Lost after 350 years, the cursed ship, The Griffin, went on a voyage that became one of the most legendary disappearances solved in modern times.
Several French explores built the exploratory vessel René-Robert Cavalier and Sieur de La Salle. The ship disappeared 343 years back on its maiden launch without a trace.
They were trying to chart a path from Great Lakes in North America to China and Japan if a route is there. After disembarking, the ship and the exploration disappeared into history.
Wreck discovered alleged the cursed ship 'The Griffin'
Onboard the ship was furs for trade, and a legend that an Iroquois tribe Shaman or prophet foretold it would be lost to history, reported the Express UK.
Finding the wreck is the goal of most Great Lakes shipwreck hunters due to the notoriety, and they call it the Holy Grail amongst them.
Its discovery is credited to wreck hunters Stevie and Kathie Libert for the record. The details of their find were recorded in a 2021 book that chronicled their finding of the mysterious wreck.
The Liberts say the Griffin is the exact wreck seen in 2018 close to Poverty Island right in Lake Michigan. They added that a bowsprit was found close by in 2001, assuming it is another part that broke off from the ship.
The Griffin's disappearance remains a mystery
Libert said some theories are supposed to explain what happened to the vessel. According to Father Louis Hennepin, one of them was caught in a violent storm and never survived, noted the Daily Mail. Or the Jesuits had something to do with the disappearance.
La Salle was convinced that the captain and his crew had staged a coup, destroyed the ship, and seized all of the furs on the boat.
An Indian prophet called Metiomek of the Iroquois said legend had cursed the ship before it left; he told its owner La Salle it would sink deep water.
After Griffin sank, it was a ghost ship with the souls of the sailors heard chanting by anyone who could see the ship sailing in the moonlight. But the sinking was caused by a storm is the best explanation.
Libert added the wooden timbers of the ship show no evidence of damage done by fire. Experts suspect the ship was lost as a consequence of a severe storm.
Thought the bowsprit discovered about 3.8 miles and the remains of the wreck make the Indian attack not possible, or even a mutinous uprising. Most of the ship remnants were in shallow, not deep water makes the other claims inaccurate.
He says that the ship must have been caught in a four-day storm, where the ship part found farther away would have broken off due to a powerful storm.
The furs on board would have cost £640,000 in today's value, sinking with the vessel. Tests on the ship part are dated to 1679; close to a year, dating of the wreck is 1632 to 1982. A history teacher inspired Libert in school.
The cursed shipwreck, the 'Griffin,' is an incredible find with the history and the tales associated with it till now.
