In a Stunning Discovery Explorers Find Wreckage of a 300-Foot Cargo Ship That Vanished 130 Years Ago in Lake Superior

For over a century, the depths of Lake Superior have protected countless maritime secrets. The Great Lakes, known for their treacherous storms and unpredictable waters, have consumed thousands of ships since the 1700s. Among the most infamous tragedies is the loss of Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, an event immortalized in song. However, another catastrophic shipwreck, which occurred decades earlier, had been nearly forgotten—until now, stated NBC.

In a stunning discovery, explorers from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society have located the wreckage of the Western Reserve, a cargo ship that vanished beneath Lake Superior’s waves over 130 years ago. This iron jumbo, one of the first all-steel freighters of its time, was labeled as a marvel of engineering. Built for speed and safety, the 300-foot vessel was nicknamed "the inland greyhound” by newspapers. Yet, despite its promise, it met an unfortunate and tragic fate on August 30, 1892, when a sudden gale consumed it in Whitefish Bay. The ship split in two, taking the lives of 27 people, including its owner, Peter Mich, his wife, and their young children. The only survivor, wheelsman Harry W. Stewart, managed to swim a mile to shore after his lifeboat capsized, stated ABC News.

The wreck's discovery was announced at the Ghost Ships Festival in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Bruce Lynn, the society’s executive director remarked, "There’s a number of concurrent stories that make this important…Most ships were still wooden. It was a technologically advanced ship. They were kind of a famous family at the time. You have this new ship, considered one of the safest on the lake, new tech, a big, big ship. [The discovery] is another way for us to keep this history alive." The search for the Western Reserve spanned more than two years. Darryl Ertel, the society’s marine operations director, and his brother, Dan Ertel, intricately mapped out potential locations, via NBC News.

Then one day, while aboard their research vessel, the David Boyd, they were forced to alter their planned route due to heavy ship traffic. Little did they know that this unexpected change led them to an adjacent search grid, where they deployed a side-scanning sonar array. About 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point, the sonar revealed a shadowy outline at a depth of 600 feet. Further details of the research confirmed it was a large vessel, broken in two, with the bow resting on the stern. Fast forward to eight days later, the team returned to the site with a submersible equipped with high-intensity lighting and high-resolution cameras, according to NBC News.

The top-notch drone captured stunning and extra clear images,  including a portside running light that precisely matched the Western Reserve’s starboard running light, an artifact that had washed ashore in Canada after the ship sank. "That was confirmation day," Lynn said, describing the moment of certainty, as reported by ABC News. For Ertel, this discovery was nothing short of a haunted vibe. He said, "Knowing how the 300-foot Western Reserve was caught in a storm this far from shore made an uneasy feeling in the back of my neck…A squall can come up unexpectedly…anywhere, and anytime."