By James Heinz
Just west of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, sits a very large ship’s propeller with one of its large blades embedded in the lawn next to the museum parking lot. Another propeller is missing a big chunk of its blade.
Assuming that it must therefore belong to the museum, I asked museum director Kevin Cullen what the propeller signified only to be told that the museum had nothing to do with it, the City of Manitowoc installed it. He said the propeller came from the now gone bulk carrier CHARLES C. WEST.
The CHARLES C. WEST was launched in 1925 at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company for the Rockport Steamship Company. The WEST displaced 6,644 tons, was 456 feet long and 60 feet wide.
She was of unusual construction. She had two triple expansion steam engines, which drove two propellers to enable her to maneuver in and out of tight channels and small ports. She had a third engine for her self-unloading gear and was the first twin screw self-unloader built on the Lakes and remained the only one until the 1970s.
The most significant event in the ships’ life occurred before she was launched. Three men were working on the ship when a crossbar holding up the scaffolding collapsed, throwing the men into the river and killing all three.
After that, her life was much less exciting. According to WMHS files, in 1933 she ran aground on “Death’s Door,” a seasonal sandbar that reoccurred every summer off Two Rivers, Wis. In 1948 she was lengthened by 122 feet and in 1964 she was fitted with a bow thruster.
In 1964 she was sold to the Reiss Steamship Company, whose house flag hangs in the WMHS collection. In 1978 the WEST was scrapped at Buffalo, NY. But you can still see what she looked like at a place appropriate for Wisconsin:
A bar.
Across the Manitowoc River from the Museum is The Wharf bar and grill. And above the bar is a 7 foot long, 3/16 scale model of the CHARLES C. WEST, built in 1988 by model maker Richard Young. As you sit at the bar you can see the model above you and the propeller across the river.
Have a drink in memory of the CHARLES C. WEST.
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James Heinz is the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s acquisitions director. He became interested in maritime history as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV. He was a Great Lakes wreck diver until three episodes of the bends forced him to retire from diving. He was a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee police officer for thirty years. He regularly flies either a Cessna 152 or 172.
Photo Credit: Propeller and model photos courtesy of James Heinz
CHARLES C. WEST and Reiss flag, Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
