Historians in Michigan recently announced that a shipwreck dating back more than a century has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Superior.
The Adella Shores, a wooden steamship built in 1894, was carrying salt to Duluth, Minnesota, when it mysteriously disappeared on May 1, 1909.
None of the ship’s 14 sailors were ever heard from again, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS), located in Paradise, Michigan.
The vessel’s name came from the company that built it, which was Shores Lumber Company, and the owner’s daughter — who was named Adella.
The GLSHS waited until the 115th commemoration of the ship’s disappearance before announcing that the wreck was discovered a few years ago.
The ship was spotted in the summer of 2021 thanks to the GLSHS’s side-scan sonar system.
Researchers found the remains of the ship’s boiler, its cargo hold, its port bow and more on the bottom of Lake Superior.
Although debris was found, there was no sign of the sailors’ remains.
Bruce E. Lynn, executive director of the GLSHS, told Fox News Digital that shipwrecks in the Great Lakes were more common than one might expect.
“There are a variety of reasons for this, and the weather was often a prime factor,” he said.
“The lakes create their own micro-climates and conditions can change extremely quickly.”
“Weather reporting was not as accurate as it is today, and ships like the Adella Shores could get caught in situations, very quickly, that they were unable to safely get out of,” Lynn added.
“Reduced visibility caused problems, too, and vessel collisions were not uncommon. There were far more ships operating.”
The Adella Shores sank two times before the fatal 1909 incident. Lynn said ice caused the ship to sink twice at docks, but a storm most likely caused the final shipwreck.
“Ships like the Adella Shores didn’t have radar or GPS … so they would often sail ‘blind’ through low visibility situations, sometimes leading to collision.”
