The TOKIO was a four-masted schooner built in 1889 by Captain James Davidson, with hull number 23 and official number 145507. It had a length of 222 feet and 2 inches, a beam of 38 feet, and a depth of the hold ranging between 16 and 19 feet. The tonnage of the vessel was recorded as 1385.49 gross tons and 1316.22 net tons. It featured six hatches measuring 11’x28′ on 24′ centers.
Captain Davidson had a preference for naming his vessels after distant places rather than people, and he chose the name TOKIO, an early spelling of the city of Tokyo, Japan, for hull number 23. Over the years, the ownership of the TOKIO changed hands. It was owned by the Menominee Transportation Co. of Milwaukee, N.S. Whipple of Detroit, Henry Wineman Jr. of Detroit, and its last owner was the Pringle Barge Line of Cleveland.
The TOKIO primarily operated as an iron ore carrier on the Great Lakes for 28 years. It encountered a few notable incidents during its service. In July 1892, while being towed near Mackinaw by the R.P. FLOWER, which was taking on water, the FLOWER was intentionally run aground to prevent sinking. The TOKIO was cut loose and managed to navigate through the situation. In August 1892, the TOKIO, while being towed down Lake St. Clair by the steamer RALEIGH, ran aground near Grosse Point and had to be lightened.
On October 9, 1917, the TOKIO collided with the barge HOMER and sank in the St. Clair River. Although the vessel was later recovered, it was never repaired. It remained abandoned for two years before it was scuttled or left to sink near the foot of Recors Road, below the Edison coal dock in East China, Michigan, in 1919.
In 1940, the War Department Corps of Engineers added the wreck of the TOKIO to nautical charts. However, in 1963, due to low water levels and the hazard it posed to navigation, the wreck was dynamited by the Corps of Engineers to create a minimum depth of 14 feet.
The main section of the wreck lies north-south in 19 feet of water and features a double-hull rising to a depth of 14 feet. There is another adjacent piece of wreckage oriented east-west, with a maximum depth of 25 or 30 feet. This section is more flattened out but offers some space beneath the deck, which serves as a habitat for various fish species. Most of the wreck is buried in the seabed. Diving the wreck of the TOKIO can be done from the shore with permission from nearby homeowners or as a boat dive.
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