CHIPPEWA COUNTY — 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.
According to a March 10 news release, 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 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 feet of water.
“Knowing how the 300-foot Western Reserve was caught in a storm this far from shore made an uneasy feeling in the back of my neck, a squall can come up unexpectedly— anywhere, and anytime,” Director of Marine Operations, Darryl Ertel said of his emotions during the search for the ship.
The Western Reserve was a very important ship in her time. She was one of the first all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes, she 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 command of Captain Albert Myer) for a late-summer cruise up through Lake Huron en route to Two Harbors, Minnesota. The weather was pleasant until they reached Whitefish Bay, when 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 p.m. Aug. 30, 1892, the Western Reserve started to break up and sink.
The Minch family and the Western Reserve crew 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 a.m. 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.
“Every shipwreck has its own story, but some are just that much more tragic, ” GLSHS Executive Director Bruce Lynn said. “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.”
Director of Marine Operations, Darryl Ertel and his brother and First Mate, Dan Ertel, have been looking for the Western Reserve for over two 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 said. “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.”