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82 Ghost Fleet Of The Great Lakes

The Ghost Fleet of the

Great Lakes

Brent Swancer

When people think of ghost ships, they are
typically most likely to envision the high seas
and think of them as a phenomenon inherit to the
vast open spaces of the world’s oceans.
However, this is not always the case. In the
Great Lakes of the United States, stories have
long circulated of various ghostly vessels that
patrol the waters there; so many in fact that
locals have come to refer to them collectively as
the “Ghost Fleet.” It seems that the oceans of the
world are not the only haunts for mysterious
phantom vessels.
The Great Lakes are comprised of Lakes
Superior, Michigan, Huron (or Michigan–
Huron), Erie, and Ontario. They are the largest
group of freshwater lakes in the world, covering
a total area of 94,250 square miles (244,106
km2). They may be lakes, but their sheer size
makes the Great Lakes more akin to inland
oceans, with vast expanses of open water with
sunk by one of the area’s many unpredictable, family of the crewmen encouraged a search for
no land in sight, enormous rogue waves, and
fierce storms. the lost vessel but no trace of it was found. By
storms just as ferocious and dangerous as any
Regardless of the cause of its fate, the November 26, 1902, the Bannockburn was
found at sea, the most notorious of which is a
Griffon did not seem quite ready to give up its officially declared as lost. The official
seasonal storm referred to as the Witch of days of sailing. Ever since its disappearance explanation for the ship’s disappearance was
November. Due to the perilous weather and
there have been stories of sailors seeing a that it had been beached at a place called
oceanic conditions of the Great Lakes, countless
glowing, ghostly, three masted antiquated ship Caribou Island, a dangerous area riddled with
vessels have been lost here over the centuries,
appear from fog banks on Lake Michigan. The reefs, after the lighthouse there had been turned
with many of them disappearing without a trace,
ghostly Griffon is said to be fond of setting itself off. However, it was never discovered what had
never to be seen again. Or at least not among the
on a collision course with other vessels, only to actually happened to the doomed vessel, and the
living, for it seems that some of these lost ships
vanish into thin air right before contact. It is only wreckage to ever have been retrieved was a
have refused to remain lost, and their ghostly
most often reported as sailing around Michigan single life preserver and an oar. Since this
visages are said to still prowl the waters here.
Harbor on particularly foggy nights, and has mysterious disappearance, the Bannockburn has
The oldest of the Great Lakes’ Ghost even been seen from shore. The actual physical been sighted prowling the waters of Lake
Fleet, and widely regarded as the first, is a vessel
wreck of the Griffon has become a highly sought Superior to this day; so much so that it has
called the Griffon, which set sail on Lake Eerie
after prize of underwater archeologists, often garnered a reputation as the “Flying Dutchman
from Niagara in August of 1679. The 40 ton
being likened to the “Holy Grail of the Great of Lake Superior.” The ghost vessel is most
Griffon was a rugged ship built and captained by
Lakes,” and while several promising wrecks often spotted between Port Arthur, Michigan and
a French explorer by the name of Rene de
have been located that might be it, the wreck has the Soo Locks between Superior and Huron.
LaSalle for the purpose of shipping supplies for
still not been definitively found. Another rather infamous case is the
LaSalle’s various expeditions into New France.
The Griffon is not the only ghost ship disappearance and subsequent ghostly
The Griffon’s last known voyage with the living
said to roam the Great Lakes by a long shot. reappearance of two ore freighters by the name
began with a perilous route through the Straits of What would be a “Ghost Fleet” without more to of the W.H. Gilcher and the Western Reserve in
Mackinac and into Lake Michigan, where it
join its ranks? One of the most famous ghost the late 19th century. Both ships were some of
anchored near Green Bay, Wisconsin. When the
ships of the Ghost Fleet’s ranks is the the largest of their day; enormous, steel hulled
cargo was offloaded, the Griffon was sent back
Bannockburn, a Canadian registered steel hulled behemoths longer than a football field which
towards Niagara in order to pick up another load
freighter which disappeared on Lake Superior were designed to haul heavy loads of ore. The
of supplies in September of 1679, along with a
on November 21, 1902 without a trace, along Western Reserve was the property of a wealthy
cargo of furs to be delivered. Once again,
with a crew of 21 and a cargo of wheat. The financier by the name of Peter Minch. It was lost
weather conditions were favorable, but as soon
Bannockburn’s final voyage began at a place in a storm on Lake Superior while on its way
as the Griffon left Washington Harbor, it and its
called Fort William, with the ship captained by a from Cleveland to Two Harbors, Minnesota on a
crew of 6 simply vanished from the face of the George R. Wood. Sometime after the ship’s mission to pick up a load of iron ore along with
earth. They never reached their destination and
departure, a Captain James McMaugh, aboard 26 crew and the financier Minch himself. Only a
no one had any idea of what had become of
the freighter the Algonquin, reported seeing the single survivor, the wheelman of the vessel,
them.
Bannockburn several times off of Isle Royale, Harry Stewart, lived to tell the tale. Interestingly,
Many people at the time blamed the
but suddenly and inexplicably lost sight of the the captain of the Western Reserve, Captain
disappearance on an alleged curse that had been
large ship. The befuddled McMaugh allegedly Benjamin Truedell, reported having a vivid
placed upon the vessel by an Iroquois witch
just chalked it up to a heavy fog that had dream in which he foresaw the accident in great
doctor by the name of Metiomek, who had
descended upon the area at the time. A storm detail before the ship had even left harbor. The
believed that the ship was offensive to the Great
began to brew that night, and another ship, the ship is said to haunt Lake Superior in the area of
Spirit and had reportedly warned LaSalle that it passenger steamer the Huronic, also reportedly Deer Park, Michigan, and one of its
was destined to sink. Metiomek had also warned
passed by the Bannockburn churning along in characteristics is its ability to produce huge
LaSalle that he was doomed to have his blood
the foul weather but no distress signals were banks of fog and enormous, rough waves.
cover the hands of his closest confidants, and
received and so they thought nothing of it. Witnesses of the ghostly Western Reserve claim
eerily he would be murdered by his crew during
they can sometimes hear talking and laughter
a mutiny in 1687; an event that would lend some
After these sightings, the Bannockburn failed to wafting over the water from the phantom ship.
weight to the theory that Metiomek had indeed
arrive at its scheduled destination, and several
cursed the Griffon. However, no one knew what
days later had still not shown up. Concerned (Continued on Page 83)
had really become of it, and it was most likely