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Yahoo
12-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Great Lakes shipwreck discovered 132 years later reveals tragic story
WHITEFISH POINT, Mich. – After 132 years, the wreck of a ship that sank in Lake Superior has been found. 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. See It: 100 Bottles Of Champagne Found In 19Th-century Shipwreck 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. Tropical Cyclone Alfred Reveals 130-Year-old Shipwreck On Australia Beach 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
CBS News
10-03-2025
- General
- CBS News
Wreckage of 300-foot ship missing for 132 years found in Lake Superior
The remains of the steamer Western Reserve have been confirmed to be located in Lake Superior. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society recently made that report, citing an initial discovery in summer 2024 by a Marine Sonic Technology device aboard its research vessel, the David Boyd. The Western Reserve, a 300-foot steel steamer, broke in two as it wrecked in 1892 about 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior. When the wreckage was found, the bow section had rested on top of the stern in nearly 600 feet of water. "Every shipwreck has its own story, but some are just that much more tragic," GLSHS Executive Director Bruce Lynn said about the accident. Only one person survived the ordeal. The accident The Western Reserve was one of the first all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes and considered one of the safest and fastest ships working in the region. At the time of this route, Captain Peter G. Minch, the ship's owner, brought his family along on a cruise through Lake Huron with plans to go to Two Harbors, Minnesota. The ship was under the command of Captain Albert Myer for this voyage. The weather was cooperative until they reached Whitefish Bay, then the crew dropped anchor to wait out poor weather conditions. After they weighed anchor and steamed into Lake Superior, a gale brewed up. About 9 p.m. Aug. 30, the Western Reserve began to break up and sink. The Minch family and the ship's crew boarded and launched the two lifeboats; but almost immediately one of the lifeboats overturned, with many of those aboard lost. The remaining lifeboat, with the Minch family and surviving crew, rode out the gale and night darkness for about 10 hours when a steamship passed by. Those survivors screamed but were not seen in the night. About 7:30 a.m. the next morning, they were about a mile offshore the Deer Park Life-Saving Station on the Lake Superior shoreline when the lone lifeboat overturned in the breakers. The only survivor was wheelsman Harry W. Stewart of Algonac, Michigan. Finding the shipwreck It took decades, and technology advances, in order to find the ship's last location. Director of Marine Operations, Darryl Ertel and his brother and First Mate, Dan Ertel, looked amid Lake Superior for the Western Reserve for over 2 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 Ertel 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."
