Editing Great Lakes (section)

=== Shipwrecks ===
{{See also|List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes|Great Storms of the North American Great Lakes|Great Lakes Storm of 1913}}
The large size of the Great Lakes increases the risk of water travel; [[storm]]s and [[reef]]s are common threats. The lakes are prone to sudden and severe storms, in particular in the autumn, from late October until early December. Hundreds of ships have met their end on the lakes. The greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies near [[Thunder Bay (Michigan)]], beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. The Lake Superior shipwreck coast from [[Grand Marais, Michigan]], to [[Whitefish Point]] became known as the "[[Graveyard of the Great Lakes]]". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.<ref>{{cite book |last = Stonehouse |first = Frederick |orig-date = 1985 |year = 1998 |title = Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast |page = 267 |publisher = Avery Color Studios |location = Gwinn, Michigan |isbn = 0-932212-43-3 }}</ref> The [[Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve]] serves as an underwater museum to protect the many shipwrecks in this area.

The first ship to sink in Lake Michigan was ''Le Griffon'', also the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. Caught in a 1679 storm while trading furs between Green Bay and Michilimacinac, she was lost with all hands aboard.<ref name="ledger0411042">{{cite news |url = http://www.ledgersentinel.com/article.asp?a=3448 |last = Matile |first = Roger |date = April 11, 2004 |title = Has a famed Great Lakes mystery been solved? |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160101014314/http://www.ledgersentinel.com/article.asp?a=3448 |archive-date = January 1, 2016 |newspaper = Ledger-Sentinel |location = Oswego, Illinois }}</ref> Its wreck may have been found in 2004,<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.canada.com/technology/France+claims+historic+Great+Lakes+wreck/1299362/story.html |title = France claims historic Great Lakes wreck |first = Randy |last = Boswell |publisher = Canwest News Service |date = February 17, 2009 }}</ref> but a wreck subsequently discovered in a different location was also claimed in 2014 to be ''Le Griffon''.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://news.yahoo.com/explorer-says-griffin-shipwreck-may-found-014242419.html |title = Explorer says Griffin shipwreck may be found |work = Yahoo! News |agency = Associated Press |date = June 24, 2014 }}</ref> The largest and last major freighter wrecked on the lakes was the {{SS|Edmund Fitzgerald}}, which sank on November 10, 1975, just over {{convert|17|mi|km|sigfig=1}} offshore from Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. The largest loss of life in a shipwreck out on the lakes may have been that of {{PS|Lady Elgin||2}}, wrecked in 1860 with the loss of around 400 lives on Lake Michigan. In an incident at a Chicago dock in 1915, the {{SS|Eastland}} rolled over while loading passengers, killing 844.

In 2007, the [[Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum|Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society]] announced that it had found the wreckage of ''Cyprus'', a {{convert|420|ft|m|adj=on}} long, century-old [[ore]] carrier. ''Cyprus'' sank during a Lake Superior storm on October 11, 1907, during its second voyage while hauling iron ore from [[Superior, Wisconsin]], to Buffalo, New York. The entire crew of 23 drowned, except one, Charles Pitz, who floated on a life raft for almost seven hours.<ref>{{cite news |date = September 10, 2007 |title = Century-old shipwreck discovered |publisher = NBC News |agency = Associated Press |url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20679934 |access-date = December 3, 2007 }}</ref> In 2008, [[Deep sea diving|deep sea divers]] in Lake Ontario found the wreck of the 1780 [[Royal Navy]] warship {{HMS|Ontario|1780|6}} in what has been described as an "archaeological miracle".<ref>{{cite news |date = June 14, 2008 |title = Divers find 1780 British warship |publisher = BBC News |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7454578.stm |access-date = June 15, 2008 }}</ref> There are no plans to raise her as the site is being treated as a war grave. In 2010, ''[[L.R. Doty]]'' was found in Lake Michigan by an exploration diving team led by dive boat Captain Jitka Hanakova from her boat ''Molly V''.<ref>{{cite news |date = June 24, 2010 |title = L.R. Doty, ship that sank in Lake Michigan 112 years ago, found largely intact near Milwaukee |newspaper = [[Star Tribune]] |location = Minneapolis |url = http://www.startribune.com/local/97084514.html |access-date = June 28, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100627120140/http://www.startribune.com/local/97084514.html |archive-date = June 27, 2010 }}</ref> The ship sank in October 1898, probably attempting to rescue a small schooner, ''Olive Jeanette'', during a terrible storm.

Still missing are the two last warships to sink in the Great Lakes, the French minesweepers [[French minesweepers Inkerman and Cerisoles|''Inkerman'' and ''Cerisoles'']], which vanished in Lake Superior during a blizzard in 1918. 78 people died, making it the largest loss of life in Lake Superior and the greatest unexplained loss of life in the Great Lakes.

The [[Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary]] was established in 2021 in the waters of Lake Michigan off Wisconsin. It is the site of a large number of historically significant [[shipwreck]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/23/2021-12846/wisconsin-shipwreck-coast-national-marine-sanctuary-designation-final-regulations |title = Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Designation; Final Regulations |author = National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration |work = Federal Register |date = June 23, 2021 |access-date = June 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/media/docs/wisconsin-shipwreck-coast-national-marine-sanctuary.pdf |title = National Marine Sanctuaries media document: Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary |access-date = June 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-designates-new-national-marine-sanctuary-in-wisconsin-s-lake-michigan |work = NOAA News |title = NOAA designates new national marine sanctuary in Wisconsin's Lake Michigan |date = June 22, 2021 |access-date = June 29, 2021 }}</ref>