Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the SS BADGER left its dock in Ludington, Michigan around 7:00 am Wednesday, April 30th, on a trip to the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The vessel entered the Bay of Green Bay through Deaths Door Passage, went around Chambers Island, arriving at the mouth of Sturgeon Bay around 2:30 pm. The BADGER continued up Sturgeon Bay to the yard, pivoted to port, then backed into its slip awaiting dry docking to undergo propeller shaft bearing repair.
The BADGER was built in Sturgeon Bay by Christy Corporation in 1953 for the C&O Railroad. The vessel’s name came from the University of Wisconsin Badgers Football Team. She originally carried up to 34 railroad cars, 150 passenger cars as well as 400 passengers. Due to sagging railroad traffic, the BADGER did not run the 1991 season. She was remodeled by her then new owner Charles Conrad to better serve the tourist trade. The vessel has run between Ludington and Manitowoc ever since. She has carried her name throughout her 72 years and is owned and operated by Interlake Maritime Services Co.
Specifications:
Length 410 feet
Beam (width) 60 feet
Depth 24 feet
Capacity 4244 tons
Power two 3500 hp Skinner Uniflow steam reciprocating four-cylinder engines
Carrying capacity 180 passenger cars, 620 passengers
Typical speed 15 miles per hour
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Tom Wenstadt, who lives in Sturgeon Bay, is a retired marine engineer, having worked in the Great Lakes area for thirty-seven years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and is the author of Freighters of Manitowoc. He is a member of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society and the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society. He is a volunteer archival assistant and docent for the JOHN PURVES.
Photo dated September 6, 1984 at Milwaukee. Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
