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Forward Underwater Classroom
 Diamond Island, Lake George, NY
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Max Depth: 36-40ft/11-12m
Average Viz: 26-30ft/8-9m
Entry Type: Boat
Bottom Composition: Clay/Muck
Aquatic Life: Might See Something
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Rating: 3.00 by 1 divers
Spring: 50-55°F/10-13°C
Summer: 66-70°F/19-21°C
Winter: Under 50°F/10°C
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Forward Underwater Classroom is a boat accessible fresh water dive site, located at Diamond Island, Lake George, NY. This dive site has an average rating of 3.00 out of 5 from 1 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 36-40ft/11-12m. The average visibility is 26-30ft/8-9m.
You can also dive on the 45 foot tour boat Forward. The Forward was built in 1906 and years later, while on a fishing trip it burned and sank. It’s located 1500’ East of Diamond Island.
There is little evidence of any fire and the boat is partially intact, the name can still be read on the bow. It is located in about 40 ft. of water
A state source discounts the fire; 200 years younger. The well-preserved wreck of the Forward, one of the lake’s first gasoline-powered vessels, rests upright in the silt in 37-42 feet of water. Built of wood in 1906, the Forward was a sleek pleasure craft originally owned by the Bixbys of Bolton Landing. The boat was used for stylishly touring about the lake, and once transported a wedding party, and raced in the Hague Regatta. A local newspaper of the time described the boat as embodying "all the comforts of the modern yacht" with a mahogany-dressed deck and inside finish. The green of the lower hull and the white top sides are still visible, as are the two gasoline engines located amidships. The Forward’s wreck is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
No one is quite sure how the once-glamorous Forward ended up at the bottom of the lake, but it is believed that it sank in the 1930s, possibly abandoned or having gone down in a fire. At approximately 45 feet long, 8 feet wide and 4 feet high, the wreck now serves as the central feature of the Forward Underwater Classroom shipwreck preserve. The "classroom" has a trail that leads divers through a series of stations where they measure and record underwater conditions such as temperature and water clarity and learn about zebra mussels, fish, plant life, archaeology, navigation and geology.