MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — Searchers have discovered the elusive wreck of the F.J. King, a schooner that sank on Lake Michigan nearly 140 years ago.
The Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association (WUAA) announced the discovery Monday. The F.J. King sank on Sept. 15, 1886, during a storm off of Baileys Harbor, Wis., the news release says.
“Missing for 139 years, the F.J. King was one of the most highly sought lost ships on Lake Michigan and had been the subject of countless search efforts since the 1970s,” the WUAA says in its news release. “Green Bay-based Neptune’s Dive Club had even issued a $1,000 reward for its discovery. She had developed a reputation as something of a ghost ship due to her elusiveness.”
A WUAA group led by principal investigator Brendon Baillod began a search on June 28 but had little hope of success, instead focusing on learning about sidescan sonar and remote operated vehicle (ROV) technology.
But after only two hours, a large object appeared on a video screen, the statement says, which “clearly showed the vessel’s hatches and enabled Baillod to measure the object.” The wreck was 140 feet long, the exact length of the F.J. King.
“A few of us had to pinch each other,” Baillod said, according to the news release. “After all the previous searches, we couldn’t believe we had actually found it and so quickly.”
According to the WUAA, the F.J. King was a 144-foot, three-masted wooden schooner built in 1867 in Toledo by master shipwright George Rogers. The ship was used for the grain and iron ore trades.
According to the historical society and archaeology association’s announcement, the ship ran into a gale off the Door Peninsula on Sept. 15, 1886, while moving iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan, to Chicago.
Waves estimated at 8 to 10 feet ruptured her seams and after several hours of pumping, Captain William Griffin ordered his men into the ship’s yawl boat. The schooner finally sank bow-first around 2 a.m., with the ship’s stern deckhouse blowing away in the storm, sending Griffin’s papers 50 feet into the air.
A passing schooner picked up the crew and took them to Baileys Harbor.
Baillod said the hull appears to be intact, surprising searchers who expected to find it in pieces due to the weight of the iron ore the schooner was carrying.
The Great Lakes are home to anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 shipwrecks, most of which remain undiscovered, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wisconsin Water Library.