France claims rights to Lake Michigan shipwreck

[Adsos Letter]

By JOHN FLESHER •
Associated Press • January 30, 2009

TRAVERSE CITY — The French government says it still owns the Griffin, a 17th-Century ship built by legendary explorer La Salle that may have been discovered in northern Lake Michigan.


France filed a claim to the vessel Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, escalating a legal battle over who owns and has authority to retrieve artifacts from the long-lost vessel.


Michigan also is seeking title, although state officials have raised doubts about whether the Griffin’s gravesite actually has been found. They say federal law gives the state ownership of abandoned vessels embedded in its Great Lakes bottomlands.


A private group, Great Lakes Exploration LLC, located what it contends may be the Griffin’s wreckage in 2001. It wants to be appointed custodian until the courts determine ownership and salvage rights.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090130/NEWS06/90130017/France+asserts+ownership+of+Lake+Michigan+shipwreck

[Critters2]

1. So, all the real problems in the world have been solved.

Good to know!

[The Straight Story]

2. Give it a day, the French will surrender

:hide: :rofl:

[Adsos Letter]

3. "I'd rather have the Germans in front of me...

than the French behind me." ...something like that... :D

[Harry Monroe]

7. "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy"

[BlooInBloo]

21. Existential Blues!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nJ30dodvdc

[Ellipsis]

17. Yeah, you better duck and cover you lout you.

:P

[bluestateguy]

4. If they want it, they'll have to come and get it.

nt

[Adsos Letter]

5. arrgghhh..

:D

[LakeSamish706]

6. The French couldn't fight shit, now take the Canadian's and look out... n/t

[dysfunctional press]

10. lake michigan is the one great lake that canada doesn't border.

too bad for them, too.

[Ellipsis]

15. oh yeah?

[Still Sensible]

8. Finders Keepers

[1]

9. i hope michigan capitulates on this. them french will come over, riot and burn some cars...

and michigan has a lot of cars lying about...

[wuushew]

11. Lake Michigan is the only great lake entirely within the borders of the U.S.

the argument is weak.

[leftstreet]

12. Awesome. A Sea Battle!

[Doctor Cynic]

13. A US Navy shipwreck in French territorial waters will be considered Uncle Sam's property

so I don't see any problem here.

[JVS]

14. Fuck that. Law of the briny deep yo!

[madinmaryland]

16. Goddamn frenchies are digging up the Edmund Fitzgerald??

:wtf:

:grr:

[Ellipsis]

19. I doubt very much they would be interested in taconite pellets.

[Adsos Letter]

20. They just want Gordon Lightfoot...

[Ellipsis]

22. I lived in Duluth for a while...

they have a historical diorama of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the floor of lake Superior.

The hatch covers weren't secured a "thousand footer" she went down in a matter of minutes.

I saw the last 1000" foot ore ship coming in to harbor right before Superior froze upone year in December... the look on the ship hands faces as the ship came into port, icicles hanging off the railings, their almost dead stark look, is something I will never forget... the life blood was pretty much sucked right out of them.

Lake Superior is viscous beast and until you see 25 foot horizontal breakers and have been pelted with 50 mile per hour spray, it's pretty tough to comprehend.

[Adsos Letter]

23. I believe it...any body of water that size, at that location...

is bound to prooduce some horriffic weather.

Hard for us California souls to comprehend...

[Ellipsis]

24. Beautiful, but dangerously fickle

I've posted some pics from the harbor before... I'll try to dig them up.

[Ellipsis]

25. .

[Ellipsis]

26. .

surreal.

[Adsos Letter]

27. Holy Smokes!!! Yeah...we don't see much of that here in California...

Gorgeous pictures, but... :scared:

Thanks for posting! :hi:

OT, but...you should really consider posting those in the photo forum; they would be well appreciated there. :thumbsup:

[Ellipsis]

28. California is an awful cool state especially Reyes Point.

thanks, and good night.

[susanna]

18. This story has been interesting for a while.

I found a video on the site of the salvage organization (the original claimant to the potential find). Check out the first video; the "find" was a piece of wood sticking up from the lakebed. As the video shows, it has definitely been worked by humans at some point, so it isn't just some timber fallen off a lumber ship:

http://greatlakesexploration.org/video1.htm

There have been assertions that sonar has showed more underneath the lakebed, which is certainly exciting. Even if it isn't the Griffon, it's still a find of some sort. I'm not sure why Michigan is resisting a joint operation with the original salvage company...now that France is involved, it just gets more complicated. But as an avid Great Lakes shipping history buff, I am really interested in this. :-)