Exploring the Depths of Lake Tahoe: The Steamship Tahoe

The SS Tahoe sits at a depth of over 115m (377ft) in Lake Tahoe. She was sunk in 1940 and few people have seen her since. Mission Robotics used an ROV to explore the wreck using completely natural light.

[@samjellison2]

Awesome video. Now I don't have to spend all that money for training and gasses to dive it. To dive it I seem to remember it was a good 4 hr dive with 12 minutes total bottom time.
IF you can find the "crew" to do it.
Thanks John Clauss, Denise Jaffke & Mission Robotics

[@Devo1987]

Pretty cool. I wish I could just pop up down there for a few seconds with out dieing

[@tyersontheroad2607]

Very cool, I think we can save her, let's bring her up!!

[@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE]

In the '80's there was a guy who had the means and the plan to raise her. Had approval from TRPA, a place to haul her out, etc. Even made a demonstration model of how they were going to accomplish the recovery. He got caught embezzling money or some other financial crime and that was the end of it. Now that it's a 'Historic Landmark' it can't be fiddled with.. unfortunately.

[@theedeeone]

I have always been around Lake Tahoe my whole life, so I am very familiar with the wreck, and have always wanted to dive it or explore it with an ROV. But I am very interested in the wrecks of the Meteor and the Emerald. I believe they were to have been scuttled in the deepest part of the lake, or possibly what was thought to be the deepest back in 1940 when they were scuttled
CORRECTION! not the emerald! the emerald was scrapped instead. But Bliss rebought both the SS Nevada, originally named the Tallac, and the SS Meteor in the Lake, and scuttled both of them as well. It is noted that the Meteor was town halfway between Tahoe City and Glenbrook and scuttled. While the Nevada was supposedly scuttled in the middle of the lake by being drenched in gasoline the set ablaze. There is also a later built gasoline powered mail ship, the Marian B which exploded and sank somewhere in the Lake that is not exactly known. The Marian B is the only one of trashed that I know of. Finding the Marian B could help solve a mystery as to what exactly caused the sinking. The Governor Stanford, a Side Wheeler reached the end of her career, then was gutted and broke up in a winter storm. Seems like there is a whole treasure trove of steamers waiting to be discovered in Tahoe. Would love to see them discovered. I am very interested in seeing if you guys could find any one of those, or something else that may have very little history written about it!

[@MissionRobotics]

Thanks for your interest and also providing your correction! Our records show that the Emerald (actually the second Emerald that worked on the lake) was pulled out of service in 1935 and sold for scrap around 1941. Your corrected account of the history of the ships is much closer to our understanding of the history of the various vessels. The SS Meteor and Nevada are on our list of things we would love to find, but deepwater searches are a bit more challenging. When we have the correct tools to do a proper search, we will be looking, and if we find anything interesting, we will let the community know.

[@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE]

Isn't the Tallac's engine the big double-simple standing by the boathouses at the Tallac historic site at Camp Richardson?
Correction; went and looked at it the other day. Seems it is the 'Todd Goodwin's engine

[@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE]

Thank you for filming and posting this. It appears there's been quite a bit of damage since her scuttling. Likely from boat anchors or grappling hooks (you know who you are). Now off to find the 'Meteor'!

[@MissionRobotics]

Yes, there appears to be a substantial amount of damage. Also, since we have been visiting the wreck over the past 7 or so years, we have been able to comapre footage and see shifts and changes. The Meteor is definitely on our bucket list! Unlike the SS Tahoe where the location is known, the Meteor will require a search first, likely with sonar on AUVs and a fair bit of time. The tools required are constantly improving and dropping in cost though :)

[@theedeeone]

I have always been around Lake Tahoe my whole life, so I am very familiar with the wreck, and have always wanted to dive it or explore it with an ROV. But I am very interested in the wrecks of the Meteor and the Emerald. I believe they were to have been scuttled in the deepest part of the lake, or possibly what was thought to be the deepest back in 1940 when they were scuttled

[@ross_tester]

I believe they had to explode the vessel to get it to sink which could explain the damage

[@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE]

@@ross_tester if you compare footage over the years from the first photos during the 'Secrets of Lake Tahoe' discovery, to now you can see quite the change in damage. Also I know of at least one person who had hooked the wreck with a grappling hook prior to the 'rediscovery' and had a piece of her railing in his office. Sinking her was just simply disconnecting plumbing intended for the machinery (feed pumps, injector, condenser, etc) and opening sea cocks (valves to the water outside). It's amazing how much water even a 2" pipe will let in. Air trapped in the lightly built pilot house (built after 1905-ish if you trust the historic photo dates) likely caused it's damage. Though, one can't rule out the possibility of the grappling hook being the culprit..

[@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE]

@@MissionRobotics there have been several tow fish sonar expeditions in the lake. I would not be surprised if her whereabouts are known and just being kept secret to protect her from the grappling hook salvagers.

[@gewglesux]

your website could use some work