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U.S.|A Groundbreaking Ship That Sank in Lake Superior in 1892 Is Discovered
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/us/shipwreck-lake-superior-western-reserve.html
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After searching for two years, researchers discovered the shipwreck of the Western Reserve, an early all-steel ship that broke apart in a gale in 1892 with a sole survivor.
March 13, 2025Updated 5:26 p.m. ET
On Aug. 30, 1892, the Western Reserve, a state-of-the-art ship en route to Minnesota, found itself in the middle of a gale in Lake Superior. Capt. Peter G. Minch, a millionaire shipping magnate traveling with his family, had been assured that the all-steel steamship would be safe and nimble on the seas. But the storm overtook the vessel, breaking it into pieces in the dead of night.
The ship’s crew and passengers boarded two lifeboats. One overturned almost immediately, and its crew disappeared. The other bobbed in the darkness for about 10 hours. Another ship passed, but despite screams for help, it continued its course.
As the lifeboat neared land, it overturned again. A crew member was the only person among the 28 who had been on the Western Reserve to make it to the Michigan shore alive.
On Monday, more than 132 years after the Western Reserve went down, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced that researchers had discovered the wreck of the ship, which was among the first all-steel steamships. Using sonar technology, they worked for two years before finding it about 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point, a cape in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was near where the ship’s sole survivor, Harry W. Stewart, had estimated that it had foundered.
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“This is probably one of the most important shipwrecks this organization has ever found,” said Bruce Lynn, the executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum run by the historical society in Paradise, Mich. “It’s astounding.”
