Searchers finally find ‘ghost ship’ that sank in Lake Michigan 140 years ago

A shipwreck lost for nearly 140 years has finally been discovered at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

Researchers confirmed they located the remains of the F.J. King, a three-masted schooner that sank during a violent storm in 1886 off the coast of Wisconsin.

The find was announced by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association, who revealed that a team identified the wreck on June 28 near Bailey’s Harbor on the state’s Door Peninsula. The 144-foot vessel, built in 1867 in Toledo, Ohio, was carrying iron ore to Chicago when it went down.

Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association

According to records, waves up to 10 feet ruptured the ship’s seams, forcing Captain William Griffin and his crew to abandon ship after hours of pumping, and a passing schooner later rescued them.

While Griffin estimated the wreck was five miles from shore, a lighthouse keeper claimed he saw the masts break the surface much closer. Conflicting reports and years of failed searches gave the F.J. King its reputation as a ghost ship.

Baillod’s team used side-scan sonar to narrow the search to a two-square-mile grid near the lighthouse keeper’s original sighting. The sonar revealed a 140-foot object less than half a mile from that location, which turned out to be the long-lost schooner.

“A few of us had to pinch each other,” Baillod said in the announcement. “After all the previous searches, we couldn’t believe we had actually found it, and so quickly.”

Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association

The hull of the ship appears to be intact despite the weight of the iron ore it carried, though photos show the wreck is now covered in invasive quagga mussels.

The discovery marks the fifth shipwreck found by the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association in the past three years, including the steamer L.W. Crane, tugboat John Evenson, and schooner Margaret A. Muir.

Experts estimate between 6,000 and 10,000 ships lie at the bottom of the Great Lakes, many of them still undiscovered.