Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2012, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: SS Milwaukee OTHER NAME(s): originally Manistique, Marquette & Northern No. 1 renamed Milwaukee in 1909 OFFICIAL NO: 93363 DATE OF LOSS: 22 October 1929 REASON: Storm LOCATION: Lake Michigan, 7 miles northeast of Milwaukee, about 3 miles from shore. RIG TYPE: Twin screw propeller, car ferry HULL TYPE: Steel BUILDER: American Shipbuilding Co., Cleveland, OH - 1903 OWNER: Grand Trunk-Milwaukee Carferry Co. MASTER: Capt. Robert H. McKay ("Heavy Weather" McKay) TONNAGE: 2,933 gt LENGTH: 338 ft BEAM: 56 ft DEPTH: 19.42 ft CASUALTIES: 47-52 SURVIVORS: 0 FERRY WITH 52 ON BOARD THOUGHT LOST; ----------- Storm is Diminishing in Feroc- ity; Shores Are Strewn With Wreckage. ----------- The lashing winds which have swept peril across the Great Lakes since last Sunday subsided somewhat today, leav- ing one vessel missing, another at the bottom of Lake Erie, and four grounded. Wreckage was strewn along hundreds of miles of water front, indicating a property loss which may run into the millions. FERRY IS MISSING Coast guards from several stations along Lake Michigan were searching to- day for the car ferry Milwaukee, more than 24 hours overdue on its trip from Milwaukee to Grand Haven. Fifty-two persons are aboard this vessel. The wind in Lake Michigan was reported shifted to the southwest with great de- crease in velocity. HOPE FOR FERRY FADES MILWAUKEE, Wis., Oct 24 - (AP) - Hope that the car ferry, Milwaukee, of the Grand Trunk fleet with 52 aboard, had weathered the 48-hour storm on Lake Michigan faded today with a re- port that wreckage from a boat had been picked up 10 miles off Wind Point, which is about four miles north of Racine. Capt. C. N. Bedell, of the steamer Colonel told Grand Trunk officials here that he sighted empty lifeboats, mat- tresses and the upper parts of a white cabin, floating in the lake off Wind Point. The upper part of the Mil- waukee was painted white. Some of the wreckage was picked up by the Colonel, but none of it carried any markings to make identification certain, Captain Bedell said. Niagara Falls Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y. Thursday, October 24, 1929 -------------------------------------- COMB WATERS FOR STORM DEAD -------- CHICAGO, Oct. 25 (I.N.S.) - Coast Guard crews of four Lake Michigan cities were to combine forces today in a search for bodies of the car ferry Milwaukee, be- lieved to have foundered and sunk with its crew of 52 men in the worst storm that has swept the lake region in 30 years. Four bodies, two of them encased in life preservers bearing the lost ship's name, have been picked up thus far by ships of Kenosha, Wis. None of the bodies has been definitely identified, but all wore sailor's dungarees. The two bodies without life belts are believed to be from the missing ship also. One of these was tentatively identified as Richard Shaden of Grand Haven, Mich. Officials of the Grand Trunk Railway, owners of the Milwaukee, have pracically given up hope that the ship is still afloat and Coast Guard crews are certain that the entire crew was lost when the ship, battered to pieces by the gale and high waves, went to the bottom of the lake. The motor slip Steel Chemist picked up the first two bodies be- tween Kenosha and Racine, Wis., 10 miles off shore. When the boat docked here with the bodies its crew reported sighting pieces of floating debris, a floating mattress and part of a shattered pilot house. Coast guardsmen at Kenosha found the other two bodies in practically the same "lane" as the first ones were found. The crew of the U.S. Engineering tug, Elder reported sighting a screen door, part of a galley, a chair and a saxaphone case, all believed to be from the Milwaukee. A watch found on one of the bodies had stopped at 8:35. The ill-fated ship left Milwaukee Tuesday after- noon about 3 o'clock for Grand Haven, Mich., carrying 37 loaded freight cars. It is believed that lurching of the storm-tossed ship wrenched the cars loose from the rails in the hold of the ferry, causing it to tilt and founder. "Syracuse Journal", Syracuse, N.Y. Friday, Oct. 25, 1929 -------------------------------------- On October 27, 1929 an empty lifeboat from the Milwaukee was found floating off St. Joseph, Mich. A final message from the Milwaukee was in the ship's message case which was floating nearby. "Oct. 22, 1929. 8:30 p.m. The ship is making water fast. We have turned around and headed for Milwaukee. Pumps are working, but sea gate is bent in and can't keep the water out. Flicker is flooded. Seas are tremendous. Things look bad. Crew roll is about the same as last payday. A.R. Sadon, Purser." The storm that sealed the fate of the Milwaukee caused devastation all along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Piers and docks were swept away, numerous small craft and luxurious beach homes beach homes were destroyed. Sections of the new 1,300 ton breakwater at Milwaukee were smashed and broken up by the fury of the storm. Only six bodies were ever recovered. Two were picked up by the Steel Chemist and four more were found in a lifeboat floating near Holland, Mich. For 43 years the Milwaukee was listed as one of the missing ships of the Great Lakes. In April, 1972 the wreck of the car ferry Milwaukee was located seven miles northeast of Milwaukee and just three miles off shore. ======================================================================== Sources: Boyer, "Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes," 1968 Bowen, "Great Lakes Shipwrecks," Niagara Falls Gazette - Thursday, Oct. 24, 1929 Syracuse Journal - Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Oct. 25, 1929 Toledo Blade - Sunday, Oct. 12, 1952