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.
The car ferry MILWAUKEE is a Must Dive Destination
November 14, 2021By Cal Kothrade Since the wreck of the rail car ferry MILWAUKEE was found, it has been a mainstay of the Milwaukee diving community, a must dive destination for advanced and technical divers alike. Milwaukee area diver and shipwreck hunter Kent Bellrichard found the massive wreck quite by accident back…Read more
HOW I RELIVED MY YOUTH ON THE BOTTOM OF LAKE MICHIGAN
November 14, 2021By James Heinz I still remember that night. Apollo 11 was on the moon. I was 12 years old. On July 21, 1969, at 8:56 p.m., I was sitting in the living room with my parents in Milwaukee and watching a grainy black and white image, and heard those immortal…Read more
Launch of the M/V MARK W. BARKER
November 1, 2021By Tom Wenstadt The bulk carrier, M/V MARK W. BARKER, was launched Thursday, October 28, at the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. It is the first U. S. flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier built since 1981. The vessel is 639 feet long, 78 feet wide, 45 feet…Read more
Rum Runners of Death’s Door
October 30, 2021By Jim Schwartz “Rum Runners Captured by Plum Island Coast Guard” was a headline in the May 22, 1930 issue of the Door County News. The May 16th Door County Advocate offered a much more dramatic and sensational headline “RUM RUNNER AND BIG CARGO SEIZED, Taken by Coast Guard at Plum…Read more
FOR WANT OF A SCREW THE SHIP WAS LOST
October 23, 2021By James Heinz There is an ancient proverb that we have all heard. One version of it goes like this: For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of…Read more
Sometimes you win more than others but you’ll never win if you don’t dive
October 16, 2021By Cal Kothrade These photos are the fruits of two separate dives on the ST. ALBANS over the span of a couple years. The wreck sits about seven miles east of Milwaukee in approximately 165’ of water. On both occasions, I was blessed with excellent visibility, somewhere in the neighborhood…Read more
Plum Island is home to two ship wrecks –– the Grapeshot and the Resumption
October 1, 2021By Jim Schwartz Of the many islands that surround Door County, none may be more beautiful than Plum Island. This 325 acre island lies “plumb” in the middle of Death’s Door (hence its name) between Gills Rock and Washington Island. As part of the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge, it…Read more
Whitefish Dunes State Park features spectacular shipwreck displays
September 21, 2021By Carl Eisenberg There are spectacular shipwreck displays about two and one-half hours north of Milwaukee on the Lake Michigan side of Door County in the Whitefish Dunes State Park very near the parking lot, a picnic area, and the lakeshore. A State Park sticker is required to enter the…Read more
Manitowoc trip takes in FRANCIS HINTON shipwreck marker, and West of the Lake Gardens
September 4, 2021By Carl Eisenberg Manitowoc is an easy, hour-long ride north of Milwaukee, Wis., and just north of downtown Manitowoc is the Historic Shipwreck Marker for the Steam Barge FRANCIS HINTON. The marker is on display next to a rocky shoreline about one-half mile north of Waldo Blvd. on State Highway…Read more
Where’s JENNIFER?
August 28, 2021By James Heinz There are thousands of shipwrecks in the history of the Great Lakes, going back to Le GRIFFON in 1679. Almost all of them occurred before World War II. Wooden sailing ships and steamers, sailing without radio or radar, account for most of them. The number of shipwrecks…Read more
This is the unusual yarn of a ship buried under a park alongside Lake Michigan
August 16, 2021By James Heinz Earlier this year a fascinating story about Lake Michigan lightships appeared on this website. The authors, Ken and Barb Wardius, tell tales of these floating lighthouses, including one called MILWAUKEE LIGHTSHIP NO. 95 that was stationed three miles off Milwaukee from 1912 to 1932 to guide ships…Read more
Shipwreck tour guide finds bottle with a message written nearly 100 years ago
August 7, 2021By James Heinz As noted in a previous story by Carl Eisenberg, the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society launched Little Toot 1 and Little Toot 2, the Society’s own versions of the proverbial message in a bottle, into two of the Great Lakes on June 9 and June 30, 2021. The Little Toot project…Read more
