The Graveyard of the Great Lakes comprises the southern shore of Lake Superior between Grand Marais, Michigan, and Whitefish Point, though Grand Island has been mentioned as a western terminus.[1] More ships have wrecked in this area than any other part of Lake Superior.[2][3][4]
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Over 200 wrecks are in the area of Whitefish Point of the 550 wrecks in Lake Superior. For a distance west of Whitefish Bay, there are no natural harbors in which ships can "ride out" storms.[5] Also, as late as the 20th century, weather prediction was "a haphazard process, very imprecise and unreliable."[6] A ship might have no idea of the weather into which it was sailing, or the weather coming at it.
These shipwrecks are now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.
History
editAfter the St. Lawrence Seaway was constructed, all inter-lake traffic on Lake Superior went at least near Whitefish Point.
Storms that claimed multiple ships include the Mataafa Storm in November 1905 and the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.
Due to the cold and fresh water, wrecks are often in quite good condition even after centuries underwater.[5]
A documentary has been made, about the Graveyard of the Great Lakes,[7] as had a piece on Apple TV.[8]
A few shipwrecks in the Graveyard of the Great Lakes
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- 129
- Independence
- Lambton
- Miztec
- John M. Osborn
- SS Comet
- SS Cyprus
- SS D.M. Clemson
- SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship to ever wreck on the Great Lakes[9]
- SS Indiana
- SS John B. Cowle
- SS John Mitchell
- SS M.M. Drake
- SS Myron
- SS Vienna
- SS Western Reserve
Another such place is known as "Shipwreck Alley," which is a 448-square-mile (1,160 km2) area of the Lake Huron shoreline that holds an estimated 200 shipwrecks.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Andric, Marija (November 8, 2022). "These True Stories Behind the Shipwrecks on Lake Superior Will Give You Goosebumps". Reader's Digest. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ Stonehouse, Frederick (1998) [1985]. Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast. Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios. p. 267. ISBN 0-932212-43-3.
- ^ "Lake Superior's 'Shipwreck Coast' a watery graveyard". Twin Cities Pioneer Press. August 31, 2012.
- ^ "Near Paradise in Chippewa County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)".
- ^ a b "This is what the Graveyard of the Great Lakes look like". Earthly Mission. 23 April 2021.
- ^ Lynch, Peter (March 20, 2008). "The origins of computer weather prediction and climate modeling" (PDF). Journal of Computational Physics. 227 (7): 3431–3444. Bibcode:2008JCoPh.227.3431L. doi:10.1016/j.jcp.2007.02.034.
- ^ "Documentaries Graveyard of the Great Lakes". Detroit Free Press. April 1, 2019.
- ^ "Apple TV". 2021.
- ^ McGreevy, Nora (October 29, 2021). "Three 19th-Century Shipwrecks Discovered in Lake Superior".
External links and references
edit- Lake Superior Marine Museum Association
- A Century-Old Mystery Surfaces From Lake Superior
- Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
- National Geographic article, "Road Trip: Shipwreck Coast, Michigan"
- Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
- 130 years after it sank, well-preserved wreckage of ship found in Lake Superior
- Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
- Graveyard Of The Great Lakes (1988), a YouTube video