Explorers Discover Wreckage Of Steamship Milwaukee Lost In 1886 In Lake Michigan

Almost 140 years after a steamship went down in Lake Michigan, explorers finally discovered the wreck. It was “remarkably intact.” The experts found the wreck after following clues in old newspaper clippings.

Over the weekend, explorers associated with the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (abbreviated MSRA) said the wreck of Milwaukee, which sank after a collision with another vessel in 1886, was discovered almost 360 feet below the surface of the water.

The researchers stated that they spotted Milwaukee in June last year with the help of a side-scan sonar and then examined the wreck with a remote-operated vehicle (abbreviated as the ROV). The team declared its discovery to a live audience at a theater in Holland, Michigan, at the association’s annual film festival.

Initially, the 135-foot vessel boasted three decks, two for freight and one for guests. However, following the Wall Street panic in 1873, several Great Lakes vessels, including the Milwaukee, had to be repurposed to accommodate more cargo, such as iron, lumber, and packaged goods.

In 1883, a businessman named Lyman Gates Mason of Muskegon purchased Milwaukee to haul his firm’s lumber to Chicago. Later, the vessel was converted to fit Mason’s necessities, but no images provided details on how it was altered.

Valerie van Heest, who developed the search grid, mentioned that newspaper accounts of the sinking provided clues that helped locate the shipwreck.

Newspapers described how, on 9 July 1868, the Milwaukee set a course to Muskegon in Michigan to pick up a cargo containing lumber. An almost identical vessel, the C. Hickox, departed from Muskegon and headed for Chicago with a load of lumber as they towed a heavily packed schooner barge.

Although the lake was relatively calm that day, smoke from the wildfires burning in Wisconsin was in the air, and the ships ultimately ended up on the collision course. Following navigational regulations, Captain Armstrong on Milwaukee and Captain O’Day on Hickox should have slowed down, steered right, and sounded the steam whistles.

However, according to the shipwreck association, the ancient superstition that unfortunate things happen in threes would have scared the captains of both vessels that night. According to the report, neither captain ordered their ships to slow down as a thick fog blanketed them, rendering both blind.

Captain O’Day finally made a turn, but as he tried pulling the steam whistle, the pull chain shattered, and the Hickox soon enough plowed into the side of Milwaukee.

A pandemonium broke out in Milwaukee. According to the shipwreck association, the ship captain went below the deck and saw the water pouring in. About two hours after the collision, the Milwaukee plunged to Lake Michigan’s bottom. Luckily, all those on the ship could make it aboard Hickox.

Neel Zoss, who saw the wreck on the sonar, explained that news accounts of this incident and research on water currents led to Milwaukee after two days of searching.

The Milwaukee was spotted resting on the bottom of the lake facing northeast, the same direction it was heading when it went down 137 years ago. Per Jack van Heest, who was piloting the ROV, visibility was outstanding. They saw the forward mast standing as the ROV headed to the bottom.

After studying the wreck, the explorers conceded that the Milwaukee had been remodeled, with the pilothouse and the aft cabin made smaller to accommodate more lumber.

Both of the vessel captains temporarily lost their licenses following the accident.
The shipwreck association mentioned that slowing down when there is danger can be the most significant lesson the wreck imparted.

The declaration of Milwaukee’s discovery came through a few months after a man and his daughter saw the remains of a vessel that sank in Lake Michigan almost 15 years before the Milwaukee, back in 1871.

Reference: CBSNews, DailyMail

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