Century Old Shipwreck Found in Superior

This photo provided by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society shows the Cyprus, an ore freighter ship, on her maiden voyage, that sank in Lake Superior in 1907. Shipwreck explorers have discovered the century-old gravesite of the Cyprus, an ore carrier that sank mysteriously during a Lake Superior storm less than two months after it was launched. All but one of 23 crew members died in the Oct. 11, 1907, disaster. (AP Photo/Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society) (AP)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Explorers have discovered the wreckage of an ore carrier that mysteriously sank during a storm on Lake Superior 100 years ago, officials announced Monday.

Only one survivor made it to shore as the ship went down on Oct. 11, 1907. Last month, a team with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society found the wreckage of the Cyprus about 460 feet below the surface.

The Great Lakes are littered with thousands of shipwrecks, but the Cyprus is among the more puzzling.

It was on only its second voyage, hauling iron ore from Superior, Wis., to Buffalo, N.Y., when the 420-foot-long ship capsized and quickly sank.

The wreckage was located about eight miles north of Deer Park, a village in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula where the lone survivor, Charles G. Pitz, stumbled ashore after floating aboard a life raft for nearly seven hours. Twenty-two others aboard the Cyprus perished.

Pitz's great-niece, Ann Sanborn, said she hoped the discovery would lead to an explanation of the Cyprus' fate. Pitz died in 1961, following a long career as a mariner.

"The people who died on that vessel deserve that the truth be brought out, whatever that truth is," said Sanborn, an associate professor in the marine transportation department of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.

Built in Lorain, Ohio, the Cyprus was launched Aug. 17, 1907. It was as "seaworthy a vessel as has ever been turned out by a lake ship yard," The Marine Review, a Cleveland trade publication, said after the sinking.

The gale in which the ship perished was "so moderate that only the smaller class of vessels sought shelter while the big steamers scarcely noticed it at all," the Review said.

But Pitz, the second mate, said after the wreck that the Cyprus was being pounded by northwesterly waves and developed a gradually worsening list the fatal afternoon.

The engines finally stopped and crew members donned life jackets. Most headed to lifeboats, but Pitz and three others _ the captain, the first mate and a watchman _ gathered near a raft closer to the front.

About 7:45 p.m., the Cyprus capsized and quickly sank.