Sunken Maine: What Lies Below The Waters Of Maine’s Lakes
What lies below the waters of Maine's lakes? Shipwrecks, World War ll aircraft and more.
Maine lakes and ponds are the watery graveyards of plenty of strange things. From shipwrecks, to planes, to trucks. Here's a look at some of the submerged relics that lay below.
Sebago Lake, Royal Navy Vought F4U Corsairs
200 feet below the surface of Sebago Lake lies two Royal Navy Vought F4U Corsairs. On May 16, 1944 the two aircraft collided while on a training mission. The accident sadly killed both pilots. At the time Sebago Lake was used to train pilots how to fly over water. The video above was posted on Youtube by Dustin Harper. Here's what he had to say about the video:
This is footage taken around 2003, of 1 of 2 Vought F4U Corsairs that collided during training on May 16, 1944. Both Royal Navy pilots were killed. They were both out of Naval Air Station Brunswick and Sebago Lake was used as a safe place to train young pilots on how to fly over water. The Corsair shown is # JT160, and the second one it collided with sits 1.3 miles away. She is sitting on her nose straight up and down, both wings were torn from the fuselage, and the right wing is 100 feet from the rest of the plane. The landing gear was down (she is equipped with a tailhook) when she crashed (not sure why) and the Canopy is open. Maybe the pilot tried to get out before she sank? The men behind the dive was David Tallichet, A well known warbird collector and WWII bomber pilot, and Alfred Hagen, Who very recently recovered the "Swamp Ghost", The B17E that bellied into a Papua, New Guinea swamp
Moosehead Lake, Steamer Twilight ll
Back in the day Moosehead lake was bustling with ferries that transported tourists all over the massive lake. Some of those ships now lay quietly on the bottom of the lake. Youtuber Dallas Fields uploaded the video above. He dived the wreck in 2016. According to him, the Twilight II was 95 feet-long and built in 1911. The steamer sank at her mooring at Shipyard Point in 1943. Check out this video to learn more about the history of Moosehead Lake and its sunken secrets.
Kennebunk Pond, Sunken Truck
This old 1960's truck at the bottom of Kennebunk Pond in Lyman is popular with divers. It was likely sent to its watery grave after it fell through thin ice. That, or the owner really needs to get an updated gazetteer. By the way when you're swimming in the lake this summer, you're sharing the water with the critter that appears at :52. You're welcome.
BONUS: Sunken Maine Treasure
This video went viral last year, when Greg Canders of Canders Diving Services returned from the frozen depths of a northern Maine lake with two bottles of Allen's Coffee Brandy. The diver was working to recover a sunken snowmobile and ice fishing gear when he saw the bottles of Maine favorite blackout beverage.