(TheRedAlertNews.com) – American researchers have discovered the final resting place of a historic American vessel that met its doom in Lake Superior 132 years ago: the Western Reserve.
Watch the video down below.
The Western Reserve was a testament to American innovation and manufacturing prowess.
Launched 20 years before the Titanic, it was one of the first all-steel cargo ships on the Great Lakes.
It earned the nickname “the inland greyhound” for its impressive speed and supposed safety.
At 300 feet long, this technological marvel represented American industrial might during a pivotal era of the nation’s growth.
Tragically, the ship sank during a storm in Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay on August 30, 1892.
The disaster claimed 27 American lives, including owner Peter Minch and his family.
Only wheelsman Harry W. Stewart survived by swimming a mile to shore after his lifeboat capsized.
The wreckage remained hidden in American waters for nearly 132 years until July 2023, when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society finally located it about 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The discovery was publicly announced just recently at the annual Ghost Ships Festival in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Darryl and Dan Ertel led the search effort, using side-scanning sonar technology to locate the ship 600 feet beneath the surface.
What they found was sobering: the once-mighty vessel had broken in two, with the bow resting on the stern.
“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 in a news release. “A squall can come up unexpectedly…anywhere and anytime.”
The search team deployed a submersible drone to confirm the ship’s identity.
The drone captured images of a portside running light that matched an artifact previously recovered from the wreck site.
“That was confirmation day,” Bruce Lynn of the historical society said. “It’s pretty exciting.”
This discovery is particularly intriguing because the Western Reserve sank during what was described as a “relatively minor gale” – unusual for August when such storms are rare.
Experts now believe the disaster may have been influenced by the brittle nature of steel used in that era, similar to the steel used in the Titanic.
Despite being entirely within America’s borders, the Great Lakes can be more dangerous than oceans due to their size, making it difficult for ships to maneuver during storms.
This unforgiving environment has claimed many vessels over the centuries, including the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, which sank near the same area as the Western Reserve.
Lynn said in a telephone interview:
“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.”
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