Only 1 Person Survived This Shipwreck
Vocab level: C1
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Only one person survived this tragic shipwreck.
It has taken 132 years,
but the final resting place of the Western Reserve has finally been located.
The Western Reserve was a 300-foot long steel steamer ship.
It was one of the first all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes,
according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.
Even with her great size, the Western Reserve broke speed records for cargo shipping.
On August 30th, 1892,
the Western Reserve dropped its anchor to wait out bad weather.
But the squall was so strong, the ship began to break apart.
The owner, his family, and the crew got into two lifeboats.
One overturned almost immediately, losing everyone inside.
The second boat spent more than 10 hours on the water, awaiting help that never came.
That boat overturned on breakers about a half mile from the shore.
The only person who survived to tell the story of that fateful night...
was a wheelman by the name of Henry Stewart.
A marine sonic technology device on board the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society's research vessel
showed them where the Western Reserve lay.
About 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior.
Eerie underwater video shows all that remains from the Western Reserve.
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