There’s all kinds of stuff in the depths of Lake Superior, from ancient shipwrecks to trains that went too far off the track. Now, a team of explorers has unearthed another lost vessel that’s been on the bottom of America’s largest lake for more than 80 years.
The ship in question is the SS Arlington, which was a World War Two carrier that sank during a particularly fierce storm back in 1940. When the ship sank, the only life lost was that of its captain, Frederick Burke.
Now, NBC News reports that the remains of the ship have been located on the floor of Lake Superior after a 10 year search by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society and researcher Dan Fountain. The 244-foot SS Arlington was found more than 600 feet below the surface of the water around 35 miles north of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. NBC News reports:
Fountain spotted something at the bottom of the lake using remote sensing data and contacted the society for help to find out what it was. Last year, the society towed a sonar device over the suspected resting place and confirmed that it was a shipwreck, before underwater drones verified that it was the missing Arlington.
Video footage released by the society showed decayed wreckage, with its smokestack toppled over but its helm, or steering wheel, still intact.
The conditions in which the ship sank do seem peculiar, to say the least. According to NBC News, the SS Arlington was caught up in rough weather on April 30th 1940, so the first mate ordered crews to stick to the shore where there was some shelter.
However, Captain Burke overrode that order, and headed back into the heart of the lake, where he faced rough waters and even rougher weather. Soon, the ship began to struggle and its crew abandoned ship, leaving just Burke onboard. NBC News reports:
Despite an inquiry and decades of speculation, Burke’s fate has remained a puzzle ever since. The society said that some reports from the time indicated that he was seen near the pilothouse of the ship and waved to the Collingwood as he sank to the bottom.
Now, researchers involved in the discovery are hopeful that locating the final resting place of the SS Arlington will help offer some closure to the family of Captain Burke.