In August 1892, the Western Reserve was sailing across Lake Superior when it got caught in a late summer storm. The 300-foot vessel was roughly 60 miles north of Whitefish Point when a powerful gale swept in and broke up the ship,

After searching for two years, researchers discovered the shipwreck of the Western Reserve, an early all-steel ship that broke apart in a gale in 1892 with a sole survivor.

In 1892, a gale overtook the ship Western Reserve, causing it to sink within a matter of minutes with only one of the 28 aboard at the time surviving. The ship was lost to Lake Superior until 2024.