Shipwreck missing since 1872 discovered at bottom of Lake Michigan
The Lac La Belle sank during a storm in 1872 and was lost to the lake for more than a century. Now a shipwreck hunter says the wreck has finally been found.
The wreckage of the 1872 steamship Lac La Belle has been found in Lake Michigan. Michigan diver Paul Ehorn located the vessel in 2022 after 65 years of searching the Great Lakes.
A ship that hasn’t seen daylight for 154 years was recently found resting at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
The Lac La Belle was a 217-foot passenger steamer built in 1864, once used to move people and goods across the lake. But on a stormy night in October 1872, the voyage took a deadly turn. The ship began taking on water during a gale and eventually sank, and eight people died when one of the lifeboats capsized during the escape.
There it sat in the cold, dark depths until pioneer Illinois Shipwreck Hunter and Scuba Diver Paul Ehorn located the wreck, according to Shipwreck World.
The stern of the Lac La Belle showing one of her propellers missing. (Paul Ehorn/Shipwreck World)
"The Lac La Belle was close to home for me and is a wreck that’s always been on my radar," Ehorn said.
For Ehorn, the discovery marked the end of a long pursuit. According to reporting on the find, he has been searching for the Lac La Belle since 1965, part of a decades-long effort to track down one of Lake Michigan’s most sought-after missing ships.
Ehorn and his partner, Bruce Bittner, believed they first identified the wreck site in 2022 using sonar. But rough weather and the ship’s distance from shore made it difficult to return and confirm what they were seeing.
The discovery was publicly announced on Feb. 13.
“Although her superstructure is blown off, you can see all of her wooden framing and some of her cargo is visible,” Ehorn said.
Large wooden steamers like the Lac La Belle needed longitudinal hogging arches for strength. (Paul Ehorn/Shipwreck World)
The Lac La Belle isn’t the first shipwreck Ehorn has helped locate on the bottom of the Great Lakes. Shipwreck World reports he began looking for sunken vessels in 1965 and has made multiple discoveries over the years, including the Senator, an automobile carrier he found in 2005.
In a lake that can look calm on the surface but has claimed thousands of ships over the centuries, discoveries like this do more than add a pin to a map. They pull a missing chapter of history back into view — and turn a name from an old headline into something real again.
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