Shipwreck found in Lake Superior more than 130 years after boat vanished during family trip
A ship lost at sea has been recovered 132 years after it sank, a historical preservation society announced this week.
The Western Reserve, a 318-foot steel steamer, was wrecked 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior on August 30, 1892. The ship got caught in a storm that caused the crew to drop anchor and wait for better conditions. Strong winds ultimately overtook the vessel around 9:00 p.m., causing it to break up and sink.
Twenty-eight people were on board the ship, once dubbed the 'inland greyhound' for its speed, when it collapsed. Its owner, millionaire shipping magnate Captain Peter G. Minch, had taken his family on a late-summer cruise through Lake Huron with a final destination of Two Harbors, Minnesotta.
His wife, two young children, sister-in-law and niece were on board.
The passengers and crew managed to deploy and board the life vessels before the ship submerged. But one of the lifeboats overturned, causing many crew members to disappear beneath the surface. The occupants of the other lifeboat managed to recover two of the crewmen.
Survivors endured wind and darkness for the subsequent 10 hours. A steamship passed them in the middle of the night. Passengers screamed for a half-hour, but their cries went unheard. Around 7:30 a.m. the following morning, the family and remaining crew found themselves a mile from the shoreline west of the Deer Park Life-Saving Station when their lifeboat overturned in breaking waves.
The incident resulted in the deaths of 27 people. One man, Wheelsman Harry W Stewart of Algonac, Michigan, survived.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society made the initial discovery in late summer 2024, the group announced Monday. Researchers had been looking for the ship for over two years.
They were finally able to locate it using side-scan sonar on the nonprofit's vessel, the David Boyd. Remotely operated vehicle deployments further confirmed the shipwreck's position, revealing it had broken in two, with the bow section resting on top of the stern in roughly 600 feet of water.
The ship was one of the first all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes, according to the group. It was built to break cargo shipping records and was considered one of the safest ships of its time.
'Every shipwreck has its own story, but some are just that much more tragic', said the organization's Executive Director Bruce Lynn. 'It is hard to imagine that Captain Peter G. Minch would have foreseen any trouble when he invited his wife, two young children and sister-in-law with her daughter aboard the Western Reserve for a summer cruise up the lakes.
'It just reinforces how dangerous the Great Lakes can be … any time of year.'
The Great Lakes, which include Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, have seen numerous shipwrecks due to their harsh weather conditions.
Around 200 ships have sunk in Whitefish Bay, the same place where the Western Reserve broke apart. The most notable in the area happened in 1975 when the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, an American freighter, wrecked, killing 29 people on board.
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Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Yahoo
Great Lakes history group finds speedy vessel lost in 1892
Mar. 16—WHITEFISH POINT, Michigan — After 132 years, the final resting place of the 300-foot steel steamer Western Reserve has been discovered roughly 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, using marine sonic technology side-scan sonar aboard the nonprofit's research vessel, David Boyd, made the initial discovery in late summer 2024. Subsequent remotely operated vehicle deployments confirmed the identity of the shipwreck, revealing a vessel broken in two, with the bow section resting on top of the stern in approximately 600 feet of water. "Knowing how the 300-foot Western Reserve was caught in a storm this far from shore made a uneasy feeling in the back of my neck," Darryl Ertel, the society's Director of Marine Operations said in a news release. The Western Reserve was a very important ship in her time. She was one of the first all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes, was built to break cargo shipping records and was deemed one of the safest ships afloat. One newspaper called her "the inland greyhound" for her outright speed on the lakes. Western Reserve was owned by millionaire Captain Peter G. Minch, a highly respected shipping magnate. Capt. Minch took a large part of his young family aboard his ship (under command of Captain Albert Myer) for a late-summer cruise up through Lake Huron en route to Two Harbors, Minnesota. The weather was pleasant until they reached Whitefish Bay, when rough weather led the crew to drop anchor to await better conditions. They soon weighed anchor and steamed into Lake Superior, a gale overtook the ship and at around 9 p.m., August 30, 1892, the Western Reserve started to break up and sink. The Minch family and the Western Reserve crew safely boarded and launched the vessel's two lifeboats. Almost immediately, one lifeboat overturned and many of the ship's crew disappeared. The remaining lifeboat occupants recovered only two of the crewmen. Within 10 minutes the big ship was gone, leaving one lifeboat with Minch family and the remaining crew aboard. They would be in the gale and darkness for the next 10 hours. Salvation was near at hand when a steamship passed them in the night. They screamed for a half-hour, but with no flares, they were not seen. At about 7:30 a.m. the next morning, they were within 1 mile of the shoreline west of the Deer Park Life-Saving Station (Lake Superior's southeastern shoreline), when the lifeboat overturned in the breakers. Only one survivor, Wheelsman Harry W. Stewart of Algonac, Michigan, lived to tell the tale. "Every shipwreck has its own story, but some are just that much more tragic", said GLSHS Executive Director Bruce Lynn. "It is hard to imagine that Captain Peter G. Minch would have foreseen any trouble when he invited his wife, two young children and sister-in-law with her daughter aboard the Western Reserve for a summer cruise up the lakes. It just reinforces how dangerous the Great Lakes can be any time of year." Director of Marine Operations, Darryl Ertel and his brother and First Mate, Dan Ertel, have been looking for the Western Reserve for over two years. "We side-scan looking out a half mile per side and we caught an image on our port side. It was very small looking out that far, but I measured the shadow, and it came up about 40 feet." Darryl explained, "So we went back over the top of the ship and saw that it had cargo hatches, and it looked like it was broken in two, one half on top of the other and each half measured .with the side scan 150 feet long and then we measured the width and it was right on so we knew that we'd found the Western Reserve."
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Yahoo
Explorers Just Found a 130-Year-Old Shipwreck
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." The Western Reserve cargo ship was supposed to be a modern marvel in 1892, but it split in two during a storm and sank. The wreckage took the lives of 27 people, with one lone survivor able to swim a mile to shore and recount the tale. The ship, revered for its speed and technology, used the same steel as the Titanic did just 20 years later. The Western Reserve was designed as a new class of technological shipbuilding in the 1890s. Created by millionaire owner Peter Minch, it was intended to smash speed records on the Great Lakes as it sailed between Michigan and Canada. One of the first all-steel cargo ships built—using the same steel that the Titanic opted for 20 years later—Western Reserve was a 300-foot-long 'inland greyhound.' That all ended tragically on August 30, 1892. With 28 people aboard the cargo-less ship (including Minch, his wife, his children, and other members of his family), a storm whipped up on Lake Superior. Sitting higher in the water than usual because of the lack of cargo, Western Reserve split in half. Wheelsman Harry W. Stewart was the lone survivor, able to get onto a lifeboat with others and then swim a mile in the lake to shore after the lifeboat capsized 10 hours later. The ship wasn't seen again until diligent explorers with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society found the wreckage off Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It took members Darryl and Dan Ertel over two years of searching for the ship to find it. 'We side-scan looking out a half mile per side and we caught an image on our port side,' said Darryl Ertel, according to a statement from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. 'It was very small looking out that far, but I measured the shadow, and it came up about 40 feet. So we went back over the top of the ship and saw that it had cargo hatches, and it looked like it was broken in two, one half on top of the other and each half measured with the side scan 150 feet long and then we measured the width and it was right on so we knew that we'd found the Western Reserve.' Crews then used a remotely operated vehicle to capture video of the broken ship, with the bow resting on top of the stern under approximately 600 feet of water. 'Every shipwreck has its own story, but some are just that much more tragic,' Bruce Lynn, Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society executive director, said in a statement. 'It is hard to imagine that Captain Peter G. Minch would have foreseen any trouble when he invited his wife, two young children and sister-in-law with her daughter aboard the Western Reserve for a summer cruise up the lakes. It just reinforces how dangerous the Great Lakes can be any time of the year.' Originally launched in Cleveland in 1890, the Western Reserve was the largest bulk carrier on the lakes at the time, and the first steel bulk carrier of the classic Great Lakes design, according to the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. The tale of the tragic ending of the ship just two years later comes thanks to the lone survivor, who managed to find the U.S. Lifesaving Service station at Whitefish Point, Michigan. Stewart recounted sailing directly into a storm about 60 miles north of Whitefish Point, and after the ship broke in two 'halfway up the rigging,' it sank in just 10 minutes. Everyone on board was able to get into two lifeboats (one wooden and one metal), but the metal lifeboat capsized immediately. Stewart recounted that the wooden boat lasted 10 hours carrying 19 people, until it too capsized roughly a mile from shore. According to the historical society, Stewart said that he lost sight of the others, 'but the cries of the children, the screams of the women, and the moaning of the men were terrible for a few moments, when all became silent.' Stewart swam to shore, laid there for hours and then managed to make it another 10 miles to the lifesaving station. He attributed survival to a 'heavy knit close-fitting jacket.' While experts debated the stories and reasoning behind the Western Reserve failings, it was eventually accepted—especially following the rapid sinking of the Titanic—that the vulnerability of cheaper Bessemer steel contributed to the problem, and that the design (with the superstructure moved from the middle to the ends of the ship) added to the inherent fragility of the vessel. The new style of steel was determined to be relatively weak, and the pressure applied by the storm was too much for a metal that became more brittle in lower temperatures. The sinking of sister ship Gilcher just two months later (which had no survivors) helped substantiate the breakage theory. '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,' Darryl Ertel said, 'a squall can come up unexpectedly anywhere and anytime.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
New York Times
13-03-2025
- New York Times
A Groundbreaking Ship That Sank in Lake Superior in 1892 Is Discovered
On Aug. 30, 1892, the Western Reserve, a state-of-the-art ship en route to Minnesota, found itself in the middle of a gale in Lake Superior. Capt. Peter G. Minch, a millionaire shipping magnate traveling with his family, had been assured that the all-steel steamship would be safe and nimble on the seas. But the storm overtook the vessel, breaking it into pieces in the dead of night. The ship's crew and passengers boarded two lifeboats. One overturned almost immediately, and its crew disappeared. The other bobbed in the darkness for about 10 hours. Another ship passed, but despite screams for help, it continued its course. As the lifeboat neared land, it overturned again. A crew member was the only person among the 28 who had been on the Western Reserve to make it to the Michigan shore alive. On Monday, more than 132 years after the Western Reserve went down, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced that researchers had discovered the wreck of the ship, which was among the first all-steel steamships. Using solar technology, they worked for two years before finding it about 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point, a cape in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It was near where the ship's sole survivor, Harry W. Stewart, had estimated that it had foundered. Researchers searched for two years before finding the shipwreck of the Western Reserve. Credit... Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society 'This is probably one of the most important shipwrecks this organization has ever found,' said Bruce Lynn, the executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum run by the historical society in Paradise, Mich. 'It's astounding.' Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
