Wreck of carrier Arlington found in Lake Superior
Merchant ship sank in 1940 in 600 feet of water
The wreckage of a 244-foot merchant ship that sank in 1940 has been found in Lake Superior.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, along with shipwreck researcher Dan Fountain, announced Monday that they discovered the bulk carrier Arlington in more than 600 feet of water about 35 miles north of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula.
According to the news release from the historical society, Fountain has been studying remote sensing data in the search for shipwrecks in Lake Superior for the past 10 years.
After coming across a “particularly deep anomaly,” he reached out to the shipwreck society for help in identifying the potential wreck.
In 2023, Fountain, historical society marine operations director Darryl Ertel and the crew of the R/V David Boyd towed a marine sonic technology sidescan sonar over the anomaly and realized it was indeed a shipwreck, according to the news release.
The wreckage was later identified as that of the Arlington.
“Finding Arlington so far out in the lake ... I hope this final chapter in her story can provide some measure of closure to the family of Captain Burke.”
Dan Fountain
Shipwreck researcher
Why did the ship sink?
The Arlington left Port Arthur, Ontario, on April 30, 1940, according to the historical society. The ship was under command of Captain Frederick “Tatey Bug” Burke, a veteran of the Great Lakes.
The ship was loaded with wheat and headed to Owen Sound, Ontario.
Dense fog greeted the Arlington and another, larger freighter, the Collingwood, as they made their way across Lake Superior.
“As day turned to night, the fog turned into a storm and battered both ships,” the historical society said in the news release. The Arlington started to take on water and the ship’s first mate, Junis Macksey, ordered a course to hug the Canadian north shore, which would have provided some cover from wind and waves.
Captain Burke, however, countermanded the order and ordered his ship back on its course across the open lake.
On May 1, around 4:30 a.m., chief engineer Fred Gilbert sounded the alarm and the Arlington started to sink. The crew began to abandon ship on their own and made it safely to the Collingwood, except for Captain Burke, who went down with the Arlington.
“Reports indicate that he was near the pilothouse of his ship and waved at the Collingwood minutes before his ship went to the deep, 650 feet to the bottom of Lake Superior,” the news release said.
“It’s exciting to solve just one more of Lake Superior’s many mysteries,” Fountain said in the news release. “Finding Arlington so far out in the lake ... I hope this final chapter in her story can provide some measure of closure to the family of Captain Burke.”
Other recent shipwreck discoveries
In January, a hidden shipwreck might have been found in Lake Erie, exposed by abnormally low water levels on the Ohio side of the lake.
The apparent wreck was spotted after a blizzard swept across the Midwest and created a seiche, or a tidal-like phenomenon, according to Michigan Live.
Photos posted on social media by WTOL chief meteorologist Chris Vickers showed a barren Lake Erie. A followup post featured an image of what appeared to be two cannons that were exposed by the low water levels.
“From the photos I looked at last night, and there were just a couple, I saw a lot of straight lines (on the structure), which to me says more pier/ dockage than ship,” Carrie Sowden, National Museum of the Great Lakes archaeology director, told WTOL. “But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a ship, it just means that’s my first impression.”
In summer 2023, a 4-year-old girl and her father discovered a 150-yearold shipwreck on the waters of Lake Michigan.
Henley Wollak and her father, Tim, were boating toward her favorite island beach when they saw something under the surface that Henley thought was an octopus.
Her father knew that hundreds of vessels had been lost to the lake over the years.
He thought the long gray lines below the water looked like the hull of a ship. He later posted photos of their discovery on Facebook.
“At first when we saw it in the boat, I thought it was cool to see something like that,” Wollak, 36, told USA TODAY. “At that time I didn’t know the magnitude of what it was.”
In December 2023, the Wisconsin Historical Society delivered news that was beyond the father and daughter’s wildest dreams: They had discovered a long-lost 150-year-old shipwreck.
Researchers said they believe Henley and her father spotted the remains of the George L. Newman, a vessel built before the Civil War. Historical records show it sank in 1871 after struggling to navigate through heavy smoke from the Peshtigo Fire, the deadliest forest fire in U.S. history.
Until this year, the Newman had never been spotted, researchers told Wollak.
As the Wisconsin Historical Society explained in a Facebook post, the ship was abandoned, became covered with sand and was “largely forgotten – until it became exposed and was located by the Wollaks this past summer.”