Researchers accidentally discover Civil War-era shipwreck while exploring murky Midwest river

Wisconsin researchers recently discovered a 145-year-old shipwreck in a murky river - and it was a complete surprise.

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

Historians believe the sunken vessel is the L.W. Crane, built in 1865. It sank in 1880. 

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"We knew the Crane was in the area, [and] that finding her remains was a possibility," WUAA president Brendon Baillod told Fox News Digital. 

"But we had assumed that she was most likely buried in the bottom."

He noted that diving the wreck is not feasible, as the Fox River has very low visibility due to suspended sediment. 

They used an archaeological-grade sidescan sonar manufactured in Sweden to find the ship's remnants.

"We were amazed that her entire hull was still visible on the bottom," Baillod said.

The discovery was also publicized by the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), which posted about it on Facebook in July. 

Speaking to Fox News Digital, WHS maritime archaeologist Jordan Ciesielczyk described the situation as "a happy accident, and completely unexpected."

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The WHS joined the trip to survey another shipwreck in the area, the Berlin City. That vessel was built in 1856 and sank in 1870. 

"[The Berlin City] is another river steamboat, like the L.W. Crane," Ciesielczyk said. 

"These small steamboats would carry freight and passengers up and down the Fox and Wolf Rivers."

At the time of the trip, the WHS was unaware of any other shipwrecks in the area, the expert added.

"We were going upriver between two of the previous survey areas and kept scanning the bottom as we went along when suddenly this wreckage came up on our screen," Ciesielczyk said. 

"It was very exciting!"

Ciesielczyk pointed to "context clues" - including the ship's size, shape and location - as strong evidence the wreck is the L.W. Crane.

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"In the summer of 1880, the barge L.W. Crane caught fire and was cut loose from its slip where it burned and sank into Fox River roughly in the area where this wreck was discovered," the archaeologist said. 

"100 yards away from this wreck are the remaining stone bridge caissons for the former railroad bridge on the river bottom."

"The shipwreck we discovered was 90 feet long and 20 feet wide, which is roughly the same size as the L.W. Crane. It's a very strong possibility that this wreck is the L.W. Crane."

Ciesielczyk noted that no artifacts have been discovered near the site, but that doesn't mean they don't exist - further research is planned.

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Future exploration, however, won't be easy. Ciesielczyk said diving in the Fox River is "very challenging" with the rough currents and poor visibility.

Having gone diving "in a different part of the Fox River on another shipwreck years ago, I couldn't see my hands in front of my face," he recalled.

The latest discovery is one of many long-lost shipwrecks that have been identified in the Midwest in recent months. 

In May, the WHS announced that a fisherman stumbled upon a historic shipwreck in Lake Michigan.

The ship, known as the J.C. Ames, was used in the lumber trade before being intentionally destroyed in 1923.