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 steamer FRANCIS HINTON went ashore
November 16, 2025On this day November 16, 1909, the steamer FRANCIS HINTON went ashore three miles south of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in a heavy snowstorm and northeast gale. She was loaded at Marinette with 450,000 feet of lumber and sailed for Green Bay and then Chicago. The FRANCIS HINTON was built at…Read more
REMEMBER THE SULLIVANS, THE MEN AND THE SHIP
November 13, 2025By James Heinz In 1942 five brothers from the Sullivan family of Waterloo, Iowa, enlisted in the U.S. Navy. They were George (age 27), Francis (age 26), Joseph (age 24), Madison (age 23), and Albert (age 20). They enlisted under the condition that they serve on the same ship, saying…Read more
the craft slid into the bay like an eel
November 11, 2025“It shall be your duty to protect the city in times of danger and distress” “the craft slid into the bay like an eel” “it floated with the grace of a swan” “Exclamations of delight and admiration were heard from all sides” On this day, November 11, 1896, the…Read more
On this day the sailing days of the schooner ROSA BELLE ended
October 30, 2025On this day October 30, 1921, the sailing days of the schooner ROSA BELLE ended. Photo at top of page: The ROSA BELLE being towed by the tug PETER REISS in the Sheboygan River at Sheboygan, Wisconsin The ROSA BELLE was a two masted schooner launched on April…Read more
THE SHIPWRECKS OF RAWLEY POINT IDENTIFIED
October 29, 2025By James Heinz In a previous blog post I showed photos of a shipwreck off Rawley Point that I took from an airplane that I was flying overhead: https://wmhs.org/rawley-point-from-the-air-wreck-one/ I asked our readers if they could identify the wreck, and one of them could. Rawley Point Wreck by James Heinz…Read more
AN ABANDONED SCHOONER, THEN AND NOW
October 27, 2025By James Heinz In the old days, some ship owners played “the derelict game.” As I recounted in a previous story https://wmhs.org/the-mysterious-disappearing-warship-of-the-kinnickinnic-river/ many ship owners would just abandon their old ships in a Milwaukee waterway and let the city bear the expense of removing them. This was particularly true of…Read more
On this day the DOTY and JEANETTE sailed into a fierce gale
October 25, 2025On this day October 25, 1898, the wooden steamer L. R. DOTY and her consort the four masted schooner OLIVE JEANETTE sailed into a fierce gale which parted their tow line and sent one to the bottom. L. R. DOTY and schooner OLIVE JEANETTE in new Weitzel Lock, 1896…Read more
THE HAUNTED TUGBOAT OF MILWAUKEE HARBOR
October 23, 2025By James Heinz It’s October, time for haunted history stories, like haunted lighthouses https://wmhs.org/the-haunted-lighthouse-that-inspired-one-of-hollywoods-greatest-movies/ Haunted ships usually involve “Ghost Ships” that “sailed into a crack in the Lake”, as the old sailors used to say, never to be seen again except as ghostly apparitions. But one ship still afloat is…Read more
On this day the MILWAUKEE left Milwaukee’s harbor
October 22, 2025On this day October 22, 1929, the car ferry MILWAUKEE left Milwaukee’s harbor about 12:30 pm in a heavy gale with 25 freight cars and a crew of 46. It is believed that the raging storm and “mountainous waves” caused at least one of the freight cars to break…Read more
The night was as dark as a stack of black cats
October 21, 2025On this day October 21, 1897, a supernatural voice summoned the Captain from a deep sleep to come to the deck and it saved the crew. “The night was as dark as a stack of black cats.” The FRANK W. GIFFORD was a three-masted schooner built in 1868 at…Read more
COBIA heads home
October 16, 2025Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the U.S.S COBIA (SS 245) departed from the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard, the morning of Wednesday, October 15th. The lake tugs NICKELENA and ERIKA KOBASIC towed the submarine through Sturgeon Bay’s three bridges, then through the Sturgeon Bay ship canal then out…Read more
PRINS WILLEM V was the only loss of 1954 and she did it off Milwaukee’s harbor
October 15, 2025On 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
