I came across an interesting story recently that circulates among diving enthusiasts. It involves a ship called The SS Kamloops that sank in 1927 off Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Some mystery surrounds the sinking of the ship. It was thought that there were no survivors, but six months later bodies were found on a nearby island. Apparently, survivors had starved to death waiting for rescue even though nobody was looking for them.

Divers say they hear stories from fellow divers about a body that is still trapped in the engine room of the wreck. The story goes that in a fresh water lake, at that depth, there are no fish to eat the remains and the temperature is so low all year round, that a body won't decompose. Also, it is too dangerous to recover a body trapped that far down. So the unfortunate crewman, nicknamed "Whitey" or "Grandpa" by locals, just floats there in the engine room, perfectly preserved.

Divers who have been down to the wreck have reported strange encounters such as being followed by the body or being surprised suddenly by the body floating towards them. They say the body is ghostly white and still has it's wedding ring on it's finger.

Seems odd to me that a body from 1927 would still be intact. Has anyone else heard about this legend? Can't find much info on it and it seems like it might just be an urban legend.

LOL, the temperature part I might buy, might, but the no fish part at that depth is so wrong. There are bottom feeders in all lakes, unless the pollution has killed them off, and at the time of the sinking, there would not have been the pollution in the Lake that there is now.

Otherwise, a creepy little story.

I find it a little hard to swallow the body still being in tack too.

I guess it spurs the imagination better if the body is supposedly whole, LOL

Well. sounds interesting. Althought there might not have been fish to munch old Whitey away, but what about the microscopic bactieria that I would think after neary 100 years would have made a bit of damage over time.

He would of had to have been frozen to still be in tact.

Its a little bit like makeing Ox tail stew, no matter what the temperatures the meat is still gunna fall of the bone at some stage. Sorry bad pun! te he

Another thing, if divers had been down there, then why didnt they bring him up for Identification, burial, history and medical science then?
"Ye old shipped matey be starving for a good rum by now" lol

Well, I have heard before that a body will not decompose underwater, but I always assumed that was false... Also, aside from fish and crabs and all, what about microbes and alge? Would they possibly "eat" a body? For that matter, I have seen decomposing fish and and turtles in the river, but that is brachish...

Actually I did a bit of research on this. Found out that something strange can happen with bodies that are immersed in water for long periods. Layers of fat come to the surface of the skin, forming a chalky/soapy substance that hardens around the outside. Effectively protecting the skin from decomposition. I guess it's like a natural form of mummification.

Imagine diving down there and having the body scream underwater at you.

Holy f**k that gives me shivers, I am now traumatised for several weeks. Several sleepless weeks.

SS Kamloops story elements are probably real (except for the body swimming around).

Since she's down at 80m, I'm not sure what the risks of recovery are, especially if the wreck is safe for diving. We need someone who's a SAR Diver to clear up that one

Doesn't even mention the stories, so I assume they are just made up.

Story Elements, my dear Watsit It mentions the bodies being discovered in spring 1928 on the Island. It doesn't mention the body in the engine room though

The only thing I can't verify is the difficulty of the dive. I know that below 40m, divers have to use a different gas mix and I know that the record for a scuba dive was 270m, but apart from that, we need someone with some diving credentials (and probably some familarity with that area of the Lakes) to tell us how bunk recreationally diving the wreck would be.

Ah, very true my australian companion, very true.

If the divers went to the wreckage, why couldn't they take the body with them?

It sounds to me like a mixture of history (the true story of the wreck) and fiction. The bit about the body following the divers around reminds me very much of a short story called "Dead Men On Parade". I don't remember who wrote it, but it's in one of the Alfred Hitchcock story collections and I read it several times when I was a kid. It's about a diver who is (for some reason) diving on a wrecked ship. There are several bodies there -- in the story it's not an old wreck -- and as he moves through the ship he stirs the water and the bodies of the drowned sailors are drawn into his wake and move along behind him.

I haven't heard this one. However, I love learning about the Edmund Fitzgerald. I'm from Michigan, so that's kinda natural.

Actually, there is supposedly a body on the Edmund Fitzgerald; however, I've also heard reports that say the body they found on that dive had the wrong clothes for the time period
(ie - the body was from another wreck).

There is a legend that Lake Superior doesn't give up her dead; it's due to the cold, like you said. Fascinating stuff.

These two parts seem very contradictory to me. If divers can go there, they could probably recover the body. Depending on the damage to the ship, they could either clear a path through the interior or cut a hole through the exterior. At least now they could, if they knew the body was there. Back then it would have been dangerous. I've never heard the story or researched it, but it sounds to me like you're right and it's probably an urban legend.

Even if they couldn't get the body, it seems kind of odd that at first, it is stuck in an engine, and then it can somehow magically free itself and swim.

Ugh, my brain hurts.

Could possibly explain why it looked so white I suppose... thanks for the info much appreciated!

HAH! I'm not even dead yet and I am... As for the story why would the not bring up the body if they were already down there... Also there is no way he would be perfectly preserved... Microbes and bacteria would have a friggin hay day... The "whiteness" could also be from lack of sunlight for, I dont know... 100 YEARS! His skin in life or death would lose pixelation... This is 100% urban legend with the only truth being the SS Kamloops...

Eww poor thing! Im sooo going to have nightmares about this one :-(

there are storys like that here(lake tahoe) they are not sure how deep the center is.it's said it's unmeasure able I know that part to be true as i've been on the caost gaurd boat and there depth finder shuts off in the center.they know there are cemment shoes in our lake and say bodies dumped by the mob in the deep area are still there due to the extreme old and lack of fish. but there are many urban legends here.they also claim a loch ness monster lives her(they call her,yes "her" tahoe tessie.) there is also the missing stagecoach that sopposedly fell of a cliff and into the lake they say it's still missing along with all the gold.yet another story is of a hotel from the 1800's if i remember correctly.that only ran during the summer then one summer people werent able to find it.it hasent been seen since.(you try to explain that one).then we have the bigfoot sightings and multipile (although hidden) haunted houses.

Charle's my friend............ You crack me up! lol

I cracked up at this comment from him: "His skin in life or death would lose pixelation..."

Too many video games, I'm thinking. Pigmentation, yes. Pixelation, no.

Freaky story. Thanks for sharing.

Now I'm interested in the story now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tahoe

1600 feet deep

Lol thats not even near right. the coast gaurds boat shut off around 2800.and the cg them self tolkd me they don't know the depth of the center.

Hello everyone,
Came across this forum, read your posts and felt compelled to shed some light on the Kamloops.

You were right about the part of the ships unknown cause to why it sank, it most likely ran aground on the very rocky shores of Isle Royale and then slid back into the depths. The ships depths are 160-275. The mooring line is not buoyed due to severe risks. The interesting thing about lake superior are the cold waters that stay very consistent below 50' staying at a constant 34*.

There are human remains on the ship found in the engine room. There were reports of bodies by divers but not officially confirmed until the NPS SCRU team with the assistance of ROV's recorded footage. The body was not completely intact, due to gravity, the feet, hands and head were not attached but the torso and the cloths were still surprisingly in good condition.

I have never heard a local call it grandpa or whitey...

at those depths, divers may encounter nitrogen narcosis, which can result in hallucination's which could explain the following of the body but this story is new to me.

Wow creepy, I dive as well and I can say how creepy it is to see a dead fish floating by your head

Awesome. I was researching this as a potential story for my website and I wasn't sure if it was true or not. I came across posts on forums for divers that were giving accounts of their dives in this area and mentioning things in passing like "...we paid our respects to Whitey and moved on..."

So this is actually verified? I think I'll write it up because there's something about the image of a body floating down at those depths for (potentially) centuries that really gives me the CREEPS!!!!

I am a trimix rebreather diver and have seen the body. There is no head or ams on him anymore. His legs are gone at the knee. He is quite preserved otherwise (big white blob) . If someone seen a wedding ring on his finger it would have been a long time ago. I'm going there next week. We are going into an area that a hatch was just opened last year. There could be more bodies in there. Will keep you posted.

Have a great day,
P.B.

The waters of Lake Superior are very cold, but 1927 until now is 2008 is 81 years, unless Whitey's Pockets are filled with Styrofoam, the body is not still floating or in a suspended state of buoyancy, which at time of death and for a short time afterwards could have been, but Mr. Whitey’s body has long decayed or has been the meal of underwater organisms, now it could be remotely possible I suppose as there are spring fed fresh Water Lakes here that have ancient trees submerged, that are becoming Petrified such as the Petrified Ghost Trees that are 2,900 years ago such as are littering the bottom Clear Lake like eerie sentinels of a past eruption that is the source of Sahalie Falls (Church) and the lower Koosah Falls, Clear Lake was dammed up by thick flows of basaltic andesite lava, the Ghost trees of clear lakes bottom viewed from rowboats atop as the lake is very clean and clear…

Could a Human Body be preserved in somewhat of a recognizable state in such cold water conditions for 81 year or longer, I am not sure but I would not rule it out ether, there was a Old Model T-Ford Truck of a mail carrier that one day decided to cut a short cut across a frozen bay in Lake Coeur D Alane, Idaho many years ago and his truck fell through sinking to the bottom, a diver in the mid eighties found this truck and had in brought up to the surface I do not recall upon if the Mail carrier survived the icy splurge through the ice, I would think he didn’t but maybe it was somewhat his lucky day, I would suspect that there would be many Bodies of past tragedies that drivers would have discovered the partial or whole remains of if the cold fresh water lake conditions were true in preserving Human remains, as for the Vehicles such as the Mail truck rediscover at the bottom of Lake Coeur D Alane back then they covered the engines in so much grease that it was still very well preserved minis all the rubber parts… and one day a Kid took his Daddy’s really cool and $$$ wooden speed boat out upon Houser Lake, North or Coeur d Alane, and got to giving more attention to his girl friend’s uh um… sweet eyes then to his Boat piloting responsibly and sunk his daddy new custom Wooden speedboat, well that too was discovered in the bottoms water weeds also very well preserved 35 years later, but as for a Human body in water I don’t know…

And what of the reported story of the severed hand and the Body that the treasure excavation team reportedly viewed by Live camera floating in the subterranean passage at the Famed OAK Island Treasure Site, if no other Bodies or other explorer/treasure seekers hands were severed off at that site after the original construction of, then the presumption is to be that Hand and Body is of the original excavators of the speculated 1704 to late 1700’s and that is a long time especially if that body and hand was submerged at start as they were viewed in (Presumed ether as submerged or floating) in Brackish waters…

Pavot

hes preserved well???? i dont think a white blob is preserved well,lol can you get pics?

I've actually heard that there are well preserved bodies on the Titanic. Has anyone else heard that?

Well... as one of the dudes said, 81 years is a long time, and i do not see a possibility in it that he should still be there fully intact because of the fact that his skin would soak up too much water to stay together, some of it would have to be replaced by water as it dies slowly, so i do not see how he should be intact in any way