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2w ago

Long-Sought Lake Michigan 'Ghost Ship' F.J. King Found Off Wisconsin's Door Peninsula

Officials plan to nominate the intact, mussel-covered wreck for historic protection with coordinates withheld until listing.

The wreckage of the F.J. King rests on the bottom of Lake Michigan in 2025, 139 years after that cargo ship sank. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society
Citizen scientists with Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association (WUAA) discover the wreck of the schooner F.J. King off the coast of Door County, 2025. (Image courtesy of WUAA)
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Citizen scientists with Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association (WUAA) discover the wreck of the schooner F.J. King off the coast of Door County, 2025. (Image courtesy of WUAA)

Overview

  • The Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association announced the find Monday, confirming researcher Brendon Baillod’s team located the schooner on June 28.
  • Searchers found the wreck off Bailey’s Harbor after targeting a grid near the Cana Island lighthouse keeper’s 1886 sighting and using side-scan sonar followed by ROV inspections.
  • WHS maritime archaeologists documented the site and created a 3D photogrammetry model as part of the formal record.
  • The 144-foot, three-masted schooner sank during a Sept. 15, 1886 gale while hauling iron ore from Escanaba to Chicago, yet its hull remains remarkably intact and is heavily colonized by quagga mussels.
  • After decades of unsuccessful searches driven by conflicting historical accounts, the site will be nominated for State and National Register listing, and removal of artifacts is prohibited under state and federal law.