'Ghost ship' lost since 1886 discovered in Lake Michigan by researchers who 'had to pinch each other'

Researchers in Wisconsin recently discovered a long-lost "ghost ship," hidden in Lake Michigan for nearly 140 years. The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) announced the discovery on Sept. 15. 

In a press release shared with Fox News Digital, officials identified the wreck as the F.J. King, a schooner that went down in a late-night storm off Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, in 1886.

Officials said the F.J. King became known as a ghost ship "due to her elusiveness."

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"Missing for 139 years, the F.J. King was one of the most highly sought ships on Lake Michigan, and has been the subject of countless search efforts since the 1970s," the WHS noted. 

"Area commercial fishermen claimed to bring up pieces of the wreck in their nets, and the local lighthouse keeper claimed to have seen her masts breaking the surface, but when shipwreck hunters scoured the area, they continually came up empty-handed."

The recent effort took 20 citizen scientists and community historians. 

Brendon Baillod, the principal investigator and president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association (WUAA), considered the discovery "a long shot."

But two hours into their search on Lake Michigan, researchers noticed a large object on their sidescan sonar.

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"A few of us had to pinch each other," recalled Baillod, who had collected hundreds of documents about the ship and its sinking.

"After all the previous searches, we couldn't believe we had actually found it, and so quickly."

The ship, built in Ohio in 1867, measured 144 feet long; it was built to transport grain and iron ore before the fateful storm of 1886. Remarkably, the entire ship's crew was rescued after the vessel sunk.

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Baillod said the historic ship was still in excellent shape, considering the cargo it was carrying.

"We reasoned that the captain may not have known where he was in the 2 a.m. darkness, but the lighthouse keeper's course and distance to the masts were probably accurate," said Baillod. 

"The hull is remarkably intact," he added. "We expected her to be in pieces due to the weight of the iron ore cargo, but her hull looks to be in one piece."

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Fox News Digital reached out to Baillod for further comment. 

The latest find is one of many ship discoveries that the WHS helped facilitate over the past few months.

The L.W. Crane, a shipwreck from 1880, was found in the Fox River near the city of Oshkosh earlier this summer.

This spring, a Wisconsin fisherman came across a tugboat named the J.C. Ames near the coast of Manitowoc.