Missing Cargo Ship Found in Lake Superior

by Max Moreno, age 12

On Aug. 30, 1892, the Western Reserve, a 300-foot cargo ship carrying 28 people, set sail from Cleveland, Ohio. The captain of the ship was Albert Myer. The owner of the ship was on board with his family with plans to go to Minnesota. The Western Reserve was one of the first all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes and was considered one of the safest and fastest ships of its time.

The weather that day was calm until they reached Whitefish Bay on southeast Lake Superior when winds started to pick up and a storm started to form. They dropped the anchor in hopes of waiting out the storm but at around 9 pm, the ship began to break and sink as the storm intensified. The people on board scrambled to the two lifeboats, but instantly one of the lifeboats flipped over and most people on board were never found. The second lifeboat had the owner's family and a few of the crew members. They survived the storm but were alone and lost. A small steamboat passed the lifeboat in the dark. The survivors yelled out but were not heard. The lifeboat ended up flipping over due to the rough waves about a mile offshore. There was only one survivor, Harry W Stewart, a member of the crew.

The ship was lost for 132 years and was found in the summer of 2024 by two brothers. Darryl Ertel, director of marines operations of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, and his brother Dan were scanning the bottom of Lake Superior when they noticed a shadow about 40 feet long. They scanned the top of the shadow and noticed it had cargo hatches and appeared to be broken in two with one half on top of the other. They knew right away it was the Western Reserve after they checked the dimensions again. However, this isn't the only ship that was found recently.

The Margaret A. Muir was found by Wisconsin maritime which sank on Sept. 30, 1893 and the John Evenson which sank on June 5, 1895. According to the Shipwreck Museum there are about 6000 to 10,000 shipwrecks in all the Great Lakes in which 30,000 people have died and most are yet to be discovered.

[Sources: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Wisconsin History, Geography, Science & Tech]