A bad omen may have caused this ship to sink 115 years ago. It’s found decades later
Did a “bad luck omen” cause this ship to sink in Lake Superior exactly 115 years ago in 1909?
Some “old time sailors” may have thought so. According to the The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, they may have believed the shipowner’s family made a grave mistake when christening the “Adella Shores.”
Adella was the name of the owner’s daughter. When the 735-ton wooden steamer built in Gibraltar, Michigan, was christened by Adella’s sister, she used a bottle of water instead of the traditional champagne or wine.
“The family was strict about alcohol consumption,” the society said in a May 1 news release.
It sank twice, and was refloated, before its fatal journey on April 29, 1909.
The “Adella Shores” was headed for Duluth, Minnesota, with a load of salt, surrounded by thick ice when it was hit by a huge gust of wind, the society said. Though it had been traveling with a larger ship, the two had been separated because of the turbulent weather.
“The Adella Shores was never seen again, disappearing with all fourteen crew members,” according to the society. Officials believe ice may have punctured the ship, causing it to quickly sink.
The society’s Director of Marine Operations Darryl Ertel and his brother Dan Ertel discovered the sunken ship in 2021. They came across debris but no bodies.
“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 Ertel said in a statement.
Duluth is about a 750-mile drive northwest from Gibraltar. Gibraltar is near Detroit.
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