Historical image of the Western Reserve. All photos from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.

From the Great Lakes Shipwreck Society - March 11, 2025

After 132 years, the final resting place of the 300’ steel steamer Western Reserve has been discovered roughly 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS), using Marine Sonic Technology side-scan sonar aboard the non-profit’s research vessel, David Boyd, made the initial discovery in late summer 2024. Subsequent ROV (remotely operated vehicle) deployments confirmed the identity of the shipwreck, revealing a ship broken in two, with the bow section resting on top of the stern in approximately 600’ of water. Director of Marine Operations, Darryl Ertel, recalls “Knowing how the 300-foot Western Reserve was caught in a storm this far from shore made a uneasy feeling in the back of my neck, a squall can come up unexpectedly…anywhere, and anytime.”

Sonar imaging of the Western Reserve 

The Western Reserve was a very important ship in her time. She was one of the first all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes, was built to break cargo shipping records, and was deemed one of the safest ships afloat. One newspaper called her “the inland greyhound” for her outright speed on the lakes. Western Reserve was owned by millionaire Captain Peter G. Minch, a highly respected shipping magnate. Captain Minch took a large part of his young family aboard his ship (under the command of Captain Albert Myer) for a late-summer cruise up through Lake Huron en route to Two Harbors, MN. The weather was pleasant until they reached Whitefish Bay, where rough weather led the crew to drop anchor to await better conditions. They soon weighed anchor and steamed into Lake Superior; a gale overtook the ship, and at around 9:00 pm, August 30, 1892, the Western Reserve started to break up and sink.

Capstan pole rack inside the Port Gunnel bow area.  

The Minch family and the Western Reserve crew, 28 people in total, safely boarded and launched the vessel’s two lifeboats. Almost immediately, one lifeboat overturned, and many of the ship’s crew disappeared. The remaining lifeboat occupants recovered only two of the crewmen. Within ten minutes, the big ship was gone, leaving one lifeboat with the Minch family and the remaining crew aboard. They would be in the gale and darkness for the next ten hours. Salvation was near at hand when a steamship passed them in the night. They screamed for a half-hour, but with no flares…they were not seen. At about 7:30 am the next morning, they were within one mile of the shoreline west of the Deer Park Life-Saving Station (Lake Superior’s southeastern shoreline) when the lifeboat overturned in the breakers. Only one survivor, Wheelsman Harry W. Stewart of Algonac, Michigan, lived to tell the tale.

 Western Reserve port running light 

“Every shipwreck has its own story, but some are just that much more tragic,” reflected GLSHS Executive Director Bruce Lynn. “It is hard to imagine that Captain Peter G. Minch would have foreseen any trouble when he invited his wife, two young children, and sister-in-law with her daughter aboard the Western Reserve for a summer cruise up the lakes. It just reinforces how dangerous the Great Lakes can be…any time of year.”

Western Reserve bell 

Director of Marine Operations Darryl Ertel and his brother, First Mate Dan Ertel, have been looking for the Western Reserve for over 2 years: “We side-scan looking out a half mile per side, and we caught an image on our port side. It was very small looking out that far, but I measured the shadow, and it came up about 40 feet.” Darryl explained, “So we went back over the top of the ship and saw that it had cargo hatches, and it looked like it was broken in two, one half on top of the other and each half measured .with the side scan 150 feet long and then we measured the width, and it was right on so we knew that we’d found the Western Reserve.”

About the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society & Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society was founded in 1978 by a group of divers, teachers, and educators to commence exploration of historic shipwrecks in eastern Lake Superior, near Whitefish Point in Michigan’s scenic Upper Peninsula. Today, this non-profit organization operates two museum sites on historic properties: The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Whitefish Point Light Station, Whitefish Point; and the U.S. Weather Bureau Building, Soo Locks Park, Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. The Shipwreck Museum is open to the public seasonally from May 1 to October 31. For more information, visit www.shipwreckmuseum.com