In August 1892, the Western Reserve was sailing across Lake Superior when it got caught in a late summer storm. The 300-foot vessel was roughly 60 miles north of Whitefish Point when a powerful gale swept in and broke up the ship,

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.

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 bow section had rested on top of the stern in nearly 600 feet of water.