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Was a ship found at the bottom of the Great Lakes?

A Ship That Sank in 1881 Is Found Nearly Intact in Lake Michigan. Trinidad, built in 1867, was part of the lucrative grain trade on the Great Lakes. Its remarkably intact wreckage, which included stacks of dishes, was just discovered.



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An estimated 6,000 vessels were lost on the Great Lakes with approximately 1,500 of these ships located in Michigan waters. These are unique resources. The history of Michigan can be traced by the material records of its shipwrecks. They are a wood and steel chronicle of the history of naval architecture on the lakes.

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Crossing one of North America's greatest waterways could be dangerous and many ships were lost in the Great Lakes due to storms or other accidents. It is estimated that there are over 6,000 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, some dating back as far as the 17th century.

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Of course, the most famous Great Lakes shipwreck was that of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, with none of the 29 members of its crew surviving the waters of Lake Superior. And the most deadly event was the 1958 sinking of the Carl Bradley in Lake Michigan, claiming the lives of all but two of 35 shipmates onboard.

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Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot inspired popular interest in this vessel with his 1976 ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men on Lake Superior November 10, 1975, 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan.

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September 8, 2010 marked the 150th anniversary of the sinking of the Lady Elgin. The worst tragedy ever seen on the Great Lakes, this event looms large in Winnetka and Lake Michigan history. Just before midnight on September 7, 1860, a palatial sidewheel steamboat named the Lady Elgin left Chicago bound for Milwaukee.

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There's actually a story that came up not long ago about divers who had apparently found Confederacy Gold that was lost in Lake Michigan. It turns out there may be billions of dollars worth of treasure that has been lost to the Great Lakes, and there's actually somewhat of a map that will lead you to it.

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Lake Superior is the Cleanest and Clearest Great Lake Because of its somewhat isolated location and long cold winters, not much farming is done along Superior's shores. This means lower amounts of nutrients, sediments, and organic material are floating around the lake.

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Last year, after searching more than 2,500 miles of the bottom of Lake Superior, the Atlanta — a 172-foot schooner-barge that also sank during a terrible storm — was found, preserved in the lake just as it was when it went down more than 130 years ago. Even the gold letters of the ship's nameplate were still visible.

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The entire crew of 29 people died when the vessel sank. No bodies were ever recovered from the wreckage. Later when the wreck was found, it was discovered that the ship had broken in two. It still sits on the bottom of Lake Superior at 530 feet deep.

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According to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, the lakes have caused the sinking of around 6,000 ships and the death of 30,000 people. However, historian Mark Thompson, the author of Graveyard of the Lakes, has estimated that there are over 25,000 shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes.

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While there have been past “sightings,” most have turned out to be pranks or misidentifications. The reality is that the largest of the Great Lakes (Lake Superior and Michigan) are extremely deep lakes that are too cold for sharks.

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Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan: 13 Famous Ships Lost in the Waters the Lake. Lake Michigan is home to an estimated 1,500 shipwrecks, out of a total of 6,000 in the Great Lakes. Recently, the lake's clear waters have revealed some of them, including James McBride and Rising Sun.

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Edmund Fitzgerald, official number 277437, sinking in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975 with loss of life.” While the Coast Guard said the cause of the sinking could not be conclusively determined, it maintained that “the most probable cause of the sinking of the S.S.

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