Boaters thrill at the sight of historic vessels sailing the Great Lakes. Favorites are the 301-foot freighter Western Reserve on Lake Superior, and the equally imposing W.H. Gilcher in the Straits of Mackinac. Near Twin Rivers, Wisconsin, the Rouse Simmons has been spotted, and in Saginaw Bay, sailors have admired the proud Erie Board of Trade.

The only problem is that they sank more than a hundred years ago, or so it’s assumed, as many were lost without a trace—sailing into oblivion, along with their crews. But from time to time they are seen again as mirages, or figments of overactive imaginations. These phantoms are known as the Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes and they all possess colorful, but heart-rending stories.

Late autumn and winter are obviously the “off” season for Great Lakes pleasure boaters, but commercial vessels are running well into November, and often longer. This has been true for 300 years. Sailors unfamiliar with these inland seas may consider them docile as compared to tempestuous oceans, but sadly, these unpredictable waters have claimed thousands of vessels. In fact, there are more than 6,000 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes according to shipwreck expert and author Cris Kohl. And more than 30,000 lives have been lost since 1679, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Here are a few of these stories.

“Sailed through a crack in the Lake”
The first commercial vessel on the upper Great Lakes was built by the legendary explorer Sieur de la Salle. Unfortunately, the barque Griffon (Le Grifon) also became the first shipwreck—on her maiden voyage. In September 1679 she took on a cargo of furs at LaSalle’s advance base in Green Bay and set sail for Niagara. The vessel may have disappeared near the Straits of Mackinac or upper Lake Huron.

The theory is that she may have been lost in a storm, or was boarded and burned by Native Americans or saboteurs hired by Jesuits; LaSalle himself suspected that several crewmembers had stolen his furs and hidden or destroyed the Griffon.

Cris Kohl has deemed the Griffon the “dream of maritime archaeologists” and the “holy grail of freshwater shipwrecks.” Where she lies and in what condition remain a mystery, though many divers claim to have found her. “Today, with thousand-foot freighters being most representative of the massive shipping on the Great Lakes, it appears dramatically ironic that researchers are devoting so much respect, concern, time and energy to one of the tiniest commercial ships ever to ply these inland waters,” wrote Kohl in “Shipwreck Tales of the Great Lakes.”

By the way, although LaSalle wasn’t on board during this voyage, he didn’t fare much better than Le Grifon, being murdered during a mutiny in a Texas swamp in 1687 in his 43rd year.

And To All, A Good Night
In November 1912, an old schooner, the Rouse Simmons, was loaded with 5,500 white pine trees in Manistique, Michigan, bound for Chicago. For decades it had been a beloved tradition that “Captain Santa” Schuenemann’s Christmas Tree Ship would arrive shortly after Thanksgiving, to mark the start of the Christmas season. He sold the trees for 50 cents or a dollar right off the schooner’s deck at the Clark Street dock.
Eager to get to Chicago, the Christmas Tree Ship sailed right into the teeth of a hurricane-like blizzard-gale. She sank off Twin Rivers, Wisconsin, having been spotted farther to the north in deep distress. No bodies were ever found.

For many years after the sinking, sailors have reported “seeing” the 127-foot schooner in the moonlight with ice-encrusted bow, sails in sad tatters, Christmas trees forlornly strewn on the deck.

The schooner’s remains were found in 1971, in 165 feet of water, and each year a memorial dinner is held by the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society to honor the ship’s 17 crewmembers and Capt. Schuenemann.

Happily, the Christmas Tree Ship tradition was revived in 2001 and continued to brighten the season for needy families until the Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw was decommissioned in 2006.

November…
it can be a very bad month
The Rouse Simmons was not alone in her doom on that fateful day in November. Six ships went down in Lake Huron as well.

The Novembers of 1958, 1966 and 1975 were equally cruel to lakemen. That’s when the Carl D. Bradley, Daniel J. Morrell and the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Superior, respectively.

Watch Out For the Comet!
Some ships earn dubious reputations as bad-luck boats. One notorious case is the Comet. She was launched with her sister ship Rocket in 1857, each measuring 181 feet long and 621 tons. According to David D. Swayze’s Shipwreck File, in 1865 she ran hard aground on a reef off Port Washington, Wisconsin. In 1869, she rammed and sank the Canadian steamer Silver Spray; two months later, she rammed and sank the propeller Hunter. She was lost for good in1875, when she was rammed by the Canadian sidewheeler Manitoba in Whitefish Bay, and quickly sank.

But wait, there’s more!
And don’t call me Comet!
Here are more Comet facts from Swayze. In November 1835, the schooner Comet foundered in a Lake Erie gale off Dunkirk, New York. In April 1851, the sidewheel steamer Comet was nearly destroyed by an explosion; in May 1861 she was—after colliding with the schooner Exchange on Lake Ontario. In September 1866, the scow-schooner Comet sprang a leak and quickly sank in Lake Erie. In October 1870, the schooner Comet was driven ashore and completely broken up by a gale on Lake Michigan. In 1883, steam tug Comet ran ashore in Georgian Bay and was wrecked. In 1897, steam tug Comet burned on Lake Superior.

Museums Wonderful maritime museums and research institutions are scattered around the Great Lakes. Here are just a few (be sure to check hours of operation since several are seasonal museums).

Lake Superior
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is the only one of its kind dedicated to the perils of maritime transport on the Great Lakes. It is located at Whitefish Point, Michigan, the site of the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Superior. See historic diving equipment and haunting displays of shipwreck artifacts. The bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald is displayed here as a memorial. Exhibits also feature artifacts and stories of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, U.S. Life-Saving Service, and U.S. Coast Guard. The museum is open May 1 - October 31.

In Duluth the Great Lakes Floating Maritime Museum offers tours of Coast Guard Cutter Sundew and the mighty freighter S.S. William A. Irvin, former flagship of U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes Fleet.

Lake Erie
The Great Lakes Historical Society’s Inland Seas Maritime Museum in Vermilion, Ohio, contains one of the world’s largest collections of Great Lakes historical maritime artifacts, documents, ship models and original artwork. Its Clarence S. Metcalf Great Lakes Maritime Research Library is highly regarded by researchers and historians.

Lake Huron
In Rogers City, Michigan (Upper Peninsula), the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum focuses on the lives of men and women who served the Great Lakes shipping industry. Uniforms and personal possessions are on display. (www.gllmm.org)

Lake Michigan
The Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum in Muskegon, Michigan, offers tours of the WWII submarine USS Silversides, and a Prohibition-era Coast Guard cutter. Both offer overnight stays for families or groups.

Lake Ontario
The Marine Museum of Upper Canada in Toronto details the development of the shipping industry on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The restored, 80-foot steam tug Ned Hanlan is open to visitors.