Ship That Went Missing on American Waterway Has Finally Been Found
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A ship that disappeared on Lake Superior in 1909 has been found.
The Adella Shores, which went down on May 1, 1909, with 14 crew members aboard, has been found 650 feet below the surface and about 40 miles northwest of Whitefish Point, according to WOOD-TV on May 1 of this year.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society chose that date — the 115th anniversary of the sinking — to commemorate the find, which was made in 2021, according to a news release.
The release said the 735-ton, 195-foot wooden steamer was built in 1894 in Gibraltar, Michigan, and was owned by the Shores Lumber Company. The ship was named for Adella Shores, the owner’s daughter.
The release said the ship’s christening was a break with precedent.
Adella Shores shipwreck discovered in Lake Superior, after steamer vanished in 1909 with 14 aboard https://t.co/lgo9kUi1VH
— Superior Telegram (@superiortelegra) May 3, 2024
“Adella’s sister, Bessie, christened the new ship with a bottle of water (v. champagne or wine) as the family was strict about alcohol consumption,” the release said.
“Old time sailors might have seen that as a bad luck omen. The Adella Shores had her share of trouble…she sank twice in fifteen years in shallow waters, later being refloated each time and put back into service.”
The release said the Adella Shores, carrying a load of salt in a trip toward Duluth, Minnesota, in 1909, was following a larger steel steamship, the Daniel J. Morrell, through thick ice when a strong northeast gale hit.
By then, the Adella Shores was two miles behind its companion ship and was never seen again, although debris that was found made it clear the ship had found trouble.
The release said the captain of the Daniel J. Morrell believed the Adella Shores had hit an ice floe that punctured its hull.
The ship was found in the summer of 2021 by Darryl Ertel and his brother Dan while they were scanning the bottom of Lake Superior.
“I pretty much knew that had to be the Adella Shores when I measured the length of it, because there were no other ships out there missing in that size range,” Darryl said.
Lake Superior shipwreck Adella Shores, missing since 1909, finally found https://t.co/NvCewvu3aL
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) May 1, 2024
“As soon as I put the ROV down on it for the first time, I could see the design of the ship, and I could match it right up to the Adella Shores.”
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune said storms that raged when the Adella Shores sank impacted other ships, based on a report in The New York Times that said a snowstorm and 70 mph winds had hit Lake Superior.
The George Nester, a 206-foot wooden barge, went down with seven crew members on board. The 231-foot iron-hulled Russia foundered, but no lives were lost. The barge Aurania sank near Whitefish Point, with no loss of life.
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