Shipwreck society discovers the Nucleus wreck in Lake Superior
WHITEFISH POINT — The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced on Wednesday the discovery of the 144-foot Barquentine Nucleus.
The Nucleus was found under 600 feet of water around 40 miles northwest of Vermilion point on Lake Superior.
The Nucleus sank on Sept. 14, 1869, when it was downbound from Marquette carrying a load of iron ore. According to the shipwreck society, the Nucleus was no stranger to accidents. It had already sunk twice, and in 1854, rammed and sank the side-wheeler S.S. Detroit in Lake Huron.
On that September day in 1869, the Nucleus was caught in a storm on Lake Superior and started to take on water. The leak became so bad the crew had to abandoned ship and took to their lifeboat. The Nucleus sank shortly afterwards.
After a few hours in their yawl, the Nucleus crew spotted, and hailed the S.S. Union. The officers reportedly spotted the Nucleus crew struggling in the storm but chose to keep on steaming, leaving them behind. Fortunately, they were soon picked up by the schooner Worthington, with no loss of life.
More:Historical shipwreck discovered in Lake Superior
The Nucleus sank in 1869, making it one of the oldest ships to go down along Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast.
"This is a pretty significant shipwreck," said Bruce Lynn, the shipwreck society's executive director. "Considering its age, the fact that it is a barquentine and we can’t overlook the vessel’s checkered past. The wreck site is littered with shovels too … and a few dinner plates, which speaks to their work and shipboard life.”
The shipwreck society discovered the Nucleus using a Marine Sonic Technology side-scan sonar in the summer of 2021, and positively identified the wreck in 2022 using the organization’s ROV.
Darryl Ertel Jr., the society's director of marine operations, found the wreck to be in surprisingly good condition.
“The stern was intact," he said. "It had a straight back stern and then the port side also was intact. And so, I was more excited about it because at first, I thought it was totally in pieces on the bottom.”
For more information, visit www.shipwreckmuseum.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Shipwreck society discovers the Nucleus wreck in Lake Superior
