now, it's mostly pleasure boats bought with the riches that Chicago has created. 462 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:40,694 Rail, road and air transport have largely replaced the water-borne 463 00:46:40,728 --> 00:46:43,283 freight of the city's Golden Age. 464 00:46:45,906 --> 00:46:50,255 But the story of that great era still lies 465 00:46:50,290 --> 00:46:55,847 safely preserved in the ice-cold waters of the lake. 466 00:46:55,882 --> 00:46:56,883 Captioned by SubTitlePro LLC