MILWAUKEE (steam screw) Shipwreck

About this property

SS Milwaukee was a train ferry that served on Lake Michigan. It was launched in 1902 and sank with all hands off Milwaukee on October 22, 1929. Fifty-two men were lost with the vessel. The ship was built by the American Ship Building Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and launched on December 6, 1902. Initially owned by the Manistique-Marquette & Northern Railroad Company of Manistique, Michigan, she initially operated between Northport, Michigan and Manistique, Michigan under the name Manistique-Marquette & Northern No. 1. Traffic on this route was proved unprofitable, and in 1904 the MM&N declared bankruptcy. The Pere Marquette Railway gained a controlling interest in the insolvent railroad and carferry, and the ship was diverted to a route between Ludington, Michigan and Manistique until 1906, when the Pere Marquette also collapsed. Manistique Marquette & Northern No. 1 returned to the Northport-Manistique route until 1908, when the MM&N was reorganized as the Manistique & Northern Railroad with financial backing from the Ann Arbor Railroad. The following year she was sold to the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company and renamed Milwaukee. Along with the Grand Trunk's first car ferry, Grand Haven, Milwaukee shuttled railroad cars back and forth from Milwaukee to the Grand Trunk Railway's dock in Grand Haven in western Michigan. This route enabled shippers to avoid the crowded railroad yards and sidings of Chicago. Milwaukee was home-ported in the city for which it was named, but dispatched the Michigan side of the lake. The docks of the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company were located on the Kinnickinnic River, and their ferries were familiar sights to residents of Jones Island. Around 2:00 pm on October 22, 1929, the Milwaukee sailed off bound for Grand Haven into a Lake Michigan storm, and was lost. The Milwaukee had been loaded earlier that day with 27 railcars, with freight including lumber, perishable foods, bathtubs and Nash automobiles. The Milwaukee was last seen passing by U.S. Lightship 95 (LV-95/WAL-519), a ship anchored three miles offshore, serving as a lighthouse. The Milwaukee was reported to be pitching and rolling heavily as it disappeared into the rainy mist. The ship did not have radio equipment. It was considered routine for the Milwaukee to challenge stormy weather on Lake Michigan. This time, however, some of the 27 railroad cars in the ship's hold came loose in the 37 mph (32 kn; 60 km/h) gale. Their momentum created metal failure and partly crumpled the ferry’s sea gate, a movable steel shield that, when operating properly, served as part of the vessel’s freeboard. This failure, in turn, enabled water to come in through the stern and sink the ship. The captain, Robert H. McKay, apparently turned back for Milwaukee, but never made it.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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