SS Western Reserve was the first steel plate lake freighter on the Great Lakes.^[1] It was constructed in 1890 by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company for and invented by Peter G. Minch, a ship's captain, designer and operator who was pioneering the industrialization of bulk carrier freight service on the Great Lakes. She had a length of 301 feet, a beam of 41 feet and drew 21 feet of water making her at the time the largest bulk carrier on the lakes.^[2] She and a similar ship, SS W.H. Gilcher, were the two first lake freighters to be constructed out of steel plate. Her steel construction made it possible for the vessel to carry heavier loads faster than wooden steamships. It was called the "inland greyhound" because it was so fast from port to port.^[3][4]

On August 30, 1892, in Lake Superior, Western Reserve was loaded with ballast and traveling upbound to Two Harbors, a port serving the Minnesota iron ranges, for a load of iron ore. At 9 PM, she ran into a storm about 60 miles above Whitefish Point. With a loud crash, the ship broke in two and sank within ten minutes. All 21 crew and 6 passengers were able to get off in two lifeboats. 17 people, including Captain Minch and his family, got in the wooden boat. The remaining 10 people got into a metal lifeboat, which then capsized. The wooden boat was only able to pick up two survivors from the metal lifeboat. The wooden lifeboat remained afloat until about 7am when it also capsized, about one mile from shore. All were drowned except for wheelsman Harry Stewart, who with considerable effort swam to shore. He lay bedraggled on the beach somewhere between Grand Marias and Deer Park, "almost unconscious" for an hour, before he half crawled 10 miles to a lifesaving station. He attributed his survival to a heavy knit close fitting pea jacket which he said "alone saved him".^[1][5]

Experts disagree whether the Western Reserve's construction or design contributed to the breakup.^[3] Some believed it sank due to "hogging", where the middle of the ship is lifted by a large wave leaving the two ends hanging in mid-air, causing the middle to snap like a twig - the ship was simply too long without adequate structural support.^[1] Others pointed to the location of the superstructure at both ends, most big ships at the time had the superstructure in the middle to help hold it together.^[1] Upon being debriefed, Stewart's descriptions led to accusations of brittle steel. This was during the early days of maritime steel, which was not designed to gracefully handle the twisting and stretching forces of waves.^[1] The Titanic used the same type of steel as the Western Reserve, and similar accusations of brittle steel were made after that disaster.^[1]

Eight weeks after the Western Reserve disaster, W.H. Gilcher — which had been built at the same time with similar mill runs of steel plate — disappeared on northern Lake Michigan.^[6] The disasters, loss of life, including a well-known shipowner, and ensuing scandal led to permanent changes in the types of steel approved for use in U.S. and Canadian shipbuilding.^[7]

The ship's location remained unknown for 132 years. In the summer of 2024, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society's research vessel, David Boyd, found her laying 600 feet deep off the coast of Whitefish Point. According to the society, underwater video revealed "it was broken almost straight in half. The way it sank, the bow fell right on top of the stern."^[8] They had been systemically searching for the ship for 2 years in a grid pattern with side-scanning sonar.^[9][3] The discovery was not publicly announced until March 10, 2025, after the society contacted the descendants of Captain Minch, a distant relative of the Steinbrenner family.^[3]

• Graveyard of the Great Lakes