Question of the Day - 27 July 2023

“Submersibles are generally not allowed in Lake Mead,” the National Park Service told us, rendering the question of special permits moot.

As for there being anything down there worth an inspection, the answer is: not much more. Most of Lake Mead’s sunken treasures have been brought back to the surface as the lake levels have receded from drought. 

For instance, there is/was St. Thomas. It “is a well-known town that was submerged when Lake Mead was originally filled. However, as lake levels dropped in the 2000s, the remnants of the town resurfaced. The area is now a popular location for Lake Mead visitors to enjoy on foot. Interpretive signs are posted there to inform visitors on key points about the town,” says the Park Service.

As for sunken vessels, “Aside from a handful of small boats that have sunk over the years, no submerged vessels are accessible to divers.” That’s good as far as the Park Service is concerned, because they really and truly don’t want people endangering themselves by diving on wrecks.

Which is why the NPS won’t disclose the location of a U.S. Air Force bomber that went down on July 21, 1948. The B-29’s pilot misjudged the altitude, apparently the victim of a faulty altimeter. It hit the water at 230 miles per hour. Amazingly, all crewmen survived and were in Boulder City by nightfall. The Park Service maintains an elaborate web page devoted to the B-29, perhaps hoping that would-be divers will instead study it from the safety of their computers.

Getting back to (formerly) sunken boats, most of them can now be found ashore, thanks to Lake Mead’s unfortunate declivity. A number of YouTube videos chronicle this phenomenon. The most notable rediscovery was of a Higgins landing craft from the World War II era. Formerly 185 feet down, it now sits partially submerged  less than a mile from Lake Mead Marina and Hemingway Harbor. 

What's a Higgins boat doing in Lake Mead? It was detailed to conduct Colorado River surveys, then sold to a marina. Its sinking was apparently deliberate. It was rediscovered by NPS divers in 2006. They removed its engine, so little is left but the vessel’s hull. The vast majority of other Lake Mead wrecks are pedestrian pleasure craft.