EERIE footage shows the moment explorers discovered the 132-year-old wreck of a cargo ship that took down 27 souls, including the owner’s family.
The ill-fated ship that snapped in half after being battered by a storm on Lake Superior, Michigan, was a technological precursor to the doomed Titanic.
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Like the cruiseliner, The Western Reserve was touted as one of the safest ships afloat after being built to break speed records.
The 300-foot freighter came 20 years before the Titanic and was one of the first all-steel cargo ships to sail on the Great Lakes.
But, in August 1892, “the inland greyhound” was pummelled so viciously by a storm that it snapped in two and of the 28 people on board, only one survived.
Owner Peter Minch had invited his wife and children onto the vessel for what should have been a victory lap demonstrating the feat of maritime engineering.
Everyone in the Minch family died as the ship went down in Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay between Michigan and Canada on August 30.
Wheelsman Harry W. Stewart was the only survivor and his struggles were not over once he climbed into a lifeboat.
He was forced to swim a mile to shore after his life-saving rescue vessel capsized.
Now, almost 132 years later, the lake has revealed it’s secrets after explorers from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society pinpointed the Western Reserve wreckage.
It was found off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in July 2024 with the help of side-scan sonar technology.
They were able to record footage of the eerie wreck with a remote camera.
The clip shows the rusted frame of the wreck and it’s split wood in the dark depths of the lake.
At one point, viewers can see the ship’s snapped mast with the bell still attached and relatively in tact.
Footage from another angle shows a black cavernous hole with an open door beside it as well as a light fixture or beacon on what may have been the deck.
The discovery of the ship was announced on Saturday by the society at the annual Ghost Ships Festival in Wisconsin after two years of searching.
After heavy traffic forced the team off their planned route, the sonar technology picked up a line with a shadow behind it in 600ft of water.
It turned out to be the large ship broken in half with the bow leaning on the stern.
Darryl Ertel, the society’s marine operations director, who worked with his brother to make the initial discovery, said the nature of the weather in that part of the lake made him anxious.
“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,” he said in a society news release.
“A squall can come up unexpectedly…anywhere, and anytime.”
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But regular and severe storms don’t usually hit that region until the autumn, according to Assistant Wisconsin State Climatologist Ed Hopkins.
He noted that on the day the ship went down, National Weather Service report called the storm that sank the Western Reserve a “relatively minor gale”.
With no cargo on board, the ship was high in the water and the team behind the discovery believe that brittle steel could have played a role in its sinking.
The metal that was new to maritime engineering, possibly could not deal with the impact of the storm on the hull which was submerged in the cold water of the lake, potentially making it brittle.
Speaking to NBC News about the find, the society’s executive director, Bruce Lynn said: “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,” he added.
Lake Superior has claimed the lives of many souls and is often referred to as the “Graveyard of the Great Lakes” due to the sheer number of shipwrecks.
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