Touted as a technological wonder, Western Reserve was made from the same steel as the Titanic. Unfortunately, it met a similar fate.

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.

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.

As the ship entered Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay between Michigan and Canada on Aug. 30, a gale came up. With no cargo, the ship was floating high in the water. The storm battered it until it cracked in half. Twenty-seven people died, including the Minch family.

Underwater video shows the two halves of the steamer sitting atop each other, which is unusual for a shipwreck. The sole survivor swam two hours to the shore.

A fter 132 years shrouded in mystery, the wreckage of the Western Reserve, a steamer that sank in 1892, was discovered in the depths of Lake Superior. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Hi

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.