In 1892, a gale overtook the ship Western Reserve, causing it to sink within a matter of minutes with only one of the 28 aboard at the time surviving. The ship was lost to Lake Superior until 2024.

Every shipwreck has its own story, but some are just that much more tragic,” said Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society Executive Director Bruce Lynn.

Explorers have discovered the sunken wreckage of one of the first steel cargo ships to travel the Great Lakes.

In 2024, the SS Western Reserve was found in Lake Superior broken in half with the bow section resting on the stern at a roughly 45-degree angle.

The wreck of the Western Reserve, a 318-foot steel freighter was recently found in Lake Superior's Whitefish Bay. It sank during heavy storms in 1892.

The Western Reserve, a 300-foot steel steamer, was discovered about 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society using Marine Sonic Technology side-scan sonar on the non-profit’s research vessel, David Boyd, in the summer of 2024.

The Western Reserve, a 300-foot steel steamer, broke in two as it wrecked in 1892 about 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior. When the wreckage was found, the bo