Great Lakes shipwreck discovered 132 years later reveals tragic story
The wreck of the Western Reserve steamship, which sank on Aug. 30, 1892, was discovered about 60 miles from Whitefish Point in Lake Superior. The Great Lakes Historical Society used Marine Sonic Technology side-scan sonar aboard a non-profit research vessel. The initial discovery was made by David Boyd in the late summer of 2024.
Using a remotely operated vehicle, teams were able to send the underwater robot to the depths of the wreckage to identify and photograph the ship. The photos show a ship broken in two, with the bow section resting on top of the stern.
The Western Reserve served as an important ship for its time. It was the first all-steel vessel on the Great Lakes. It was built to break cargo shipping records due to its size. It was deemed one of the safest ships afloat, nicknamed the "Inland Greyhound" for its speed along the lakes.
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The ship was owned by millionaire Capt. Peter G. Minch, a wealthy businessman in the shipping industry.
The captain took his family on a late-summer cruise through Lake Huron en route to Two Harbours, Minnesota. What started as a pleasant boat ride turned into chaos as the weather took a turn for the worse at Whitefish Bay. This prompted the crew to drop anchor and wait out the storm, but they lifted the anchor, perhaps prematurely, and headed toward Lake Superior.
On their way, a gale overtook the ship, and about 9 p.m., the vessel began to break up and sink. Within 10 minutes, the ship was gone, leaving one lifeboat with the Minch family and the remaining crew onboard. Initially, two lifeboats were launched but overturned, and many of the ship's crew disappeared. Only two crew members were recovered aboard the remaining lifeboat with the Minch family.
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The surviving members would then have to sit amid the strong gale winds and darkness of the night for the next 10 hours. At one point, a steamship had passed through during the night, but without flares the lifeboat couldn't be seen. Despite screaming for 30 minutes at the boat, they were not heard or rescued.
About 7:30 a.m. the next day, the lifeboat was within a mile of the shore of Deer Park Life Saving Station, when the boat overturned in breaking waves.
Twenty-seven people perished. Only the boat's wheelsman, Harry W. Stewart of Algonac, Michigan, lived to tell the awful tale.
"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," said GLSHS Executive Director Bruce Lynn. "It just reinforces how dangerous the Great Lakes can be…any time of year."Original article source: Great Lakes shipwreck discovered 132 years later reveals tragic story
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