On August 18 , 1927 , around 10:30 AM , '' Hennepin '' ran into a squall in the middle of Lake Michigan . The vessel had sprung a leak , and although the crew worked to save the ship , the pumps could not keep up with the volume of water coming in . The crew worked until 2:30 PM that afternoon , but they were unsuccessful , and the crew abandoned ship for the safety of the tugboat '' Lotus '' . '' Hennepin '' finally sank around 6:00 PM . Upon the return to port , Captain Ole Hansen said , " She died a hard death . " Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates members were searching for the wreck of Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 in 2006 . In the process of mapping out sections of the lake , they discovered debris on the bottom that appeared to be a wreck . At first , they identified a small structure that they nicknamed a " rib cage " , but more searching revealed a ship . They sent a team of technical divers to explore the wreck , which was in about of water . The team examined a capstan and discovered the name " G.H. Dyer " stamped onto the cover , which confirmed it as '' Hennepin '' . The pilothouse had been blown off when it sank , but the wheel was still in place and intact . The ship had hit stern-first as identified by the wreckage . The conveyor belts and the A-frame crane structure were still in place and further identified the ship as '' Hennepin ''
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501
SS Hennepin