Great Lakes

Discovery of the Historic Great Lakes Schooner Trinidad
Discovery of the Historic Great Lakes Schooner Trinidad On July 15th, 2023, Wisconsin Maritime Historians Brendon Baillod and Bob Jaeck located the intact remains of the 156 year old schooner Trinidad in nearly 300 feet of water off Algoma, Wisconsin as...  more »

FACTS for Proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary
The following facts have been compiled by explorers with combined experience totaling more than 80 years actively researching and discovering shipwrecks in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Lake Ontario: 56 shipwrecks* are estimated to be in the...  more »

Violent Loss of the Propeller Challenge
In the Spring of 2021, veteran shipwreck hunters Joe Van Wagnen and Mark Gammage located the remains of the passenger/freight Propeller Challenge in northern Lake Huron. The ship was lost on the return leg of her maiden voyage due to a violent boiler...  more »

The Tragic Loss of the Hippocampus
This rare, original woodcut engraving has been in my collection for about 20 years. It is an excerpt from Harper’s Weekly, a popular illustrated newspaper, dated September 26th, 1868. It shows an artist’s conception of the haunting final...  more »

Two Lost Civil War Era Sailing Ships Discovered in Lake Huron
Two longtime friends and shipwreck enthusiasts, Joe Van Wagnen and Mark Gammage have discovered an intact schooner in Lake Huron that sunk less than a month after the Confederate Army fired on Fort Sumter on April 12th, 1861 signaling the start of the...  more »

Missing 162 Years off Little Sable Point: The Schooner Garden City
Missing 162 Years off Little Sable Point: The Schooner Garden City The wreck of the Garden City presents historians with some challenges. Numerous sources state that the Garden City went ashore at Little Sable Point in October of 1858 and was...  more »

The Harrowing Loss of the Schooner Jo Vilas
At one time the Great Lakes were the only major “freeway” in the midwest. Thousands of vessels once brought settlers, freight and merchandise through this vast inland waterway. It is consequently, not surprising that accidents were very...  more »

The Tragic Loss of the Western Resereve
The Western Reserve was a 301 ft., 2392 gt. steel freight steamer launched in 1890 at Cleveland, OH by Globe Shipbuilding. She was the first major steel freighter built for use on the Lakes. When she came out, her builders thought that her construction...  more »

The Mysterious Disappearance of the brig Robert Willis
The Mystery of Captain McLean, the Mormons and the Medicine Man by Brendon Baillod [This article originally appeared in Inland Seas, the journal of the Great Lakes Historical Society] Captain Murdick McLean was one of Lake Superior’s best-known...  more »

Fathoms Deep but not Forgotten: The Schooner Hiawatha
Lost Ship of the Month for April Fathoms Deep but not Forgotten: The Schooner Hiawatha As people asked for stories of obscure and little-known vessels still missing on the Great Lakes, I thought I’d offer one. The schooner Hiawatha is largely...  more »

MV Jennifer: Still Missing on Lake Michigan
The Jennifer sank in 1974 with three other vessels and a USCG helicopter onsite. Yet, her remains have not been located on the bottom. Join maritime historian Brendon Baillod for a video Lost Ship of the Month to explore this interesting lost vessels and...  more »

Revisiting the Bannockburn: Lake Superior's Flying Dutchman
The Lost Ship of the Month for February is the legendary flying dutchman of Lake Superior, the Bannockburn. This ship has achieved legendary status for having “sailed through a crack in the Lake” and “disappearing without a trace.”...  more »

Where is the Thomas H. Smith?
The wreck of the month for January is the lost steamer Thomas H. Smith, missing since November 11, 1893 when she was sunk by collision in a heavy fog of Racine, Wisconsin. The Smith was bound light from Chicago to Menomonee, Michigan, carry a crew of 12...  more »

The Enduring Mystery of the HMS Speedy
The Lost Ship of the Month for December is the legendary British gunboat HMS Speedy, lost with all hands in 1804 on Lake Ontario. The Speedy is one of the earliest lost ships still missing on the Great Lakes and played a significant role in Canadian...  more »

36th Annual Shipwrecs & Scuba
Bay Area divers will be presenting the annual Shipwreck & Scuba show on Saturday, November 23, 2019 at the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. Beginning at 9:30 am there will be 7 daytime programs featuring Jill Heinerth and cave diving, Marty and...  more »

A Case of Mistaken Identity: The Lost Schooner Sunny Side
Literally hundreds of handcrafted white oak artifacts bearing the inscription “Sunnyside, foundered N. Fox Island, 1883” grace the dens of maritime enthusiasts around the Lakes. Lamps, tables, clocks, letter openers and pen sets were...  more »

Wrecking the Wrecker: The loss of the barge Industry
The wrecking barge Industry lies on the bottom of Lake Michigan near Lansing Shoals where she has rested since October 5, 1953. Despite a concerted salvage attempt by her owners, she has never been located by divers. Her story is an interesting one,...  more »

The Venerable Tug E.D. Holton
This weekend, we did some pretty extensive sidescan work in the Keweenaw Waterway, including a full survey of the Bay of Dollar Bay and the shoreline all the way to Ripley. One of the targets I expected to see was the remains of the venerable tug E.D....  more »

The Kate Winslow
The Kate Winslow was one of “Davidson’s Goliaths,” a large wooden ship built at East Saginaw, Michigan by the innovative giant wooden ship builder James Davidson who was to become noteworthy for continuing to use wood for large vessels...  more »

Major Shipwreck Discovery in Lake Michigan
A group of maritime history enthusiasts have the announced the discovery of the schooners Peshtigo and St. Andrews, lost in 1878 in northern Lake Michigan.  more »

Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario: A Journey of Discovery
The National Museum of the Great Lakes is excited to announce the release of a new book titled Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario: A Journey of Discovery. This book contains the stories of these long lost shipwrecks and the journeys of the underwater explorers who found them, written by Jim Kennard with paintings by Roland Stevens and underwater imagery by Roger Pawlowski.  more »

Oswego – Bay of Sunken Houseboats
While searching for historic shipwrecks off Oswego we occasionally find modern boats on the bottom of Lake Ontario, the majority of which have been houseboats. Experienced boaters know that the lake can sometimes change very rapidly from calm waters into...  more »

Rare Sailing Craft Found in Lake Ontario
Oswego, New York – A rare sailing craft identified as a scow-sloop has been located in deep water off Oswego, NY. In August 1872 the scow-sloop Black Duck was enroute from Oswego to Sackets Harbor when it foundered in a northwest gale. Only a small...  more »

Rare 18th Century Sloop Washington Discovered in Lake Ontario
Oswego, NY - A rare 18th century built sloop, Washington (also known as Lady Washington), has been discovered in Lake Ontario off the shores of Oswego, New York by a team of shipwreck explorers. Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski, and Roland Stevens located...  more »

158 year old Canadian Schooner Royal Albert Discovered in Lake Ontario
Fair Haven, New York - The Canadian schooner Royal Albert has been discovered in deep water off the southern shore of Lake Ontario near Fair Haven, NY. Shipwreck explorers, Jim Kennard and Roger Pawlowski located the shipwreck utilizing a high resolution...  more »
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Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario - A Journey of Discovery Book

The National Museum of the Great Lakes is excited to announce the release of a new book titled Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario: A Journey of Discovery. This book contains stories of long lost shipwrecks and the journeys of the underwater explorers who found them, written by Jim Kennard with paintings by Roland Stevens and underwater imagery by Roger Pawlowski.

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Legend of the Lake - New Discovery Edition Book

The recent discovery of the wreck of the British warship Ontario, “the Holy Grail” of Great Lakes shipwrecks, solves several mysteries that have puzzled historians since the ship sank more than two centuries ago. Now, for the first time, the whole tragic story of the Ontario can finally be told.

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