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.
The NORDMEER goes aground
March 9, 2025On this day November 19, 1966, the German motorship NORDMEER turned inside the flashing buoy marking the Thunder Bay Island shoal about 12 miles east of Alpena and went aground on the rocks. Within minutes her engine room and cargo holds flooded and she settled in 22 feet of…Read more
Schooner E. B. ALLEN and schooner NEWSBOY Collide off Thunder Bay
March 9, 2025On this day November 20, 1871, the schooner E. B. ALLEN was headed to Buffalo from Chicago with a cargo of grain when it collided with the schooner NEWSBOY off Thunder Bay. The ALLEN sustained a large hole on her portside and began to sink. Her crew was rescued…Read more
The ROUSE SIMMONS disappears
March 9, 2025On this day, November 23, 1912, what has become known as the Christmas Tree Ship foundered in Lake Michigan with all on board near Two Rivers, Wisconsin. She was a three-masted schooner built in 1868 at Milwaukee for Kenosha lumberman R. B. Towslee and named ROUSE SIMMONS in honor…Read more
Her anchors couldn’t hold her
March 9, 2025On this day November 26, 1922, the two masted Canadian schooner KATIE ECCLES sought safety off Timber Island during a terrible storm but ended up driven ashore, settling in about four feet of water. Her anchors couldn’t hold her. Her Captain and crew were able to safely make it…Read more
The WESTMORELAND loses after battling snowy gale
March 9, 2025On this day December 7, 1854, the propeller WESTMORELAND foundered about twenty miles from the dock at South Manitou after battling a snowy gale for two days. Seventeen of the thirty-three persons on board were lost. The following story from survivor Chief Engineer Clinton Wright was printed in the…Read more
American Ship Building launches the steamer FRANK W. HART
March 9, 2025On this day December 14, 1901, the steel steamer FRANK W. HART was launched by American Ship Building Company at Lorain, Ohio, for the Gilchrist Transportation Company. She was named for the head of one of the large wholesale millinery houses of Cleveland. The HART was sold to…Read more
Manitowoc launches Goodrich’s ALABAMA
March 9, 2025On this day December 18, 1909, the Goodrich Transit Company’s steel icebreaking passenger steamer ALABAMA was launched at Manitowoc, Wis. Built by the Manitowoc Ship Building and Dry Dock Company to run between Chicago, Grand Haven, and Muskegon, she measured 250 feet in length, 45.5 feet in beam and…Read more
The Ghost of the COBIA
March 9, 2025By James Heinz As a lifelong student of Great Lakes history, I know that many people are fond of lighthouses. Many lighthouse fans believe that many lighthouses are haunted, even though lighthouses are government structures about which detailed records were kept showing that no one ever died there. But there…Read more
Toledo Shipbuilding launches the CHARLES HUBBARD
March 9, 2025On this day, March 9, 1907, the steel freighter CHARLES HUBBARD was launched from the Toledo Shipbuilding Company. The HUBBARD was built for the L. C. Smith Transportation Co. of Oswego, NY (United States Transportation Co.). This was not a usual launching. Although the launching was planned and announced, no…Read more
American Ship Building launches the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY
March 8, 2025On this day December 30, 1926, the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY was launched by American Ship Building at their Lorain, Ohio, yard. Built for the Kinsman Transit Company she measured 600 feet over all with a beam of 60 feet and a depth of 32 feet. She was christened by…Read more
BADGER STATE sinks in Gulf of Mexico
March 8, 2025On this day January 14, 1946, the BADGER STATE struck a sunken ship at the mouth of the Grijalva River in the Gulf of Mexico and sank. The BADGER STATE had sailed many waters and changed her name a few times in her career of 30 plus years. Photo…Read more
STEWART J. CORT arrives for winter lay up
March 8, 2025Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the M/V STEWART J. CORT arrived at the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard, Thursday, January 16, 2024. The vessel pivoted at the mouth of Sturgeon Bay, then backed the six miles up the Sturgeon Bay channel to the yard. It then backed into…Read more
