light, Captain Dugat altered course a point to port, heading southeast half south. Just moments later the green lights of an approaching vessel appeared. When Captain Dugat realized he had swung across the bow of a steamer, he blew one blast on the whistle and ordered a hard turn, but it was too late. Shipwreck historian Janice Gerred reported that the "Canadian steamer Manitoba struck the Comet stem on about , forward the stern on the port side right down to the water's edge." The Toronto Globe reported an eye witness account that Comets hull parted and sank almost immediately; the upper works crumbled and sank within one minute. Two men were crushed when the steamers collided. One man was hanging from a window sash on Manitoba, lost his grip, and was heard exclaiming, "Oh Lord, I am gone" as the suction of the wreck pulled him down. Ten men, including those below deck, did not survive. Six men jumped from the wreck to the decks of Manitoba whose boats picked up four more survivors. Captain Dugat, the master, two shipmates, two wheelsmen, one fireman, one lookout, and one porter survived. Manitoba made every effort to save everyone possible. She took the rescued to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where they were given passage to Cleveland. The United States maritime investigation absolved Comet's Captain Dugat of any blame for the collision in 1876. The Canadians absolved Manitobas Captain Symes of any blame. Treasure ship Comet was first dubbed a "true treasure ship" by shipwreck historian Frederick Stonehouse in 1973. When she sank, her vessel was valued at $45,000 and the cargo at $50,000. The Sault Evening News of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan announced in 1980 that Comet was the "only known treasure ship on the bottom of the lake" when interviewing Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society [GLSHS] spokesperson Tom Farnquist. Comet carried 500 tons of pig iron, some copper ore, 54 sacks of wool, and 70 tons of Montana silver ore picked up at Duluth and consigned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Efforts to salvage Comets cargo failed in 1876 and again in 1938 when the wreck could not be found. The GLSHS in the 1980s extensively filmed and salvaged the Comet wreck. Wreck discovery and artifacts Comet was first located in the 1970s by Great Lakes diver Kent Bellrichard of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bob Nicholls and Tom Farnquist of the GLSHS again located