Deep in the choppy waters of Lake Superior, researchers have discovered a 19th-century ship that actually sank twice before finally sinking.

The 144-foot barquentine, called the Nucleus, was found in 600 feet of water about 40 miles northwest of Vermilion Point Nature Preserve on Lake Superior, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.

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The ship was carrying a cargo of iron ore after leaving Marquette, Michigan, when it sank in the middle of a storm on September 14, 1869, researchers said. When the Nucleus began to take on water, the crew abandoned ship on a lifeboat.

After a few hours on the water, officers aboard the SS Union spotted the struggling crew in the storm, but were unable to rescue them, researchers said.

“What a bunch of idiots, aren’t you?” Corey Adkins, director of communications for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, told ABC News.

PHOTO: The wreck of the 144-foot Barquentine Nucleus, which sank September 14, 1869, was recently discovered in Lake Superior off Whitefish Point, Michigan. (Courtesy Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society)

After about five hours in rough seas, the crew members were picked up by a schooner named Worthington, researchers said.

“Lake Superior is often referred to as a freshwater ocean. It’s one of the largest lakes in the world,” Adkins said. “So I’m sure in that storm of September 1869 it probably wasn’t very hospitable – to the crew of the Nucleolus or the ship.”

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The Nucleus is nicknamed the “Bad Luck Barquentine” because of her many accidents – one of which occurred in 1854 when she rammed and sank a side-wheeler named SS Detroit in Lake Huron. In the previous two incidents, the Nucleus was re-hoovered, repaired and reused, Adkins said.

Researchers first discovered the wreckage from the surface of Lake Superior using marine sonic technology in the summer of 2021, Adkins said. It was later positively identified as the Nucleus in 2022 after researchers used a remote-operated vehicle to further explore the site.

PHOTO:FILE – The crew of the fishing boat ‘Three Suns’ sets out to check nets on Lake Superior from Black River Harbor March 27, 2017 near Ironwood, Michigan. (Scott Olson/Getty Images, FILE)

The ship was one of the oldest to sink along Lake Superior’s shipwreck coast, making it a “significant discovery,” Shipwreck Society executive director Bruce Lynn said in a statement.

The wreckage site is “strewn” with shovels and a few plaques, which testifies to the work and life of the crew on board, Lynn said.

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The ship is largely intact, Darryl Ertel Jr., director of naval operations for the historical society, said in a statement.

PHOTO: The wreck of the 144-foot Barquentine Nucleus, which sank September 14, 1869, was recently discovered in Lake Superior off Whitefish Point, Michigan. (Courtesy Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society)

“At first I thought everything was torn underneath,” Ertel said.

Ertel had a “really good shipwreck hunting year” in 2021, finding 10 this year alone, Adkins said.

Researchers Discover 19th-Century Shipwreck in Lake Superior, originally published on abcnews.go.com

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