THUNDER BAY – HISTORY – The Great Lakes, with their vast stretches of deep, cold freshwater and sudden, violent storms, have long been a graveyard for ships and sailors. Over the centuries, more than 6,000 vessels have been lost beneath their waves, with countless lives claimed in tragic accidents and fierce gales.

While many today are aware of the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking, there is a long history of ships going down on the Great Lakes.

Among these wrecks, some stories stand out—not merely for the disasters themselves, but for the eerie tales that followed.

These are the “ghost ships” of the Great Lakes: vessels said to haunt the waters long after sinking, appearing as apparitions on foggy nights or reappearing with no crew aboard. Here’s a look at some of the most legendary.

1. The Bannockburn: The Flying Dutchman of Lake Superior

One of the most famous ghost ships on the Great Lakes is the Bannockburn, a Canadian grain freighter that disappeared on Lake …