Thomas Friant Site Description 

Depth Range:
             290 to 305 feet

The Thomas Friant lies mid-lake about 12 miles from Knife River

The Thomas Friant sits upright on the bottom 10 to 12 miles out of Knife River Marina in 305 feet of water.  She is only partially embedded in the mud buried up to the hub of the propeller.  Although not a large vessel as shipwrecks go, the Friant is in nearly perfect condition.  Even the stack sits upright and intact with the chain stays.  Like the T.H. Camp the compass binnacle sits on the open front deck forward of the pilot house.  The doors to the pilot house are wood sheeted in steel and tightly closed.  We were only able to peer through the pilot house sash windows at what appeared to be a bronze wheel.  Exploring the inside of the main deck level proved to be much easier since most of the large gangways are open.  The outer cabin sides were added on its last rebuild to give it the look of a typical Great Lakes fish tug.  The interior cabin spaces are divided into two large spaces separated by the original engine and boiler cabins. The aft portion of the cabin spaces still contain fish net floats which were destined to be used through the winter off the North Shore.  Amid-ship behind the engine cabin there is a tool bench and boxes and an entry to the lower deck, which I assume housed a galley stove and fish storage.  It is a narrow stairwell and since everything was covered with a heavy layer of silt, I did not poke my camera into the space.  The engine appears to be a single expansion steam engine.  Wrenches, light bulbs, and a steam gauge are still on the walls and ceiling.  Forward of the engine room is the boiler cabin, which also has very narrow doors and not much to see to encourage access.  The forward cabin space houses boxes of what were probably fish nets but now just boxes of net weights and floats.   There are also net floats floating trapped against the ceiling.  There is also a stair well from this space that leads to the lower deck where I assume would be the crew quarters.  There is a large net lifter on the port side by the gangway near the bow and forward of it is a fish scale, the anchors, and on the starboard side a large coil of hemp rope still hanging the way it was placed in 1924.

The simple interior is divided into two spaces by the original boiler and engine cabins.

On our first attempt to dive the Friant we learned how difficult is was to hook a deep water wreck which has very few protrusions.  The Friant is like a large pointed box with small rub-rails that don't afford much for the anchor to snag.  In fact we ended up steering the anchor into its final resting place using a video camera attached just above the anchor.  This also allowed us to hook it without damaging any of the artifacts on the deck.  We then attached a mooring to the rudder post for subsequent dives and it should still be there with a steel submerged float about 30 to 40 ft below the surface.  If you use the mooring which is much preferable to anchoring make sure you check the line where it rubs against the fantail.  We noticed the line was starting get abraded in that area.

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