Our Blog
Wisconsin Marine Historical Society is a self-supported nonprofit organization committed to collecting, preserving, archiving, and sharing materials that illuminate the rich heritage of the Great Lakes maritime industry. Check out our blog to dive deep into the fascinating narratives and events that have shaped the Great Lakes maritime legacy. Search our blog index to find your favorite stories.
On This Day the FRED W. GREEN was sunk by submarines
May 30, 2026On this day May 30, 1942, the Michigan built FRED W. GREEN was sunk by three German subs in the South Atlantic taking her master and eight other crew members with her. The GREEN was built in 1918 at Ecorse, Michigan, by the Great Lakes Engineering Works as…Read more
LILY E. and South Shore Yacht Club Part V
May 27, 2026“The conversion of the schooner from lumber to leisure began almost immediately and moved rapidly throughout the fall of 1915 and the spring of 1916. A new floor was placed in the hold, it was wired for electricity, and iron work was erected to support a hurricane deck which…Read more
LILY E. and South Shore Yacht Club Part IV
May 26, 2026“Another attempt was made to get the LILY E. afloat on the 27th. The pumps were kept constantly going to free her of water and the holes made when she was scuttled were closed, but at 2 p.m. the sea again became so heavy that the vessel had to…Read more
ON MEMORIAL DAY, REMEMBER MILWAUKEE’S SINGING MAYOR
May 25, 2026By James Heinz Memorial Day is about remembering those who gave their lives for this country. One of those was Carl Zeidler, Milwaukee’s singing mayor. Zeidler was born in Milwaukee in 1908. He attended West Division High School and graduated from Marquette Law School in 1929. In 1931 he became…Read more
LILY E. and South Shore Yacht Club Part III
May 24, 2026“The owners of the LILY E. abandoned her to the underwriters on Tuesday, May 29th, eight days after the stranding. They had made every possible attempt to rescue her but had not succeeded in changing the position of the wreck in the least. She was stripped, the steam pump…Read more
The LILY E. and South Shore Yacht Club Part II
May 23, 2026“This change in owner and district brought bad luck to the aging schooner. The LILY E. left Manistee at 5 a.m. on Sunday, May 20th, laden with 180,000 ft. of lumber consigned to the yard at M. Engelmann & Co. of Milwaukee and arrived about 9 p.m. during a…Read more
The History of the LILY E. and South Shore Yacht Club I
May 22, 2026On this day, May 22, 1869, the LOUISA McDONALD was launched at Manitowoc by Jasper Hanson. The two masted schooner was built for Captain A. D. Jones of Manitowoc, later around 1876-77, a third mast would be added. In 1882 she would be renamed the LILY E. which would…Read more
Two met in the fog and not in a good way
May 20, 2026On this day May 20, 1960, the STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT and the AUGUST ZIESING met, and not in a good way. This meeting occurred in the Lake Huron Cut Channel about 1130 am in dense fog. The Lake Huron Cut Channel is about 800 feet and connects the…Read more
On this day the LEM ELLSWORTH foundered
May 18, 2026On this day May 18, 1894, the Milwaukee built canal schooner LEM ELLSWORTH foundered on Lake Michigan taking her crew of seven with her. She was loaded with a cargo of stone blocks bound from Jacobsville, Michigan, to Chicago. She passed the Straits on May 15th and is believed…Read more
Long Ships Passing – Throttle Watch
May 16, 2026By Chris Winters Throttle watch on the S.S. WILFRED SYKES, downbound on Saginaw Bay with a cargo of construction aggregate for Essexville, Michigan, June 2005. The WILFRED SYKES was built in 1949 at Lorain, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Co. for the Inland Steel Co. Her namesake was…Read more
A SWEETHEART IN EVERY PORT
May 13, 2026This is an amusing story of a sweetheart of a captain who sailed the WILLIAM F. STIFEL. The STIFEL was built in 1908 at St. Clair, Mich., by the Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Ashtabula Steamship Co. as the NORMANIA. She was a 420 foot steel bulk cargo…Read more
The TREGURTHA is in Duluth
May 10, 2026Elmer Engman, our Duluth correspondent, reports that May 6th was a cold and windy day in the harbor where the PAUL R. TREGURTHA was taking on a cargo of taconite at the CN ore docks in Duluth. You would normally see her load coal at the Midwest Energy Terminal in…Read more
