By Carl Eisenberg
There are spectacular shipwreck displays about two and one-half hours north of Milwaukee on the Lake Michigan side of Door County in the Whitefish Dunes State Park very near the parking lot, a picnic area, and the lakeshore. A State Park sticker is required to enter the park. One can get down the rocky shore to the water’s edge even when it is windy. There are two exhibits, one outdoor and one inside the Nature Center.
The outdoor exhibits feature a Wisconsin Maritime Trails Historic Shipwreck Marker about the OCEAN WAVE and a variety of interesting displays. You can read about how ships were powered –– by wind or steam, why ships wreck, about anchors, about the bones of a ship, how wooden ships were built to be strong, and how water that leaked into a ship was controlled.
The OCEAN WAVE, a wooden two-masted scow schooner, was built in 1860 at Harsen’s Island, Michigan. She was 73 feet long with a beam of 20 feet and a gross tonnage of 73.72. Nine years later she moved from trading around Harsen’s Island to Lake Michigan where she carried limestone and other cargos. On the morning of Sept. 23, 1869, she sank in 20 minutes after floating debris caused a large hole in the hull. Her entire crew survived. Her wreck is in 110 feet of water off Whitefish Point, Door County, Wis. The site is marked by a seasonal Wisconsin Historical Society marker buoy.
A few steps away inside the Whitefish Dunes State Park Nature Center there are interesting exhibits including several related to the AUSTRALASIA, a steam screw wooden ship 282 feet long with a beam of 39 feet and a gross tonnage of 1829.32. She was built by James Davidson in West Bay City, Michigan, in 1884. Her Owner and Captain was James Corrigan of Cleveland, Ohio, the AUSTRALASIA’s home port. When she was launched she was the largest wooden ship ever built. She was a bulk carrier and usually towed a large barge. She set records for both salt and wheat cargos when she carried 3,150 tons of salt and 80,000 bushels of wheat. Her great size made her competitive with the steel bulk carriers.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, 1896, the AUSTRALASIA was carrying a 2,200 ton load of coal from Cleveland to Milwaukee when she encountered adverse winds and changed course heading toward the Wisconsin shore for shelter. At about 6 p.m., the crew of the AUSTRALASIA noted a fire on board that they could not control. They abandoned their dinner and the ship, and safely reached Jacksonport, Wisconsin.
Several hours later the tug JOHN LEATHEM, under the command of Captain James Tufts, left Sturgeon Bay and found the abandoned AUSTRALASIA and the crew’s unfinished meals. The rescuers finished the dinner and then attempted to tow the burning AUSTRALASIA toward Sturgeon Bay. Unfortunately, eight tow lines broke and the ship was abandoned just off the shore of the Whitefish Dunes. About 140 tons of the coal the AUSTRALASIA was carrying ended up on the beach.
The JOHN LEATHEM returned to Jacksonport to pick up the crew of the AUSTRALASIA returning them to Sturgeon Bay.
The wreck of the AUSTRALASIA is now about 850 feet off the southern shore of the Whitefish Dunes State Park about 15 feet under water. The site is marked by a seasonal Wisconsin Historical Society marker buoy.
The exhibits in the Nature Center include a video presentation about the AUSTRALASIA.
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Photo at top of page
Whitefish Dunes State Park outdoor exhibits. Photo Credit: Carl Eisenberg
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Whitefish Dunes State Park
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Carl Eisenberg is a sailor and birdwatcher, and has been president of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society since 2016. A retired pediatrician, he is a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine. He lives in Mequon, Wis.
