SS Comet was a steamship that operated on the Great Lakes. Comet was built in 1857 as a wooden-hulled propeller-driven cargo vessel that was soon adapted to carry passengers. She suffered a series of maritime accidents prior to her final sinking in 1875 causing the loss of ten lives. She became known as the only treasure ship of Lake Superior because she carried 70 tons of Montana silver ore when she sank. The first attempts to salvage her cargo in 1876 and 1938 were unsuccessful. Comet was finally salvaged in the 1980s when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society illegally removed artifacts from the wreck. The artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The fate of her silver ore cargo is unknown. Comets wreck is now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum. History The , 744-ton wooden propeller ship Comet, along with her sister ship, the Rocket, was launched in 1857 by Peak and Masters of Cleveland, Ohio. Her direct-acting vertical engine was manufactured by Cuyahoga Steam Furnace of Cleveland. Comet was originally built as a pure workhorse. Upper deck cabins for passenger accommodations were not added until the winter layup of 1859–60. Comet went through a variety of owners. She was first owned by Dean Richmond (New York Central Railroad). Her last owners were W.M. Hanna and George W. Chapin of Cleveland. Comet was involved in a series of maritime accidents prior to her final sinking in 1875. In 1863, she sank another boat in a collision on Lake Erie. She was run aground on a reef off Port Washington, Wisconsin in Lake Michigan in 1865. In August 1869, she rammed and sank the sidewheeler Silver Spray. Comet sank for the first time in 1869 after a collision with Hunter below Detroit, Michigan. Both vessels sank, were raised, and returned to service. Final voyage Comet cleared Duluth, Minnesota on 23 August 1875 bound for Buffalo, New York with intermediate stops on Lake Superior. After she had rounded Whitefish Point Light on a clear, starlit night about 8:05 PM of 26 August 1875 and was heading on the usual southeast course to Point Iroquois Light, her lookout spotted a white light in the dusk right on their course. Fifteen minutes later, after the lookout spotted a red