Shipwreck found in Lake Superior – after 131 years

The Atlanta was carrying a load of coal when a storm sank it on 4 May, 1891

A 131-year-old shipwreck has been discovered in Lake Superior just off the coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The Atlanta was carrying a load of coal when a storm sank it on 4 May, 1891.

The cold temperatures of the lake have kept the remains of the Atlanta well preserved beneath lake's surface, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.

According to the Associated Press, various parts of the ship – including its wheel and its name – are still clearly visible despite being more than 600 feet (183m) below the lake's surface. The ship sank approximately 35 miles (56km) off the coast of Deer Park, Michigan.

"It is truly ornate and still beautiful after 130 years on the bottom of Lake Superior," Bruce Lynn, the executive director of the historical society, said.

The partially buried ship wheel of the Atlanta, a ship that wrecked in Lake Superior in 1891 that was recently discovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (screengrab)

According to the group, sonar technology was used to help locate the ship's remains. The shipwreck society mapped about 2,500 miles of Lake Superior using Marine Sonic Technology in 2021. That mapping allowed them to pinpoint the location of the Atlanta.

The 172-foot-long ship was apparently being towed with its sails down when the line snapped during a storm, leaving it to be batted around by the weather. The ship's crew attempted to board lifeboats to abandon ship, but the boat was overturned, leaving only two survivors.

According to the survivors, the Atlanta's three masts broke during the storm. Video taken of the shipwreck confirmed those stories, as all three masts were found broken on the lake's floor.

The nameplate of the Atlanta, a ship that wrecked in Lake Superior in 1891. The ship was recently discovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (screengrab)

"It is rare that we find a shipwreck that so clearly announces what it is, and the name-board of the Atlanta really stands out,” Mr Lynn said.

According to The Detroit News, the recently discovered Atlanta is not the only ship to sit at the bottom of a Great Lake to bear that name.

Another ship named Atlanta ended its service on the bottom of Lake Michigan. That ship, a steamer, was built the same year that the Atlanta sank in Lake Superior. The ship carried freight and passengers on Lake Michigan until it caught fire in 1906. The ship was towed to shore while it burned, but eventually sank before it could reach shore. That Atlanta is only 17 feet under the water some 800 feet off the coast of Cedar Grove, Wisconsin.