This shipwreck holds the ghosts of wild parties long past. New photos emerged this week from a boat wreckage where Al Capone might have partied.
Undersea photographer Chris Roxburgh made the dive into Lake Charlevoix in Michigan on Jan. 2, according to a Jan. 5 article from The Kansas City Star. The party boat, called the Keuka, is linked to gangster Al Capone’s Prohibition-era alcohol smuggling ring.
During the early-January dive, Roxburgh captured numerous photos of the wooden ship. It’s nearly 200 feet long and two stories high, resting some 50 feet below the surface. It was constructed in 1889, Roxburgh shared in a Facebook post.
“My favorite part of diving this wreck is just trying to envision what would’ve been going on there in the past,” Roxburgh told McClatchy News.
It’s reported that the boat operated as a speakeasy for Al Capone and company from 1929 to 1931. It was one of many party boats owned by the group; while smuggling alcohol to Michigan during Prohibition, the gangsters were able to drink and enjoy themselves on the lake with little worry of being caught. The Keuka wasn’t used by the group for long, though — after an onboard shooting and attempted murder, the barge was confiscated by police.
Police auctioned off the ship, which was subsequently bought by a local church group and “mysteriously” sank a few weeks afterward. It now sits at the bottom of Lake Charlevoix, over 200 miles northwest of Detroit.
“The wreck is so long and large and not very deep that you can safely swim through the whole entire thing,” Roxburgh stated. “I would encourage people to go check out this vessel in Lake Charlevoix, either novice divers or free divers or snorkelers because it’s such a big wreck that’s not too deep and it’s still intact, which is rare.”
If you’d prefer to stay on dry land, explore the photographer’s stunning undersea photos.