Wreckage of ‘Ghost Ship’ F.J. King, Which Sank 139 Years Ago, Is Finally Found: ‘A Nautical Time Capsule’

In 1886, the captain of the F.J. King told his crew to abandon ship after a strong storm began sinking the 144-foot, three-masted wooden schooner during its trip from Michigan to Chicago.

Captain William Griffin and his crew escaped in the ship’s yawl boat, watching as the ship and its iron ore cargo sank beneath the water. They survived, but the ship disappeared and was never found again, becoming known as a “ghost ship.”

“The schooner has been missing for 139 years and has been one of the most highly sought after shipwrecks on Lake Michigan,” says Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist at the Wisconsin Historical Society, to PEOPLE.

“It was the subject of countless search efforts since the 1970s … but when shipwreck hunters scoured the area, they continually came up empty-handed — until now,” Thomsen adds about the ship’s dramatic discovery.

Almost 14 decades later, a citizen-science project led by Brendon Baillod finally solved the mystery of the F.J. King earlier this summer. The project included 20 citizen scientists and local historians from across the Midwest.

“We chartered a local tour vessel for the search so a large group of historians and scientists could experience what it’s like to look for a lost ship and learn about remote sensing technology,” Baillod, president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association (WUAA), tells PEOPLE about the discovery day.

“Most had very low expectations because of the ship’s reputation,” he adds. “So the moment of discovery was very exciting. They were the first people to see the ship since 1886 as they guided our Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) down to the wreck.”

WUAA announced on Sept. 14, a day before the 139th anniversary of the F.J. King sinking, that the team had found the wreck in Lake Michigan using new DeepVision sidescan sonar, just two hours into their search on June 28.

Baillod says his team “couldn’t believe” they found the F.J. King “so quickly” and is impressed by how well the ship has been preserved.

“The King is also exceptionally well-preserved because of the cold, fresh water of the Great Lakes. She is like a time capsule, still holding all the items she sank with in 1886,” Baillod explains.

“Unlike ocean wrecks that are often damaged by marine worms, the King looks much like she did the day she sank, showing only the damage from hitting the lake bottom,” he continues.

Because of its historical importance and excellent preservation, the F.J. King is being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places this fall. Baillod notes that the ship’s 19-year career before sinking “covers an important time in American growth and industrialization and shows the role the Great Lakes played in this period of history.”