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.
a tale of shipwreck, a life like Robinson Crusoe
October 23, 2026On this day October 23, 1929, the steel steamer CHICAGO of the Great Lakes Transit Corp. fleet stranded in a raging gale on Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior about eighty miles northwest of Whitefish Point. Sailing from Duluth to Buffalo with a cargo of flour, she crashed full on…Read more
The AUSTRALASIA burns off Baileys Harbor
October 17, 2026On this day October 17, 1896, the steamer AUSTRALASIA caught fire near Baileys Harbor. The crew tried desperately to contain the fire but ended up scuttling her in 15 feet of water near what is now Whitefish Dunes State Park. Lifesavers from Baileys Harbor reached her soon after she…Read more
On this day the ALPENA went missing
October 16, 2026On this day October 16, 1880, Goodrich’s wooden paddle steamer ALPENA was lost with all on board. The number of lost varies as the company did not keep a copy of the passengers on board. As I have said in many of my programs, it was much like riding…Read more
The Day the PRINS WILLEM V settled in Milwaukee’s Harbor
October 14, 2026On this day October 14, 1954, the PRINS WILLEM V, affectionately known to divers as the WILLIE, became the only total loss of the year on the Great Lakes. And, she did it off Milwaukee’s harbor. Photo at top of page: PRINS WILLEM V in Milwaukee It was…Read more
THE SHIP WE SEE ALL THE TIME
October 13, 2026By James Heinz Under different names, the Great Lakes bulk carrier ST. MARYS CHALLENGER has been with us since it was launched in 1906 as the WILLIAM P. SNYDER. Until 2013 she was the last piston powered freighter in service in the world, and probably the last riveted freighter in…Read more
WISCONSIN’S OLDEST SHIPWRECKS RECREATED – part II
October 11, 2026By James Heinz In a previous article https://wmhs.org/wisconsins-oldest-shipwreck/ I reported on Wisconsin State Underwater Archeologist Tamara Thomsen finding a sunken 1,200 year old dugout in Lake Mendota in 2020. By 2024 the Wisconsin Canoe Survey, headed by Thomsen and Dr. Sissel Schroeder, had documented 75 dugouts in the state. https://schroeder.labs.wisc.edu/research-projects/the-wisconsin-dugout-canoe-survey-project/…Read more
WISCONSIN’S OLDEST SHIPWRECKS RECREATED part I
October 10, 2026By James Heinz The news media recently reported that a 1,000 year old white oak Native American dugout canoe was found in 15 feet of water in Pewaukee Lake. Ancient canoes like this are Wisconsin’s oldest shipwrecks. I recently examined a dugout canoe that is neither ancient nor sunken. On…Read more
THE MYSTERIOUS DOUBLE DISAPPEARANCE OF HIS MAJESTY’S GHOST SHIP
October 9, 2026By James Heinz The birchbark canoes of the Great Lakes fur trade ranged in size from about 24 feet to 40 feet in length and could carry between 3,000 and 9,000 pounds. Fur traders had to pay between four and fourteen of the famous voyageurs to paddle each canoe, which…Read more
BURNS HARBOR leaves Fincantieri
October 8, 2026Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that after completing a week of repairs, the M/V BURNS HARBOR left the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding dock in Sturgeon Bay, Wednesday October 7th, at noon. The vessel went out Sturgeon Bay and up Green Bay, through Deaths Door, past Pilot Island, out into…Read more
Long Ships Passing – At the helm
September 27, 2026By Chris Winters At the helm of the S/V DENIS SULLIVAN, crossing Lac Saint-Louis above Montreal, Quebec, downbound on the St. Lawrence River, October 2008. The DENIS SULLIVAN was Milwaukee’s own three-masted schooner built at our lakefront and launched in 2000. She was sold by Discovery World in 2022…Read more
A GREAT LAKES SHIP THAT ENTERED THE TWILIGHT ZONE
September 26, 2026By James Heinz You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop... Bay City, Michigan In 2012 the retired U.S. Navy destroyer USS EDSON DD-946 arrived in Bay…Read more
The ALBACORE stranded on this day
September 12, 2026On this day September 12, 1900, the Canadian canal schooner ALBACORE stranded east of the Kingston life-saving station near Oswego, New York, after being caught in a gale that ripped her sails away before the crew could reef them. This gale was a product of the Galveston hurricane, a…Read more
