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Newly discovered shipwreck ‘disappeared as suddenly as one could snuff out a candle’

Posted at 8:38 AM, Sep 10, 2014
and last updated 2014-09-10 08:38:08-04

WHITEFISH POINT, Mich. — Excitement reigns at the Great Lakes Historical Society as the group has discovered a long-lost shipwreck in Lake Superior.

The 199-foot schooner Nelson sank near Grand Marais, Mich., in 1899 and was hidden to searchers for 115 years. Like so many lost vessels, the ship, in tow behind the steam A. Folsom, was trying to make shelter at Whitefish Bay.

The captain of the ship was the only survivor after he watched his family pulled under as the ship sank. The captain of the A. Folsom said “the Nelson disappeared as suddenly as one could snuff out a candle.”

Officials at the GLSHS credited improving technology in making the discovery possible.

(Read more on the GLSHS web site.)