Nearly 140 years after a ship went down in Lake Michigan, explorers have discovered the wreck "remarkably intact" after following clues from old newspaper clippings. The wreck of the steamship Milwaukee, which sank after colliding with another vessel in 1886, was found 360 feet below the water's surface, explorers from the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) said this weekend.
The researchers said they located the Milwaukee in June 2023 using side-scan sonar and then surveyed the wreck using a remote operated vehicle (ROV). The team announced its discovery to a live audience at a theater in Holland, Michigan, at the association's annual film festival.
Originally, the 135-foot vessel had three decks, two designed for freight and one for passengers. But after the Wall Street panic of 1873, many Great Lakes ships like the Milwaukee were repurposed to accommodate more cargo, such as lumber, iron and packaged goods.
In 1883, a businessman named Lyman Gates Mason of Muskegon bought the Milwaukee to haul his company's lumber to Chicago. The vessel was converted to fit Mason's needs, but there were no photographs to provide any details of how the ship was altered.
"It was newspaper accounts of the sinking that provided the clues we needed to locate the shipwreck," said Valerie van Heest, who created the search grid.
Newspapers described how on July 9, 1868, the Milwaukee set a course to Muskegon, Michigan to pick up a cargo of lumber as a nearly identical ship, the C. Hickox, left Muskegon for Chicago with a load of lumber, while towing a fully packed schooner barge.
Though the lake was calm that day, smoke from wildfires burning in Wisconsin was hanging in the air, and eventually the ships ended up on collision course. Under navigational rules, Captain Armstrong on the Milwaukee and Captain O'Day on the Hickox were supposed to slow down, steer right and sound their steam whistles.
"But the old superstition that bad things happen in threes would haunt the captains of both ships that night," the shipwreck association said.
Captain O'Day finally made a turn, but when he tried to pull his steam whistle, the pull chain broke, and soon the Hickox plowed into the side of the Milwaukee.
"Pandemonium broke out on the Milwaukee. The captain went below deck and saw water pouring in," the shipwreck association said.
The Discovery of the Milwaukee Shipwreck in Lake Michigan
After almost two hours following the collision, the Milwaukee sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan. Fortunately, all the crew members were safely rescued by the Hickox.
"News reports about the incident, along with the analysis of water currents, guided us to the location of the Milwaukee after just two days of searching," mentioned Neel Zoss, the individual who identified the wreck on the sonar.
The Milwaukee was found lying on the lakebed, facing northeast, the same direction it was traveling 137 years ago when it met its demise.
"The visibility underwater was exceptional," stated Jack van Heest, the operator of the ROV. "As the ROV descended to the bottom, we observed the intact forward mast still standing."
Upon inspecting the wreck, the explorers discovered that the Milwaukee had undergone modifications, with the pilothouse and aft cabin being reduced in size to accommodate more lumber.
Following the accident, both ship captains had their licenses temporarily suspended.
"The most crucial lesson to learn from this shipwreck is the importance of slowing down in dangerous situations," emphasized the shipwreck association.
The revelation of the Milwaukee's discovery occurred shortly after a man and his daughter stumbled upon the wreckage of a ship that sank in Lake Michigan 15 years prior to the Milwaukee's tragic fate in 1871.
