French minesweepers Inkerman and Cerisoles The Inkerman and Cerisoles were two French minesweeper s named after major battles fought during the Crimean War , and which vanished on their maiden voyage in a storm on Lake Superior in mid - November 1918 . No traces of the two vessels have ever been found . 76 French sailors and two Canadian captains disappeared along with the minesweepers . The " Inkerman " and " Cerisoles " are the last warships to disappear on the Great Lakes , and their sinkings caused the largest loss of life of any Lake Superior shipwreck . Vessel specifications . The " Inkerman " and " Cerisoles " were Navarin class minesweepers , designed to clear naval mines in the English Channel . Built at the Canada Car and Foundry Company in what was then known as Fort William , Ontario , the vessels were 140 feet long , and displaced 630 tons . Their steel - framed wooden hulls were divided into four water - tight compartments . Each ship was fitted with twin screws and a single funnel , and had a top speed of about twelve knots . Two 100mm deck guns , with a range of about 20 kilometres , were located forward and aft . It was rumored that because of the end of World War I , construction funds were cut short and wooden plugs took the place of metal rivets in the minesweepers , which could have led to their demise . Along with the " Inkerman " and " Cerisoles " , a sister ship , called the " Sebastopol " , was built alongside the two , and almost sank during its maiden voyage . Maiden voyage and loss . In the middle of November 1918 , the three minesweepers " Inkerman " , " Cerisoles " , and " Sebastopol " left the harbour of Fort William , Ontario , on the northern shore of Lake Superior , headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the Great Lakes and the St . Lawrence River . 76 French sailors made up the crews of the " Inkerman " and " Cerisoles " , with the addition of two veteran Canadian captains , Capt . R . Wilson and W . J . Murphy . As the ships steamed further into Lake Superior , they encountered a blizzard with recorded winds of 50 mph and waves 30 ft high . All three ships soon lost sight of each other through the snow and waves . The storm was so bad that a sailor from the " Sebastopol " said " We had to get out the life boats and put on lifebelts . . . the boat almost sank – and it was nearly ' goodbye ' to anyone hearing from us again . . . You can believe me , I will always remember that day . I can tell you that I had already given myself up to God . " Water poured into the " Sebastopol " , flooding part of her engine room and nearly putting out the coal fires in her boilers . The storm pounded the " Sebastopol " for two days but the vessel managed to reach Sault Ste . Marie , at the eastern end of Lake Superior . What soon became apparent was that the " Inkerman " and " Cerisoles " were nowhere to be found . As days passed , rumours spread that the warships sailed through the locks unnoticed all the way to the St . Lawrence River , but it was assumed the ships were lost . On December 3 , 1918 , ten days after the three ships left Fort William , a search effort was launched , but because of wartime censorship it was small and the public was left out of the search . The public knew nothing of the loss of the " Inkerman " and " Cerisoles " until wartime censorship in Canada ended in 1918 . No wreckage of the " Inkerman " or " Cerisoles " was ever found , and their exact whereabouts and fate remain unknown . Search for the wrecks . In what is being called the " Holy Grail " of the great lakes , a search for the " Inkerman and Cerisoles " is under way , led by the famous shipwreck hunter Tom Farnquist , known for removing the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald . The search has been ongoing but no strong finds to date .