Lake Michigan: Inland Steel Barge & Material Services Barge
Double Action Dive Charters
July 25th, 2026
Captain: Dan
Divemaster: Keith and Dominick
Boat: SeaQuest II
Another afternoon out on the lake! The original plan was to dive the Inland Steel Barge and the David Dows. Due to delays with the morning charter and visibility being less than 10’ we opted to dive the Material Service Barge for the second dive instead of the David Dows. Luckily the weather was decent and the lake was mostly calm without large waves.
Inland Steel Barge
(47’ for 35 minutes, 61°F)
This is an unknown barge that sank sometime between 1910-1920. It is located off the coast of northwest Indiana near the former Inland Steel processing facility, hence the name. Despite being a popular dive site and visited frequently, not much is known about the wreck. Due to the poor visibility, we stayed mostly along the outer edge of the wreck, using the various beams, pipes, and formations to avoid getting lost. However, on the way back, we missed the ascent point, and stumbled upon, potentially, the stern of the ship which was at roughly 25’ and had much better visibility.
Material Service Barge
32’ for 27 minutes, 73°F
The Material Service Barge (originally built as hull #253) is a shallow 240’ long by 30’ wide wreck that is resting in roughly 40’ of water. She was built in 1929 and was on a 10-year lease to the Material Service Corporation. She sank on July 29th, 1936 in a summer squall losing 15 of the 22 crew members. The surviving crew members were rescued after swimming to the breakers She sits upright with eight hulls that allow plenty of swim throughs and penetration. When it was an active barge, it mostly carried sand, gravel, and asphalt that was then used to build the surrounding interstates. It was uniquely built keeping it short so that it could under the bridges without need to raise them.
On the stern the propellers still remain usually with freshwater sponges growing on the underside of the wreck.
