On Aug. 30, 1892, the Western Reserve, under the command of Captain Albert Myer, set out on a cruise from Lake Huron to Two Harbors, MN. Soon, the boat was hit with storm and gale-force winds, causing it to split apart and sink. 132 years later, during a routine grid search, the 300-foot steel steamer was discovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) roughly 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior.
The story of the Reserve was told by its sole survivor, wheelsman Harry W. Stewart. The boat was very important during its time. Constructed in 1890 by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company, she was one of the first all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes. Her steel construction made it possible to carry heavier loads faster than the wooden steamships of the time, giving her the nickname the “Inland Greyhound.”
In an interview with Corey Adkins, the Communications Director of the GLSHS, he said, “We are always looking for shipwrecks.” They use a grid search sonar, mapping where boats are in a two-stage operation. First, the sonar team searches using a side-scan sonar. If they find a boat, they return to the site with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to get photos of the wreck and confirm its identity. Director of Marine Operations, Darryl Ertel, and his brother and First Mate Dan Ertel, had been looking for the Western Reserve for over 2 years. Having found the boat with their sonar during the summer of 2024, they set up their ROV to identify the boat on a later expedition. On Mar. 10, 2025, the GLSHS published their findings, having found the boat resting approximately 600 feet under the surface of Lake Superior. The boat was split neatly into two 150-foot-long sections, with the dimensions and cargo hatches matching the Reserve.
If interested in more information about the story of the Western Reserve, please visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum’s website.
