This week on Coast Files, we’re diving into newly discovered shipwrecks that prove the past is still being uncovered. From a “ghost ship” found after nearly 140 years, to a vessel plagued by disaster, to a warship whose missing piece was only just located—these stories reveal how the ocean is still giving up its secrets.
References:
Wisconsin Historical Society. (n.d.). Lac La Belle (1864). Wisconsin Shipwrecks. https://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/355
Associated Press. (2026, February 15). Luxury steamer that sank in Lake Michigan more than 150 years ago has been found. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lac-la-belle-luxury-steamer-lake-michigan-found-discovery/
USA Today Network. (2026, February 13). Steamer sank in Lake Michigan undiscovered for 153 years [Photograph collection]. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/local/milwaukee/2026/02/13/steamer-sank-in-lake-michigan-undiscovered-for-153-years/88666264007/
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). SS Lac La Belle. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Lac_La_Belle
DarkSeas. (2025). The Strangest Most Daring Naval Maneuver of WW2. Youtube. https://youtu.be/1_mxyWthMZI?si=FJFweKSiry8fO3Eo
File:USS New Orleans (CA-32) damaged and camouflaged at Tulagi, in early December 1942 (80-G-216014).gif – Wikimedia Commons. (2022). Wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=907480
File:USS New Orleans (CA-32) underway in Puget Sound on 30 July 1943 (NH 94847).jpg – Wikimedia Commons. (2022). Wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=486459
First Photos of USS New Orleans Bow in 80 Years. (2025, July 8). Nautilus Live. https://nautiluslive.org/album/2025/07/08/first-photos-uss-new-orleans-bow-80-years
Kuta, S. (2025, July 10). Lost Bow of American Warship Found Eight Decades After It Was Blown Off by a Japanese Torpedo in World War II. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lost-bow-of-american-warship-found-eight-decades-after-it-was-blown-off-by-a-japanese-torpedo-in-world-war-ii-180986959/
Wikipedia Contributors. (1942, December). File:Damaged USS New Orleans (CA-32) reaching Tulagi on 1 December 1942.jpg – Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3927114
Wikipedia Contributors. (2024, January 17). Battle of Tassafaronga. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tassafaronga
Wikipedia Contributors. (2026, April 4). USS New Orleans (CA-32). Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.
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