The wreck of a luxury steamer, the Lac La Belle, has been discovered in Lake Michigan after being lost for over 150 years. The discovery concludes a decades-long search for the vessel, which sank during a storm in 1872.
After more than 150 years, the wreck of the steamship Lac La Belle has been located in Lake Michigan, according to CNN. Shipwreck hunter Paul Ehorn, 80, found the vessel in October 2022 but only recently made the discovery public, bringing to a close a search spanning decades.
The 66-meter-long Lac La Belle encountered a severe storm in October 1872. Shipwreck World reports that the ship began to sink approximately two hours after departing.
Most of the 53 passengers were able to reach safety using lifeboats. However, one of the lifeboats capsized on its way to shore, resulting in the deaths of eight people.
Ehorn had been searching for the wreck for 60 years, ultimately locating the ship with the aid of side-scan sonar.
According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wisconsin Water Library, between 6,000 and 10,000 shipwrecks lie in the Great Lakes of the United States, most of which remain undiscovered.
