The 'Unsinkable' Ship That Vanished 132 Years Ago Was Just Found

Bright Side

Imagine building a ship so strong, they called it "unsinkable"—then poof, it disappears without a trace. 🚢🌊 The Western Reserve vanished 132 years ago, leaving behind nothing but questions and ghost stories… until now. In this video, we dive deep into the shocking discovery of this legendary shipwreck and uncover what really happened on that final voyage. From haunting clues to high-tech underwater scans, it’s a maritime mystery finally brought to the surface. If you’re into lost ships, eerie tales, and the triumph of modern exploration, this one’s got your name written in barnacles. Time to set sail on a story that took over a century to resurface!  Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00On a fine summer night of August 30, 1892, a shipping magnate took his family for a cruise on Lake Superior.

00:09They were traveling on the Western Reserve, which was supposed to be one of the safest ships of its day.

00:15It was made of a type of steel like that used to construct the infamous Titanic.

00:20And it ended up with a similar tragic destiny.

00:24The ship broke in two and was found only 132 years later, in 2024.

00:31The 300-foot steamship was the first steel-plated freighter on the Great Lakes.

00:36One newspaper called it the Inland Greyhound because of how quickly it cut through the water.

00:42Peter H. Minch was the owner and inventor of this vehicle, which had been built just two years earlier in Cleveland.

00:48On the night of its last voyage, the ship set off toward Two Harbors, Minnesota.

00:55Minch brought along five of his family members, his wife, their two kids, his sister-in-law, and his niece.

01:02There were also 22 crew members aboard.

01:05It was a pleasant and smooth ride while they were sailing across Lake Huron.

01:09But as soon as they left Whitefish Bay, the lake turned wild, and the crew had to drop anchor for a while.

01:16Later that evening, as they entered Lake Superior around 9 p.m., a fierce summer storm moved in with powerful winds and crashing waves.

01:26Then, disaster.

01:27The ship began to split in two.

01:30Within just 10 minutes, the Western Reserve was completely underwater.

01:34Everyone managed to get into lifeboats.

01:36The Minch family, with some crew members, took the wooden one.

01:40And the remaining 10 people got into the metal one.

01:43But the storm was so brutal that the metal boat sank right away, and only a few made it into the other lifeboat.

01:50That second boat floated for the next 10 hours.

01:54A steamship passed by, but didn't notice or hear the people calling for help.

01:59Around 7 o'clock the next morning, the lifeboat got within a mile of shore near Deer Park, Michigan.

02:05They were so close to safety, but sadly, the lifeboat flipped too, and they all ended up in the freezing water.

02:13The only survivor of this tragedy was 24-year-old Harry Stewart, the ship's wheelsman.

02:20He swam a full mile through the freezing water and made it to shore, almost unconscious but alive.

02:27He later mentioned he survived only thanks to a heavy-knit, close-fitting pea jacket.

02:31The Western Reserve was lost for over 100 years, until a couple of determined explorers finally tracked it down.

02:40They spent over two years searching non-stop for the wreck off Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

02:46Daryl and Dan Erdl found it using a side-scan sonar that looks half a mile out on each side.

02:53One day, they saw a tiny blip on the left side of the scan.

02:58It was small, but Daryl measured the shadow, noticed that it was about 40 feet tall, and realized it must be something important.

03:06So they turned back and scanned directly over the spot.

03:10They saw cargo hatches and the wreck that looked like the ship had snapped in two,

03:15with one half lying on top of the other in an almost impossible position.

03:20Each piece measured around 150 feet long.

03:24And once they checked the width, they knew for sure that they had just found the legendary Western Reserve.

03:32Historians are still not sure why the vessel, that was supposed to be unsingable, suddenly snapped in half.

03:38But they have a few solid theories.

03:41One idea is something called pogging.

03:44It happens when the ship rides up over a giant wave, and the bow and stern are left hanging in the air, with nothing underneath to support them.

03:53That puts a large amount of pressure on the middle, and it bends down like a stick when you're pulling both ends.

04:00Another plausible reason concerns the steel the vessel was made of.

04:05Back then, steel was the hot new substitute for iron.

04:08But quality control wasn't perfect.

04:10Some steel plates weren't made very well, which could have caused a serious weak point in the ship's body.

04:17There's also the chance that the ship didn't have enough ballast, which is the weight used to keep it stable.

04:23Or maybe it wasn't balanced correctly.

04:28Sadly, just eight weeks after the Western Reserve tragedy,

04:32another vessel that had been built at the same time with similar mill runs of steel plate,

04:37repeated the destiny of its twin.

04:39The W.H. Gilsher was a steam freighter used to transport cargo between ports on the Great Lakes.

04:47It set out on what was supposed to be a routine trip on October 26, 1892.

04:54Loaded with over 3,000 tons of coal, the ship left Buffalo, heading for Milwaukee.

05:00Captain Leeds H. Weeks and a crew of 18 were on board.

05:03Everything seemed normal at first, and by the afternoon of October 28,

05:09the ship passed through the Straits of Mackinac and entered Lake Michigan.

05:13It was expected to reach Milwaukee by the 30th, but it never made it.

05:18A massive storm slammed into Lake Michigan and Lake Huron on October 28 and 29,

05:24and created havoc on travel plans for many, many ships.

05:28When the storm finally passed and boats started pulling into port,

05:33people began to piece together what happened to the W.H. Gilsher.

05:37One captain who was sailing nearby on his schooner said he saw a large steamer

05:42battling the storm about 20 miles northwest of North Manitou Island around 8 p.m. on the 28th.

05:49The ship looked helpless, and there was no movement or sign of life.

05:54Another captain later saw furniture and parts of the ship's bridge

05:58floating in the lake near south Manitou Island.

06:01Then two more steamers picked up broken pieces of W.H. Gilsher's pilot house in the same area.

06:08It became clear that the storm had destroyed the freighter, and tragically, no one survived.

06:13The Great Lakes are a hotspot for shipwrecks,

06:18and there have been between 6,000 to 10,000 of those starting in the 17th century.

06:24Back in 1679, the Griffon became the first European vessel to vanish without a trace on the lakes.

06:32It sailed all the way from Buffalo, New York, to Green Bay, Wisconsin,

06:36passing through Lake Erie, the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Huron,

06:41before reaching Lake Michigan.

06:42After a stop in Green Bay, it started heading back, and then it was never seen again.

06:50In 1975, one of the most famous shipwrecks happened when the massive 729-foot ore carrier,

06:57SS Edmund Fitzgerald, sank in Lake Superior.

07:01A false storm was supposed to stay far south of their route, but things changed fast.

07:07Another freighter, the Arthur M. Anderson, was following behind and kept in radio contact with the Fitz's captain,

07:14Ernest McSorland.

07:16By the afternoon of November 10th, waves were smashing over the deck,

07:20and wind gusts at over 80 miles per hour were hitting both ships hard.

07:25By 7.20 p.m., the Anderson couldn't reach the Fitzgerald by radio anymore, and it had vanished from radar.

07:33There was no distress call, no warning.

07:36The huge ship had just disappeared.

07:39Later, search crews found the wreck, over 530 feet under the surface, broken into two giant pieces.

07:46No one of the 29 crew members survived, and no one witnessed what really happened.

07:52There could be all sorts of reasons for such tragedies, from errors in judgment and equipment failure,

07:59to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

08:03The Great Lakes are massive bodies of water, with weather systems that you would expect to find in seas.

08:09These inland seas sit deep in the middle of the continent, and hurricane-strength winds and powerful storms form here.

08:17Many of them hit in November and December, when the waters are still warm from the summer,

08:22but Canadian cold air is starting to push down.

08:26There's a huge difference in temperature between the air and water.

08:30This difference in strong winds lead to massive waves.

08:34Plus, ice forms more easily in freshwater than in saltwater.

08:37It builds up on ships quickly, and crew members also have to get around tricky ice waters.

08:44Water levels here are also unstable.

08:47In wet years, storms are more likely to happen, and this makes the risk of damage or disaster higher.

08:56That's it for today.

08:58So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

09:03Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side!

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