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The Roy A. Jodery is for technical divers only. The depth, location and current all combine to create hazardous to treacherous conditions. The Jodery is a boat dive located in American waters at the Coast Guard Station directly in front of Alexandria Bay.
A Tale of Two Ships
When the skies of November turned gloomy in 1975, the largest ship to sail the Great Lakes*, the 729 foot long Edmund Fitzgerald sank on November 10, 1975 took her crew of 29 seamen to the bottom of Lake Superior just 17 miles from the “safe haven” of Whitefish Point. The Edmund Fitzgerald now lies at 529 feet down in two pieces and is well beyond “round trip” diving.
When the skies of November turned gloomy in 1974, the largest ship that could fit through the locks of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the Roy A. Jodrey sank on November 21, 1974, dropped her entire crew off ashore at Alexandria Bay, where she ran aground about 17 yards from the “safe haven” of the Coast Guard Station, in the heart of the 1000 Islands. The 640.5 foot Roy A. Jodrey slid off the island into over 250 feet of water. the Jodrey sits on the side of the shipping channel on a wall of granite. The bow is at 140’, the wheelhouse is at 155’, and the stern is at 242’. The extreme depth and extreme current has claimed many lives, including one of the investigators first sent to evaluate the wreck. Despite the heavy recreational and commercial boating traffic, it remains a mecca for certified and experienced diving enthusiasts with an interest in the largest ships ever to ply the Great Lakes.
The bridge of each ship are within 20 feet of each other, relative to sea level. The bow section of the Fitz is sitting upright, buried in the Lake Superior mud to her waterline. The Fitz’s bridge is 39 feet above the mud, putting it about 490 feet below the surface of Lake Superior. The Jodrey’s bridge is 155 feet below the surface of the St. Lawrence. However, Lake Superior’s average water level is 601 feet above sea level, whereas the St. Lawrence at the Jodrey is only 246 feet above sea level. That puts the Fitz’s bridge at 110 feet above sea level and the Jodrey’s bridge at 91 feet above sea level.
The stern section of the Fitz is upside down which puts the props at about the same depth as the bridge. The props on the Jodrey are at 242’, which puts them about 105 feet deeper than the props on the Fitz, relative to sea level.
The extreme depth and extreme current has claimed many lives, including one of the investigators first sent to evaluate the wreck. Despite the heavy recreational and commercial boating traffic, it remains a mecca for certified and experienced diving enthusiasts with an interest in the largest ships ever to ply the Great Lakes.
*note:The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship on the Great Lakes from her launching on September 24, 1958 until 1971
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