Lost 140 years ago, found now: Searchers locate ‘ghost ship’ FJ King that sank in Lake Michigan in 1886

After decades of searching Lake Michigan, researchers have finally uncovered the wreck of the FJ King, a cargo schooner that sank in a violent storm nearly 140 years ago off the Wisconsin coast.

The Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association confirmed Monday that a team led by researcher Brendon Baillod discovered the wreck on June 28 near Bailey’s Harbor on the Door Peninsula.

The 144-foot, three-masted vessel was built in Toledo, Ohio, in 1867 to carry grain and iron ore. On September 15, 1886, while hauling iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan, to Chicago, it was caught in a gale off the Wisconsin shoreline.

Waves up to 10 feet ruptured the hull, and after hours of pumping water, Captain William Griffin ordered his crew to abandon ship. Around 2 a.m., the schooner sank bow-first, with the storm tearing away its stern deckhouse and scattering the captain’s papers into the air.

All crew members were rescued by a passing schooner and brought safely to Bailey’s Harbor.

Decades of failed searches

Search efforts for the FJ King began in the 1970s but were hampered by conflicting accounts of its final moments.

Griffin reported the ship went down about five miles off Bailey’s Harbor, while a lighthouse keeper claimed he saw its masts breaking the surface much closer to shore. Despite repeated attempts, nothing was found, earning the vessel a reputation as a “ghost ship.”

The breakthrough discovery

Baillod, suspecting Griffin may have been disoriented during the storm, narrowed the search to a two-square-mile area near the lighthouse keeper’s reported sighting. Using side-scan radar, his team spotted a 140-foot object less than half a mile away — the long-lost F.J. King.