By James Heinz
It’s October, time for haunted history stories, like haunted lighthouses https://wmhs.org/the-haunted-lighthouse-that-inspired-one-of-hollywoods-greatest-movies/ Haunted ships usually involve “Ghost Ships” that “sailed into a crack in the Lake”, as the old sailors used to say, never to be seen again except as ghostly apparitions. But one ship still afloat is haunted by ghosts.
She is the oldest ship on the Great Lakes and she was stationed in Milwaukee for a number of years.
Photo at top of page: AMERICA with fireboat MFD NO. 15 in Milwaukee
WMHS files show that the tug AMERICA was launched in 1897 by the Union Drydock Company in Buffalo, NY, for the Erie Tug Company of Erie, Penn. She was steel hulled, displaced 123 gross tons, was 80.2 feet long, was 21 feet wide, and 12 feet deep.
In 1899 she was sold to the Great Lakes Towing Company. Herman Runge reported that “she was taken to Cleveland in 1940 and got high pilot house…and rearranged below deck,” and, in an early example of recycling, the “towing machine” from the tug WYOMING.
On October 23, 1941, at 2 a.m., she was at Peche Island at the entrance to the Detroit River. AMERICA and the tug OREGON were trying to pull the stranded steamer B. F. JONES off a mud bank. The OREGON’S tow line was connected to AMERICA’s bow, and AMERICA’s tow line was tied to the anchor of the JONES. The two tugs were trying to pull the JONES’ anchor out into the river while the JONES fed out her anchor chain.
The purpose of this was to reposition the anchor further into the river so the JONES could pull itself off the mud bank by winching herself towards her own anchor. In saltwater, this technique is called “warping” or “kedging.”
AMERICA, November 28, 1941
For reasons not explained, the JONES stopped feeding its anchor chain out. The AMERICA came to a sudden stop but the OREGON was still pulling on her. As a result, the AMERICA rolled upside down and kept rolling 360 degrees until she was right side up and then sank, all in 5 seconds.
AMERICA, November 28, 1941
Six crewmen who were sleeping below deck drowned. Seven others escaped, including the captain, who broke out a pilot house window with his bare hands, cutting his hands in the process. He dragged a company supervisor out with him, resulting in chest injuries to the supervisor. AMERICA was raised on November 18, repaired, and put back into service.
On June 27, 1946, AMERICA was going to assist the stranded freighter UNITED STATES GYPSUM off Marysville, Mich., when she struck an underwater obstruction, ripped her bottom open, and sank. This time no one died and she was put back into service.
In another example of recycling, in 1950 her steam engine was replaced with a 1,000 hp diesel engine repurposed from a Navy landing craft. In 1979, while she was docked in Detroit arsonists broke into AMERICA, poured gasoline throughout her interior, and set her on fire. She was a mass of flame when firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire. The next night the arsonists returned and set fire to her again. She was repaired and put back into service.
WISCONSIN September 30, 2006
In 1982 she was renamed MIDWAY and in 1983 she was named WISCONSIN. In 2021 she was named GEORGIA and in 2023 she reverted to AMERICA. She was stationed in many harbors, including Milwaukee in the 1990s and 2000s.
Over time the legend grew that the tug was haunted by the ghosts of the men who died in 1941. Online reports say that her engine has been known to cut out unexpectedly and strange noises supposedly come out of her at night.
On the other hand, in 1942 Herman Runge himself took two trips on her and did not report any ghosts. Her captain was interviewed and said that he does not believe she has any ghosts and if she does, he believes that the ghosts are friendly.
Amazingly enough for a ship that is now 146 years old, AMERICA is still afloat and acting as a tugboat, and is stationed at Monroe, Mich. She is the oldest ship afloat on the Great Lakes, older than the legendary CHALLENGER, and one of the oldest ships in the world still afloat.
It should be noted that in 2020 Great Lakes Towing launched a brand new tug named WISCONSIN. Some of the material in this article came from a 2015 blog post on www.milwaukeenotebook.com
Photo Credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society
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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.
