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manufacturing net
Customized Bentleys Now Come In 46 Billion Different Configurations
Of course we all love to buy products that are tailored to our specific wants and needs, but the idea of a truly one-of-a-kind vehicle seems almost impossible. But British automaker Bentley is going bespoke to the point of excess, and the automaker has recently announced that it can now offer enough configurations to create a uniquely custom Bentley for every person on earth. And then, every person on earth again. Then, again. You get the idea. Bentley’s Mulliner division has been tasked with developing customized options for buyers of the brand’s Continental GT and Continental GT Convertible, and those placing an order can configure their ride to an extreme degree. In fact, Bentley claims they can offer an eye-popping 46 billion different configurations. Most Read on IEN: To start, the company recently expanded its color palette, and can offer any of the color options on trim and exterior parts in different glosses and finishes. As an example, says Carscoops, “colored accents can be applied to the wing mirrors, the bumpers, the doors, and the wheels.” And speaking of wheels, you have some choices there too – the report says “spokes and pockets of the wheels can be configured in contrasting colors, or pinstripes can be added around the circumference of the rim.” Supporting this effort is Bentley’s online car configurator, which displays additional fabrics and color choices for the interior seating and finishes for surfaces – as well as an array of optional upgrades. While the physical toll might likely be decision fatigue, what’s the financial one? Bentley’s Continental GT starts north of $242,000. Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter featuring breaking manufacturing industry news. WEBVTTX-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:000:00.200 --> 00:04.670Of course we all love to buy products that aretailored to our specific wants and needs,00:04.920 --> 00:08.909but the idea of a truly one of a kind vehicleseems almost impossible.00:09.119 --> 00:13.640But British automaker Bentley is going bespoketo the point of excess,00:13.760 --> 00:18.200and the automaker has recently announced thatit can now offer enough configurations to00:18.200 --> 00:21.549create a uniquely custom Bentley for everyperson on Earth,00:21.959 --> 00:27.639and then every person on Earth again, and thenagain you get the idea.00:28.149 --> 00:32.659Bentley's Mulliner division has been taskedwith developing customized options for buyers00:32.659 --> 00:38.099of the brands Continental GT and Continental GTconvertible, and those placing an order can00:38.099 --> 00:40.209configure their ride to an extreme degree.00:40.459 --> 00:46.729In fact, Bentley claims they can offer aneye-popping 46 billion different configurations.00:47.020 --> 00:51.299To start, the company recently expanded itscolor palette and can offer any of the color00:51.299 --> 00:54.790options on trim and exterior parts in differentglosses and finishes.00:55.220 --> 00:57.400As an example, says Car Scoops, colored.00:57.854 --> 01:00.134can be applied to the wing mirrors, the bumpers,the doors,01:00.215 --> 01:03.334and the wheels.And speaking of wheels, you have some choices01:03.334 --> 01:05.974there too.The report says spokes and pockets of the01:05.974 --> 01:10.095wheels can be configured in contrasting colorsor pinstripes can be added around the01:10.095 --> 01:11.485circumference of the rim.01:11.745 --> 01:16.415Supporting this effort is Bentley's online carconfigurator, which displays additional fabrics01:16.415 --> 01:20.724and color choices for the interior seating andfinishes for surfaces,01:20.735 --> 01:25.014as well as an array of optional upgrades.While the physical toll might be decision01:25.014 --> 01:26.974fatigue, what's the financial one?01:27.529 --> 01:32.400Well, Bentley's Continental GT starts north of$242,000.01:32.730 --> 01:34.760I'm Anna Wells.This is manufacturing now.
factory
Mar 13, 2025
manufacturing net
What'S A Recession, And Why Is Rising Anxiety About It Roiling Markets?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stock markets are plunging, consumers and businesses have started to sour on the economy, and economists are marking down their estimates for growth this year, with some even seeing rising odds of a recession. The tech-heavy Nasdaq stock index slipped into a correction last week, defined as a 10% drop from its most recent peak. The broader S&P 500 neared that level Tuesday. It's a sharp shift from just a month ago, when stock indices were at record highs and consumer sentiment was rapidly improving. Many business executives were optimistic that President Donald Trump would cut taxes and pursue deregulation, which they expected would bolster growth. Instead, Trump has aggressively implemented tariffs — and tariff threats — against the United States' largest trading partners. On Tuesday, Trump boosted import taxes on steel and aluminum from Canada to 50%, from 25%, in response to Ontario's imposition of duties on electricity it sends to the United States. For now, the economy appears to be stable. Stock prices often fluctuate and sharp, temporary drops typically don't harm the economy. Most analysts still think the chances of a recession are fairly small. Goldman Sachs expects slower growth this year than last but still puts the odds of a recession at just 20%. Still, fears of a downturn are rising as investors, economists, and business executives are realizing that Trump's import taxes are much more at the forefront of his economic policy this time than his last term in the White House. Tax cuts and deregulation appear for now to be on the back-burner. During Trump's first term, tax cuts came before the import duties. Tariffs can slow the economy in a variety of ways: By raising prices for consumers, they can slow spending. Businesses may pull back on investing in new projects if they face higher costs from tariffs. And the uncertainty from Trump's on-again, off-again approach can also cause firms to delay hiring and investment. "The longer the tariffs stay on, the more the risk of recession grows," says Luke Tilley, chief economist at M&T Bank/Wilmington Trust. Here are some questions and answers about recessions: Are there any signs a recession is imminent? Not really. But one development that has sparked widespread fears is a real-time economy tracker maintained by the Federal Reserve's Atlanta branch. Last week it showed a sharp downshift and is now projecting that the U.S. economy will shrink at an annual rate of 2.4% in the first three months of this year. The Atlanta Fed's tracker is not technically a forecast but instead a running tally that is updated as economic data is released. It turned negative after trade data showed a surge in imports in January, which likely reflected an effort by businesses to get ahead of tariffs. Most economists still expect the U.S. economy to expand in the first quarter, though at a slower pace. JPMorgan sees growth slowing to just 1% at an annual rate in the first quarter, down from 2.3% in last year's fourth quarter. Still, Harvard University economist Larry Summers, a former treasury secretary for the Clinton administration, on Monday put the odds of a recession at 50-50. "All the emphasis on tariffs and all the ambiguity and uncertainty has both chilled demand and caused prices to go up," Summers posted on X. "We are getting the worst of both worlds -- concerns about inflation and an economic downturn and more uncertainty about the future and that slows everything." Typically, a recession occurs when some short of shock hits the economy, such as the pandemic in 2020, or the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007. It's not yet clear that tariffs will have a large enough impact to knock the economy into reverse. Dan North, senior economist at Allianz Trade Americas, a financial services firm, doesn't expect a recession, but says a "full-blown trade war" with all Trump's proposed tariffs taking effect and sparking retaliation by other countries overseas "could constitute a shock." What else has caused the stock markets to drop? Trump helped spark the sharp market selloff Monday by refusing to rule out a recession during a Sunday interview on Fox News. When asked whether he expected a recession this year, Trump said, "I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. ... It takes a little time." Some of Trump's advisers, however, have dismissed recession concerns and have said the economy should continue to grow. Why didn't Trump's tariffs spark recession fears last time? The import taxes Trump is threatening to impose this time are far more sweeping than the duties he put in place in 2018-2019, which were mostly focused on China and a few targeted items, such as steel, aluminum, and washing machines. Now, Trump has placed 20% duties on all imports from China, has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico — the United States' two largest trading partners — and also says the U.S. will place reciprocal tariffs on all countries that have tariffs on U.S. exports, including Europe, India, and Japan. All told, Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, estimates that the average U.S. tariff on imported items could rise 10 percentage points as a result, five times the increase he imposed in his first term. And most economists say that Trump's 2018-2019 duties did cause a downturn in the manufacturing sector. The Federal Reserve ended up cutting its benchmark interest rate three times in 2019 to shore up the economy. Other things also could take a toll on the economy: Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is seeking to cut tens of thousands of federal government jobs and sharply cut government spending, which could weigh on the economy. Major commercial airlines said this week that they are seeing a slowdown in government travel. Delta Air Lines said Monday that declining consumer and business confidence amid widespread economic uncertainty is weakening demand. What signals would suggest that a recession has begun? The clearest signal would be a steady rise in job losses and a surge in unemployment. Companies generally stop hiring, and sometimes lay off workers, if they see their business shrinking. The unemployment rate did tick up last month, to 4.1% from 4%, though that is still quite low. But employers added 151,000 jobs, a sign that businesses are still seeking to add workers. Many economists monitor the number of people who seek unemployment benefits each week, a gauge that indicates whether layoffs are worsening. Weekly applications for jobless aid remain quite low by historical standards. Who decides when a recession has started? Recessions are officially declared by the obscure-sounding National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as "a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months." The committee considers trends in hiring. It also assesses many other data points, including gauges of income, employment, inflation-adjusted spending, retail sales and factory output. It assigns heavy weight to a measure of inflation-adjusted income that excludes government support payments like Social Security. Yet the organization typically doesn't declare a recession until well after one has begun, sometimes as long as a year afterward.
factory
Mar 13, 2025
manufacturing net
Report Shows Historic Ransomware Activity
Traveler's recently released its Q4 2024 Cyber Threat Report, which showed that ransomware groups impacted more victims in the last quarter of the year than in any quarter ever. The report highlights a shift from mass-scale vulnerability exploits to more targeted, repeatable attack methods. This includes exploiting weak VPN and gateway credentials not protected by multifactor authentication (MFA). Travelers’ researchers attribute this trend to a ransomware training playbook leaked in 2023, which encouraged targeting commonly used VPNs with weak credentials. Additionally, 55 new ransomware groups were identified in 2024—a 67 percent increase from 2023, pointing to a rise in smaller, more agile cybercriminals. The formation of new groups can be attributed to several factors, including law enforcement’s disruption of several well-established Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) platforms like LockBit. Also, an increase in the targeting of IT services and consulting firms was noted. These entities act as intermediaries for other industries, which can amplify the impact of an attack through their connections to multiple clients “Based on our observations, it’s clear that basic attack techniques are still highly effective for ransomware groups,” said Jason Rebholz, Vice President and Cyber Risk Officer at Travelers. “These groups have been on the offensive, proactively hunting for targets and having significant success. It’s vital that businesses implement proven security controls, such as MFA, to make it far more challenging for malicious actors to carry out an attack on their organization."
factory
Mar 13, 2025
manufacturing net
Ge Aerospace To Invest Nearly $1 Billion In U.S. Manufacturing
GE Aerospace announced that it plans to invest nearly $1 billion to strengthen manufacturing and increase the use of new materials and parts needed for the future of aviation. The company expects the investment to help increase engine safety, quality and delivery. The company also announced it intends to hire around 5,000 U.S. workers this year, including both manufacturing and engineering roles. Most Read on Manufacturing.net: GE Aerospace aims to grow its capacity and expand several key sites, especially those that support the production and assembly of the narrowbody CFM LEAP engine, where deliveries are expected to increase by 15% to 20% this year. The company’s investments are also scaling the production of innovative parts made from new materials and advanced manufacturing processes that provide engines with more range, power and efficiency. This includes additive manufacturing, which reduces part count, increasing fuel efficiency and durability while providing greater design freedom as well as ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). CMCs are one-third the weight of traditional materials but can operate at up to 500 degrees hotter, meaning greater power and durability for engines. The almost $1 billion investment includes $100+ million dedicated to the company’s external supplier base, providing investments to ensure suppliers are using the newest tools to produce parts, further reducing defects and supply chain constraints.  Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter featuring breaking manufacturing industry news.
factory
Mar 13, 2025
manufacturing net
Lk Metrology Launches Modular Range Of Change Racks For Cmms
LK Metrology (Hudson Heights, MI) announced its new range of modular range of change racks for CMMS. Features:
factory
Mar 12, 2025
manufacturing net
Ontario Premier Backs Down On U.S. Electricity Hikes, Prompting Trump To Halt Doubling Tariffs
TORONTO (AP) — The premier of Canada's most populous province said Tuesday he was suspending the 25% surcharge that Ontario imposed earlier this week on electricity exports to the United States after speaking with the U.S. Commerce Secretary and agreeing to meet with him in Washington. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have agreed to meet on Thursday to "discuss a renewed" United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline. “They call you and they hand over an olive branch, the worst thing I could do as premier of Ontario is ignore him and hang up the phone on him,” Ford said. As a result, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said later Tuesday that Trump pulled back on his doubling tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, even as the federal government still plans to place a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports starting Wednesday. Trump said he appreciated Ford suspending the surcharge on electricity exports. “There’s a very strong man in Canada who said he was going to charge a surcharge, or a tariff, on electricity coming into our country. He has called and said he’s not going to do that,” Trump said. “It would have been a very bad thing if he did. And he’s not going to do that. And I respect that.” Trump continued to call for Canada to become the 51st state, a position that has infuriated Canadians. Trump suggested he does not respect the border, saying it is an “artificial line that looks like it was done with a ruler.” Trump said earlier Tuesday that he would double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% for Canada, escalating a trade war with the United States’ northern neighbor and showing an indifference to recent stock market turmoil and rising recession risks. Trump said on social media that the increase of the tariffs set to take effect on Wednesday is a response to the price increases that the provincial government of Ontario put on electricity sold to the United States. The U.S. president condemned the use of electricity “as a bargaining chip and threat,” saying in a separate social media post on Tuesday that Canada “will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!” Ford said Trump started this economic war against Canada. "It was unprovoked,” Ford said. “If a recession does happen it’s a self made recession made by one person. And one person only.” Ford had announced on Monday that his government was charging 25% more for electricity to 1.5 million American homes and businesses in response to Trump’s trade war. Incoming Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that his government will keep the federal government's unrelated first tranche of tariffs in place until Americans show respect and commit to free trade. A senior official in Carney’s camp said Carney will not be joining Ford in Washington for talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Carney, who will be sworn in as Justin Trudeau’s replacement in the coming days, said Trump’s latest steel and aluminum tariff threats are an attack on Canadian workers, families, and businesses. “My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect and make credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade," Carney said. Carney is referring to Canada’s initial $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) worth of retaliatory tariffs that have already been applied on items like American orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, motorcycles and certain pulp and paper products. They were applied last week. Canadian officials are also planning retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s specific steel and aluminum tariffs if Trump goes ahead with those tariffs. “You can’t attack your number one customer, Canada, and not expect a response,” Ford said. “We responded and they came back. I’m a business person. I want to sit down and negotiate this and stop the bleeding.”
factory
Mar 12, 2025
manufacturing net
Britain Considers Retaliation Over New U.S. Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum Imports
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed disappointment Wednesday over the Trump administration's decision to impose tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports, and said a retaliatory response was possible. During his weekly questioning in the House of Commons, Starmer said his government was taking a "pragmatic approach" but "we will keep all options on the table." Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour Party, said negotiations with the Trump administration over a bilateral trade deal were ongoing. Starmer was responding to a question from the leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, who said the U.K. should be taking a "more robust" approach with the U.S. president "like the Europeans and like the Canadians." Britain is not part of the European Union, which Wednesday announced import taxes on American goods, ranging from steel and aluminum to bourbon, peanut butter and jeans in response to Trump's move. Starmer has worked to build strong ties with President Donald Trump, in hope of avoiding the tariffs levied on many other U.S. trading partners. After a meeting last month at the White House, Trump and Starmer said their governments would work on sealing a long-elusive U.S.-U.K. trade deal. The tariffs are a new blow for Britain's once-mighty steel industry, which has shrunk dramatically from its 1970s peak and now accounts for 0.1% of the economy. Thousands of jobs are due to be lost at the country's biggest steelworks, at Port Talbot in Wales, as owner Tata Steel tries to make the unprofitable plant leaner and greener. Trade body UK Steel said that in 2024, Britain exported 180,000 metric tons (198,000 U.S. tons) of steel to the United States, about 7% of the U.K.'s total steel exports by volume and 9% by value. The aluminum industry says the U.S. market accounts for 10% of U.K. exports. Without pushing for an immediate retaliatory response, Unite, the U.K.'s biggest union, said the government should use U.K.-produced steel in public sector projects. "Our government must act decisively to protect the steel industry and its workers following the announcement of U.S. tariffs," Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said. "This is a matter of national security."
factory
Mar 12, 2025
manufacturing net
Vw Bringing Back Physical Buttons In All Models
Volkswagen in recent years has been shifting in-vehicle controls to touchscreen and haptic feedback, which sounds very futuristic, but in reality can be annoying in the best-case scenario and a safety hazard in the worst. The automaker has obviously heard the complaints about turning its products into smartphones on wheels and it’s doing something about it. Autocar recently spoke with Andreas Mindt, VW’s design chief, and he said the company is bringing back physical buttons for the five most important functions in every vehicle it makes, starting with the ID 2all due out next year. Most Read on IEN: The functions at the center of the physical control renaissance are the volume, the heating on each side of the car, the fans and the hazard light. “They will be in every car that we make from now on. We understood this,” he told the publication. “We will never, ever make this mistake anymore. On the steering wheel, we will have physical buttons. No guessing anymore. There's feedback, it's real, and people love this. Honestly, it's a car. It's not a phone: it's a car.” That’s likely for the best, at least until in-vehicle voice assistants reach the point where they can seamlessly understand and respond to drivers’ commands. Whereas voice controls could help drivers stay focused on the road while futzing with their cars, touchscreens can be a real distraction. A 2019 AAA study suggested that infotainment systems can distract drivers for up to 40 seconds, time that would be better spent making sure your car doesn’t speed through a red light or cross the median into oncoming traffic. Even though VW will decrease the reliance on touchscreen technology in its future vehicles, it doesn’t mean the company is getting rid of the in-dash iPad all together. It will still be there, in part to deliver legally required features like the backup camera, and also allow users to navigate the deep functionality of the vehicle. But VW heard the gripes and it’s bringing back the doodads and doohickeys. Complaining works! Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter featuring breaking manufacturing industry news.
factory
Mar 12, 2025
manufacturing net
Trump'S 25% Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum Imports Take Effect
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% on Wednesday, promising that the taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs at a time when his seesawing tariff threats are jolting the stock market and raising fears of an economic slowdown. Trump removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. His moves, based off a February directive, are part of a broader effort to disrupt and transform global commerce. The U.S. president has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging "reciprocal" rates starting on April 2. The EU announced its own countermeasures on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as the United States was "applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros," or about $28 billion. Those measures, which cover not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods, are due to take effect on April 1. Trump told CEOs in the Business Roundtable on Tuesday that the tariffs were causing companies to invest in U.S. factories. The 8% drop in the S&P 500 stock index over the past month on fears of deteriorating growth appears unlikely to dissuade him, as Trump argued that higher tariff rates would be more effective at bringing back factories. "The higher it goes, the more likely it is they're going to build," Trump told the group. "The biggest win is if they move into our country and produce jobs. That's a bigger win than the tariffs themselves, but the tariffs are going to be throwing off a lot of money to this country." Trump on Tuesday threatened to put tariffs of 50% on steel and aluminum from Canada, but he chose to stay with the 25% rate after the province of Ontario suspended plans to put a surcharge on electricity sold to Michigan, Minnesota and New York. In many ways, the president is addressing what he perceives as unfinished business from his first term. Trump meaningfully increased tariffs, but the revenues collected by the federal government were too small to significantly increase overall inflationary pressures. Trump's 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum were eroded by exemptions. After Canada and Mexico agreed to his demand for a revamped North American trade deal in 2020, they avoided the import taxes on the metals. Other U.S. trading partners had import quotas supplant the tariffs. And the first Trump administration also allowed U.S. companies to request exemptions from the tariffs if, for instance, they couldn't find the steel they needed from domestic producers. While Trump's tariffs could help steel and aluminum plants in the United States, they could raise prices for the manufacturers that use the metals as raw materials. Moreover, economists have found, the gains to the steel and aluminum industries were more than offset by the cost they imposed on "downstream'' manufacturers that use their products. At these downstream companies, production fell by nearly $3.5 billion because of the tariffs in 2021, a loss that exceeded the $2.3 billion uptick in production that year by aluminum producers and steelmakers, the U.S. International Trade Commission found in 2023. Trump sees the tariffs as leading to more domestic factories, and the White House has noted that Volvo, Volkswagen and Honda are all exploring an increase to their U.S. footprint. But the prospect of higher prices, fewer sales and lower profits might cause some companies to refrain from investing in new facilities. "If you're an executive in the boardroom, are you really going to tell your board it's the time to expand that assembly line?" said John Murphy, senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The top steel exporters to the U.S. are Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea and Japan, with exports from Taiwan and Vietnam growing at a fast pace, according to the International Trade Administration. Imports from China, the world's largest steel producer, account for only a small fraction of what the U.S. buys. The lion's share of U.S. aluminum imports comes from Canada.
factory
Mar 12, 2025
manufacturing net
Explorers Discover Wreckage Of Cargo Ship That Sank In Lake Superior Storm More Than 130 Years Ago
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Twenty years before the Titanic changed maritime history, another ship touted as the next great technological feat set sail on the Great Lakes. The Western Reserve was one of the first all-steel cargo ships to traverse the lakes. Built to break speed records, the 300-foot (91-meter) freighter dubbed "the inland greyhound" by newspapers was supposed to be one of the safest ships afloat. Owner Peter Minch was so proud of her that he brought his wife and young children aboard for a summer joyride in August 1892. As the ship entered Lake Superior's Whitefish Bay between Michigan and Canada on Aug. 30, a gale came up. With no cargo, the ship was floating high in the water. The storm battered it until it cracked in half. Twenty-seven people perished, including the Minch family. The only survivor was wheelsman Harry W. Stewart, who swam a mile (1.6 kilometers) to shore after his lifeboat capsized. For almost 132 years, the lake hid the wreckage. In July, explorers from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society pinpointed the Western Reserve off Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The society announced the discovery Saturday at the annual Ghost Ships Festival in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. "There's a number of concurrent stories that make this important," the society's executive director, Bruce Lynn, said in a telephone interview. "Most ships were still wooden. It was a technologically advanced ship. They were kind of a famous family at the time. You have this new ship, considered one of the safest on the lake, new tech, a big, big ship. (The discovery) is another way for us to keep this history alive." Darryl Ertel, the society's marine operations director, and his brother, Dan Ertel, spent more than two years looking for the Western Reserve. On July 22, they set out on the David Boyd, the society's research vessel. Heavy ship traffic that day forced them to alter their course, though, and search an area adjacent to their original search grid, Lynn said. The brothers towed a side-scanning sonar array behind their ship. Side sonar scans starboard and port, providing a more expansive picture of the bottom than sonar mounted beneath a ship. About 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Whitefish Point on the Upper Peninsula, they picked up a line with a shadow behind it in 600 feet (182 meters) of water. They dialed up the resolution and spotted a large ship broken in two with the bow resting on the stern. Eight days later, the brothers returned to the site along with Lynn and other researchers. They deployed a submersible drone that returned clear images of a portside running light that matched a Western Reserve's starboard running light that had washed ashore in Canada after the ship went down. That light was the only artifact recovered from the ship. "That was confirmation day," said Lynn, the society's executive director. Darryl Ertel said that discovery gave him chills — and not in a good way. "Knowing how the 300-foot Western Reserve was caught in a storm this far from shore made a uneasy feeling in the back of my neck," he said in a society news release. "A squall can come up unexpectedly…anywhere, and anytime." Lynn said that the ship was "pretty torn up" but the wreckage appeared well-preserved in the frigid fresh water. The Great Lakes have claimed thousands of ships since the 1700s. Perhaps the most famous is the Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore carrier that got caught in a storm in November 1975 and went down off Whitefish Point within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the Western Reserve. All hands were killed. The incident was immortalized in the Gordon Lightfoot song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Assistant Wisconsin State Climatologist Ed Hopkins said that storm season on the lakes begins in November, when warm water meets cold air and winds blow unimpeded across open water, generating waves as high as 30 feet (9 meters). The lakes at that time can be more dangerous than the oceans because they're smaller, making it harder for ships to out-maneuver the storms, he said. But it's rare to see such gales form in August, Hopkins said. A National Weather Service report called the storm that sank the Western Reserve a "relatively minor gale," he noted. A Wisconsin Marine Historical Society summary of the Western Reserve sinking noted that the maritime steel age had just begun and the Western Reserve's hull might have been weak and couldn't handle the bending and twisting in the storm. The steel also becomes brittle in low temperatures like those of Great Lakes waters. The average water temperature in Lake Superior in late August is about 60 degrees (16 degrees Celsius), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The summary notes the Titanic used the same type of steel as the Western Reserve and that it may have played a role in speeding up the luxury liner's sinking.
factory
Mar 12, 2025