DEER PARK, MI (AP)-- The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society says it has discovered the wreckage of a schooner that sank in Lake Superior in 1899, killing nine people, including the captain's wife and infant child.
MLive.com reports that searchers found the gravesite of the Nelson last month in more than 200 feet of water off Deer Park. Historical Society Director Bruce Lynn says the 199-foot vessel was located during a side-sonar search of an area that researchers believe has several hundred shipwrecks.
The Nelson was carrying a load of coal and was being towed west by a steamer when a gale struck. They tried to reach the shelter of Whitefish Bay, but the towline snapped and the schooner sank.
The society says it plans further study of the wreckage.