All Outdoors

All Outdoors

Posts 1-1 of 1
  • User photo
    Bernd Laeschke
    (not a XING member)
    A Popular Wreck in Lake Constance - The Jura
    Lake Constance (Global Adventures): The Jura is perhaps the best known wrack in Lake Constance. Built in 1854 by Escher-Wyss in Zurich, the Jura was a steamboat carrying passengers across “Lake Neuchâtel” in Switzerland. In 1861, a German company purchased the ship after the sinking of the passenger boat “DS Ludwig” and moved it to Lake Constance. For three years, the Jura moved tourists and fright from the German to the Swiss side of the lake and back.

    On February 12, 1864, the ship was again on its way from Konstanz, Germany, to Romanshorn, Switzerland, and finally Lindau, Germany. She never reached her destination. The Jura collided in heavy fog with the Swiss boat Zurich City, the same ship that did sink the DS Ludwig three years earlier. While most passengers and crew could be rescued, on German mate died in the incident. Within minutes, the Jura did sink.

    For 100 years, she was lost. Commercial divers re-discovered the Jura in 1964 while searching for airplane wrecks dating back to the Second World War. The 138 feet (42 meter) long Jura rests upright at a depth of 125 feet (38 meters), 0.62 miles (1 kilometer) offshore from Bottighofen, Switzerland. Over the years, the Jura developed into one of the top-diving destinations in Lake Constance.

    Since the water temperature is cold (around 40 degrees at the bottom), a dry suit is needed to enjoy the dive. Visibility is usually diminished, either due to river-run-offs in spring or algae blooms in late summer. Descending towards the bottom, the outline of the shipwreck becomes visible at a depth of 105 feet (32 meters). Since little or no sunlight can penetrate the murky water, strong lights help to discover the Jura. Diver can follow the rail, taking in time-defying structures such as the paddle wheels, the stairways, the boiler and the rather primitive lavatory in the paddle wheel housing.

    You can find the full article on Global Adventures website at:

    http://www.global-adventures.us/2010/03/03/jura-wreck-lake-c...
    • 03 Mar 2010, 7:40 pm