The 300-foot steel steamer the Western Reserve, one of two of their kind built by the Globe Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland and its counterpart, Cleveland Shipbuilding, sank on Aug. 30, 1892 while en route to Two Harbors, Minnesota via Lake Huron and Lake Superior. There was only one survivor.

Cleveland Masterworks writer Tom Matowitz shared the tale of the Western Reserve and its sister ship, the W.H. Gilcher, in a January 2023 FreshWater article, “A tale of two steamers: The tragic stories of The Western Reserve and the W.H. Gilcher.”

At the time, it was thought that both ships were lost forever on the Great Lakes.

After 132 years, the final resting place of the 300’ steel steamer Western Reserve has been discovered roughly 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior.

In late summer 2024, David Boyd with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS), in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, discovered the wreckage of the Western Reserve using Marine Sonic Technology side-scan sonar aboard the non-profit’s research vessel.

Subsequent remotely operated vehicle (ROV) deployments confirmed the identity of the shipwreck, revealing a ship broken in two, with the bow section resting on top of the stern in approximately 600’ of water.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point in Paradise, Michigan, reported on the discovery. GLSHS director of marine operations Darryl Ertel recalls, “Knowing how the 300-foot Western Reserve was caught in a storm this far from shore made an uneasy feeling in the back of my neck, a squall can come up unexpectedly…anywhere, and anytime.”

Read Matowitz’ story of the two steamers’ flaws and fates, and the significance of both the green starboard running light and the red port running light, and discover what the truth revealed in 2024 in the GLSHS March 2025 article.