Researchers Discover 139-Year-Old Cargo Shipwreck In Lake Michigan

WISCONSIN – The Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association announced Monday that researcher Brandon Baillod’s team found the wreck of the FJ King off Bailey’s Harbor.

The 144-foot three-masted cargo schooner, built in 1867 in Toledo, Ohio, sank September 15, 1886 during a storm while carrying iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan to Chicago. Eight to ten-foot waves ruptured the ship’s seams, forcing Captain William Griffin and crew into a lifeboat around 2am as the vessel sank bow-first.

Searchers had hunted for the wreck since the 1970s, but conflicting location reports stymied efforts.

Baillod used side-scan radar in a 2-square-mile grid near the lighthouse keeper’s reported location, finding the 140-foot object less than half a mile away.

“A few of us had to pinch each other,” Baillod said. “After all the previous searches, we couldn’t believe we had actually found it, and so quickly.”