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 FIRST EUROPEAN SHIP THAT VISITED MILWAUKEE
November 4, 2024By James Heinz This story is inspired by a memory of long ago childhood visits to the Milwaukee Public Museum. As a child I was intrigued by a life size diorama of a man with a tricorn hat and two Native Americans pointing at a ship painted on a backdrop…Read more
Explorers Club chooses WMHS Board Member
November 2, 2024THE DOCTOR IS OPERATING: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF OUR NEWEST BOARD MEMBER By James Heinz Hollywood has a fictional archeologist: Indiana Jones. The Wisconsin Marine Historical Society has a non-fictional archeologist: Indiana Lemke, as she refers to herself on Instagram, or, as we like to refer to her, Great Lakes…Read more
THE HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE THAT INSPIRED ONE OF HOLLYWOOD’S GREATEST MOVIES
October 31, 2024By James Heinz Today is Halloween, the day of the year when ghosts and spirits haunt the places where they died. Next to castles, lighthouses are one of the most popular places for ghosts to hang out. In many cases lighthouses are supposedly haunted by people who died there even…Read more
VICTORY/MAUMEE Arrive at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding
October 27, 2024Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the integrated tug barge VICTORY/MAUMEE arrived at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding through the bay of Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay Friday, October 25th. The articulated pusher tug VICTORY was built by McDermott Shipyard Morgan City, LA in 1981 for Texas Marine Services. The…Read more
THE MYSTERY SHIP OF THE MANITOWOC MARINA
October 20, 2024By James Heinz I found this story while walking along in Manitowoc, Wis. There she was. A blue and white tied to the dock at the Manitowoc marina. I knew the ship was not built in the Great Lakes the moment I saw it. I had no idea where it…Read more
MACKINAW (WLBB 30) Completes Inspection
October 19, 2024Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the USCGC MACKINAW (WLBB 30) departed the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard October 16th after completing its 5-year inspection and other maintenance and improvements. The vessel arrived at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding back on August 24, 2024. She was built by Marinette Marine…Read more
JAMES R. BARKER arrives in Sturgeon Bay
October 17, 2024Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the M/V JAMES R. BARKER arrived at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Wednesday, October 16th (2024). The BARKER was assisted by the tug DONALD J. SARTER and is docked next to the FBS graving dock. The BARKER was christened August 7, 1976, at the…Read more
Long Ships Passing – Launch of the MACKINAW
October 16, 2024By Chris Winters The Coast Guard's heavy icebreaker MACKINAW WLBB 30 is side-launched into the Menomonee River at Marinette Marine on April 2, 2005. The "New Mack"–unlike her beloved WWII-era namesake and predecessor– is capable of buoy tending, law enforcement and interdiction, search and rescue, and environmental remediation response. The U.S. Coast Guard…Read more
ONCE THEY DID IT BY HAND: THE HISTORY OF THE MACKINAC BOAT
October 13, 2024By James Heinz In a recent article about the Roger Street Fishing Museum, I noted that the original Great Lakes fishermen used a type of small sailboat called a Mackinac boat, a replica of which is on display at that museum. The Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) boat’s design begins with the…Read more
ANOTHER MEMORIAL TO ANOTHER FORGOTTEN SHIP – USS MILWAUKEE
October 13, 2024By James Heinz My previous story about the bell of the USS WISCONSIN being on display in front of the Wauwatosa, Wis., Fire Department told how proposals to move the bell to the War Memorial on Milwaukee’s lakefront were rejected by Wauwatosa officials. This is the story of another memorial…Read more
Long Ships Passing – Logging Engine Orders
October 13, 2024By Chris Winters The chief engineer is logging engine orders aboard the John G. Munson, which was departing Buffington, Indiana, In December, 2015. --------------------------------------------- The steel JOHN G. MUNSON was built in 1952 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by the Manitowoc Ship Building Co. for the Bradley Transportation Line a division of…Read more
Spoiler Alert – It’s Marilyn Monroe
October 13, 2024ONCE THERE WERE MANY, NOW THERE IS ONE: THE LAST COMMERCIAL FISHING BOAT OUT OF TWO RIVERS AND ITS CONNECTION TO A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE STAR By James Heinz In a previous article on the Rogers Street Fishing Village Museum in Two Rivers, Wis., I covered the history of the commercial…Read more
