Over the last 150 years, ships big and small have been swallowed by the powerful waves of Lake Superior. Many of these have occurred just a stone’s throw away from the North Shore and are still being examined and explored to this day. Here are 7 of the most interesting and eye-opening shipwrecks the state of Minnesota has ever seen!

1.The Samuel P. Ely went down in 1896 just off the shore of Two Harbors, making it a popular spot for divers to explore.
YouTube/scubapony
2. The U.S.S. Essex was set on fire in the Duluth Harbor where some remnants of the ship can still be found.
Wikipedia
3. The Hesper freight ship went down in 1905 off the coast of Silver Bay, making it easily accessible to those looking for an underwater adventure.
Wikimedia/Elkman

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4. The Duluth-based Edmund Fitgerald is the most famous and recent of these Minnesota wreckages, mysteriously sinking in 1975.
Wikimedia/Greenmars
5. The Thomas Wilson freighter and the George Hadley steam boat collided and went down in the ship graveyard that is the Duluth Harbor, still filled with iron ore.
Wikimedia/Minnesota Historical Society
6. The Madeira schooner famously went down in the storm of 1905, crashing into the lakeside cliffs around Splitrock Lighthouse.
Wikimedia/Minnesota Historical Society
7. The S.S. Mataafa also went down in the famous 1905 storm, however this one occurred back in Duluth where Minnesotans flocked the shorelines to catch a glimpse of the decrepit boat.
Wikimedia/E. C. Kropp

While a major shipwreck hasn’t happened in Minnesota in over 40 years, these incidents show just how dangerous and eerie the swells of Lake Superior can be!

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