By James Heinz
Most shore side memorials are to ships long lost. But this propeller, in the parking lot of the Port Washington marina, is a memorial to a ship that is still with us.
The SS BADGER was built in 1952 as a railroad car ferry for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. She and her twin ship the SPARTAN were named for the football mascots of the state universities of Wisconsin and Michigan, respectively. That railroad service came to an end in 1990.
In 1992 new owners brought her back into service as an auto ferry between Manitowoc, Wis., and Ludington, Mich. In 2020, the BADGER was sold to Interlake Steamship Company.
The ship displaces 6,650 tons. She is made of steel and is 410 feet long, 59.5 feet wide, 106 feet wide, and draws 24 feet of water. Her two car decks can carry up to 180 vehicles, and her two passenger decks can accommodate up to 620 passengers. In addition to autos, she has been known to carry other cargos, like wind turbines.
Her two Skinner Unaflow compound steam engines drive her across the 60 miles of Lake Michigan in about 4 hours from May to October.
BADGER is the last of her kind, being the only steam powered ferry in the world and the only coal fired steamship in America. She is a registered historical landmark in both Wisconsin and Michigan, is a National Historic Landmark and on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Why is this propeller in a city that the ship has never been to you ask? It was donated by the BADGER’s owner the Lake Michigan Carferry Service and stands as a tribute to the hundreds of commercial freighters that once called at Port Washington.
Photos by James Heinz
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James Heinz is the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s acquisitions director. He became interested in maritime history as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV. He was a Great Lakes wreck diver until three episodes of the bends forced him to retire from diving. He was a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee police officer for thirty years. He regularly flies either a Cessna 152 or 172.
