The 91-year-old mystery of the Inkerman and Cerisoles

The Sunday edition of the Toronto Star has a fascinating article about a bid by Tom Farnquist, executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, to solve one of Lake Superior's most enduring mysteries - the disappearance in 1918 of the Inkerman and Cerisoles.

The two minesweepers, freshly constructed in what was then known as Fort William, vanished in a classic November blizzard, resulting in the loss of 80 souls.

It was the largest single loss of life in a shipping accident on Lake Superior.

And there were plenty of wrinkles to make the story a fascinating mystery.

World War I was over but wartime censorship was in effect, leading to suggestions that the boats hadn't sunk at all, they had simply passed through the Soo locks and were secretly cruising the Great Lakes under official secrecy.

"People in Thunder Bay wondered what was in the sealed orders given to each captain by French authorities as they left Thunder Bay. They were not allowed to open them until they cleared the harbour," the Star reports.

Were the Inkerman and Cerisoles taken out by a German U-boat in Lake Superior?

Where they commandeered by the Americans?

Were they victims of a UFO in the supposed Lake Superior Triangle?

To read Mark Bourrie's full coverage in the Toronto Star, please click here