Explorers Uncover Wreckage of Cargo Ship That Sunk in Lake Superior Storm Over 130 Years Ago

MADISON, Wis.—Two decades prior to the Titanic altering maritime history, another vessel celebrated as a remarkable technological achievement commenced its journey on the Great Lakes.

The Western Reserve was among the earliest all-steel cargo ships to navigate the lakes. Designed to set speed records, the 300-foot (91.4-meter) freighter, referred to as “the inland greyhound” by various newspapers, was expected to be one of the most secure ships at sea. Her owner, Peter Minch, was so delighted with her that he took his wife and young children on a summer outing in August 1892.

As the ship approached Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay, located between Michigan and Canada, on August 30, a sudden gale arose. With no cargo onboard, the ship was riding high in the water. The fierce storm pummeled the vessel until it snapped in two. Twenty-seven lives were lost, including the Minch family. The sole survivor was wheelsman Harry W. Stewart, who managed to swim a mile (1.6 kilometers) to safety after his lifeboat capsized.

For nearly 132 years, the wreck remained concealed beneath the lake’s surface. In July, explorers from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society identified the Western Reserve off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The society revealed their discovery Saturday at the annual Ghost Ships Festival in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

“Several concurrent narratives make this significant,” remarked the society’s executive director, Bruce Lynn, in a telephone interview. “Most ships were still constructed of wood at that time. It was a technologically advanced vessel. The Minch family was relatively well-known back then. You have this new ship, thought to be one of the safest on the lake, featuring new technology and significant size. (The discovery) is another opportunity for us to preserve this history.”

Search lasted over two years

Darryl Ertel, the society’s marine operations director, alongside his brother Dan Ertel, dedicated more than two years to searching for the Western Reserve. On July 22, they set sail on the David Boyd, the society’s research vessel. However, heavy vessel traffic that day necessitated a change in their intended trajectory to explore an adjacent area, Lynn noted.

The brothers trailed a side-scan sonar array behind their vessel. This sonar scans both starboard and port sides, yielding a broader view of the seabed compared to sonar positioned beneath a ship. Approximately 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Whitefish Point on the Upper Peninsula, they detected a line with a shadow in 600 feet (182 meters) of water. They increased the resolution and observed a large ship split in two, with the bow resting atop the stern.

Confirmation day

Eight days later, the brothers revisited the location with Lynn and additional researchers. They deployed a submersible drone that returned clear imagery of a portside running light, which matched the starboard running light that had washed ashore in Canada following the ship’s demise. This light was the only artifact salvaged from the wreck.

“That was confirmation day,” expressed Lynn, the executive director of the society.

Darryl Ertel noted that the discovery sent chills down his spine—not in a pleasant way. “Realizing how the 300-foot Western Reserve was caught in a storm so far from shore gave me an uneasy sensation,” he stated in a society news release. “A squall can arise unexpectedly…anywhere, at any time.”

Lynn observed that the ship was “quite damaged,” but the wreckage appeared to be relatively well-preserved in the cold freshwater.

The Great Lakes can pose greater risks than the oceans

The Great Lakes have claimed thousands of vessels since the 1700s. One of the most notable cases is that of the Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore carrier that sunk in a storm in November 1975 just off Whitefish Point, within 100 miles of the Western Reserve, all crew members were lost. This event was immortalized in Gordon Lightfoot’s song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

Assistant Wisconsin State Climatologist Ed Hopkins pointed out that storm season on the lakes initiates in November, as warm water meets cold air and winds sweep across open water, creating waves that can reach heights of 30 feet (9.1 meters). At that time, the lakes can be more perilous than the oceans, as their smaller size makes it more challenging for vessels to navigate around storms, he explained.

Brittle steel may have contributed to the sinking

However, such severe gales are uncommon in August, Hopkins remarked. A National Weather Service report characterized the storm that sank the Western Reserve as a “relatively minor gale,” he noted.

A summary from the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society regarding the sinking of the Western Reserve suggested that the maritime steel era had just commenced, and the hull of the Western Reserve might have been compromised, unable to withstand the flexing and twisting during the storm. Additionally, steel can become brittle in colder temperatures like those found in Great Lakes waters. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average water temperature in Lake Superior in late August is approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius).

The summary also noted that the Titanic was constructed with the same type of steel as the Western Reserve, implying it may have played a role in hastening the luxury liner’s sinking.

By Todd Richmond