Shipwreck hunter finds luxury steamer that sank in Lake Michigan in 1872

Researchers have discovered the wreck of a luxury steamer ship that sank in Lake Michigan in 1872, they announced Friday.

Shipwreck World, a group that works to locate shipwrecks around the globe, announced the find last week, crediting a team led by Illinois shipwreck hunter Paul Ehorn. Ehorn, 80, says his team discovered the wreck of the Lac La Belle roughly 20 miles offshore between Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin, in October 2022.

He added that the announcement was delayed because his team planned to release three dimensional video of the wreck along with the announcement, but weather prevented access until last summer.

Ehorn told The Associated Press he has been searching for the Lac La Belle’s location since 1965.

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"It’s kind of a game, like solve the puzzle. Sometimes you don’t have many pieces to put the puzzle together but this one worked out and we found it right away," he said. The finding left him "super elated."

Ehorn said he was able to narrow down his search thanks to a clue from wreck hunter and author Ross Richardson. Ehorn declined to say what the clue was, but Richardson told The Associated Press that he had heard of a local fisherman who pulled up an item specific to a steam ship in a "certain location."

According to an account on Shipwreck World, the Lac La Belle was built in 1864, in Cleveland, Ohio. The massive 217-foot (66-meter) steamer ran between Cleveland and Lake Superior but sank in the St. Clair River in 1866 after a collision. The ship was raised in 1869 and reconditioned.

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The ship's final trip began when it left Milwaukee for Grand Haven, Michigan, in a gale on the night of Oct, 13, 1872, with 53 passengers and crew and a cargo of barley, pork, flour and whiskey. About two hours into the trip, the ship began to leak uncontrollably.

The captain turned the Lac La Belle back to Milwaukee, but waves came crashing over the vessel, extinguishing its boilers. The captain ultimately ordered lifeboats lowered and the ship went down stern first.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.