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.
HERBERT C. JACKSON departs Fincantieri
March 7, 2025Tom Wenstadt our Door County correspondent reports that the M/V HERBERT C. JACKSON departed the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding dock midday Wednesday, July 10th. The vessel backed out of Sturgeon Bay, then pivoted 180 degrees out in Green Bay, then traveled up Green Bay, then through Rock Island Passage toward the…Read more
Schooner J. DUVALL found bottom up
March 7, 2025On this day July 16, 1880, the schooner J. DUVALL was found bottom up off Two Rivers, Wis. She had been bound from Kewaunee to Chicago and it is believed she was caught by a sudden squall the night of July 9th. Her canvas was set, showing she went…Read more
The sandsucker AMERICAN is launched
March 7, 2025On this day July 11, 1921, the sandsucker AMERICAN was launched by the Manitowoc Ship Building Corp. for the American Sand & Gravel Co. of Michigan City, Indiana. Her construction and repair jobs on the steamers in winter layup, kept nearly 1,500 men busy in the shipyard until spring…Read more
Long Ships Passing – TREGURTHA loading coal
March 7, 2025By Chris Winters The crew of the PAUL R. TREGURTHA load 60,000 tons of western coal at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal, March 16, 2013 – first trip of Interlake Steamship's centennial season on the Great Lakes. Interlake’s flagship the PAUL R. TREGURTHA was built in 1981 at Lorain, Ohio by…Read more
Long Ships Passing – BADGER’s Spring Fit Out
March 7, 2025By Chris Winters The engine room crew of the carferry S.S. BADGER light the vessels steam boilers during spring fit-out at her home port of Ludington, Michigan, April 2018. ------------ Built by the Christy Corp. of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., the BADGER was launched in 1952 with her sister ship the SPARTAN…Read more
Long Ships Passing – Special Delivery for the BEEGHLY
March 7, 2025By Chris Winters Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding's "Triple Eight" crawler crane lifts one of the CHARLES M. BEEGHLY's new dual-fuel MaK powerplants into the vessel's engine well, January 2009. ------------ Built by the American Ship Building Company at Toledo in 1959 as the SHENANGO II, the 710 foot CHARLES M. BEEGHLY…Read more
Long Ships Passing – Winter Lay-up Feb 2022
March 7, 2025By Chris Winters The annual winter lay-up fleet gathered at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, February 2022. --------- A 63-acre custom-built facility, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding (FBS) is designed for new construction, major conversions, and repairs. It is open year round and traces its history of building ships back…Read more
Long Ships Passing – a New Tail Shaft
March 7, 2025By Chris Winters In July 2012, workers prepare to lift the KAYE E. BARKER's new tail shaft section into the graving dock at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The BARKER's 1950s-era contra-guide stern required a total rebuild in order to accommodate a modern dual-fuel powerplant, automated engine room…Read more
ON THIS DAY MAY 18 1894: INGAR OLSEN SAVES ANOTHER LIFE
March 7, 2025By James Heinz In a previous article I recounted how a U.S. Lifesaving Service surfman earned the gold Lifesaving Medal rescuing a man from the top of Milwaukee’s Love Rock in the middle of a raging storm at risk of his own life. Today I tell how he overcame even…Read more
ON THIS DAY JUNE 13, 1943, THE COAST GUARD CUTTER ESCANABA SINKS
March 7, 2025By James Heinz She was born on the Lakes and died on the sea, but not before revolutionizing the rescue of those sunk at sea and participating in an immortal wartime incident. According to WMHS files, the first U.S. Coast Guard cutter named ESCANABA WPG-77 was launched November 10, 1932,…Read more
THE NEWEST SHIP ON THE GREAT LAKES UNLOADS AT JONES ISLAND
March 7, 2025By James Heinz Recently while passing by Jones Island, the site of Milwaukee’s harbor, I saw the newest ship on the Great Lakes unloading salt on the west side of the island. The MARK W. BARKER is the first American ship built on the Great Lakes since 1983. She was…Read more
FIRE HAS CLAIMED ANOTHER GREAT LAKES FREIGHTER
March 7, 2025By James Heinz In prior blog articles I told the story of the Great Lakes bulk carrier ROGER BLOUGH, which caught fire in the shipyard in 1972 while being built, and then caught fire again during winter layup in Sturgeon Bay in 2021. And now fire has claimed another veteran…Read more
