Long-Lost Lake Michigan Shipwreck Exhumed After 130 Years

Maritime experts recently recovered a long-lost shipwreck from Lake Michigan more than 130 years after it sank.

The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) announced last month on Facebook that it had exhumed the John Evenson from its watery grave. The tugboat was built in 1884 and sank just 11 years later during a tragic voyage in June of 1895. Brendon Baillod and Robert Jaeck, two maritime historians, used newspaper accounts from around the time the vessel sank along with sonar imaging to determine the location of the John Evenson 42 feet below the lake's surface.

"The ship was not a cargo ship, it was actually a tugboat," maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen told Fox News Digital. "It would have been used to tow vessels into Sturgeon Bay, break ice, or assist stranded ships."

Ironically, the John Evenson was often used to locate and transport wrecked vessels. On the day it sank, the tugboat had just received some routine repairs when its captain, anxious to recoup income, rushed the ship back into service.

"They waited outside the Sturgeon Bay Ship canal for the next vessel that required a tow into the canal," the WHS explained of that fateful day. "The steam barge I. Watson Stephenson, with two barges in tow, signaled for a tug. The John Evenson ran out to the ship, and while attempting to take the line, crossed the Stephenson’s bow. The Stephenson was traveling fast and hit the Evenson’s stern, which swung the tug across its bow flipping it over."

The John Evenson sank in just three minutes. Four of the five crew members on board were able to escape, though one lost his life. His remains “washed ashore about a month later,” though the ship would remain missing for more than a century.

An attempt was made to locate the John Evenson, but like so many things in life it was called off due to insurance. The tugboat’s owners “had surrendered the ship as a total loss and already received the insurance payout.” If they raised the boat and revitalized it for future use, “the insurance underwriters could claim ownership." As a result, it was left for Baillod and Jaeck to exhume over 130 years later.