It suffered a series of maritime accidents prior to its final sinking in 1875 causing the loss of ten lives.

It became known as the only treasure ship of Lake Superior because she carried 70 tons of Montana silver ore when it sank.

Comet was finally salvaged in the 1980s when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society illegally removed artifacts from the wreck.

The artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

[1] Comet cleared Duluth, Minnesota on 23 August 1875 bound for Buffalo, New York with intermediate stops on Lake Superior.

Fifteen minutes later, after the lookout spotted a red light, Captain Dugat altered course a point to port, heading southeast half south.

When Captain Dugat realized he had swung across the bow of a steamer, he blew one blast on the whistle and ordered a hard turn, but it was too late.

[3] Shipwreck historian Janice Gerred reported that the "Canadian steamer Manitoba struck the Comet stem on about 20 feet (6.1 m), forward the stern on the port side right down to the water's edge.

[4] One man was hanging from a window sash on Manitoba, lost his grip, and was heard exclaiming, "Oh Lord, I am gone" as the suction of the wreck pulled him down.

[4] The United States maritime investigation absolved Comet's Captain Dugat of any blame for the collision in 1876.

"[2] Michigan's Antiquities Act of 1980 prohibited the removal of artifacts from shipwrecks on the Great Lakes bottomlands.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) 1992 raid on the GLSHS offices and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum included seizure of artifacts that GLSHS had illegally removed from Comet, but her cargo of Montana silver ore was not accounted for in the Affidavit of Search Warrant & Investigation Report.