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Lac La Belle Shipwreck Confirmed in Lake Michigan After 60-Year Hunt

Searchers delayed the announcement until a 3D video model could verify the find.

Overview

  • Shipwreck World says a team led by Illinois wreck hunter Paul Ehorn located the 217-foot steamer in October 2022 about 20 miles offshore between Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin.
  • A 2022 tip from fellow researcher Ross Richardson narrowed the grid, and side-scan sonar pinpointed the site within two hours on the lake.
  • The team returned last summer to capture a three-dimensional video model before publicly revealing the discovery this month.
  • Ehorn reports the hull is upright with oak interiors largely intact, while quagga mussels encrust the exterior and the upper cabins are missing.
  • The steamer sank on Oct. 13, 1872 after uncontrollable flooding during a gale; one lifeboat capsized, killing eight people, and the find marks Ehorn’s 15th confirmed wreck as urgency grows to document Great Lakes sites facing mussel damage.