Milwaukee County Wisconsin Genealogy

MILWAUKEE MARINE AND SHIPPING
SHIPWRECKS AND DISASTERS

The following ships were listed in various sources, newspapers 
and publications as having a Milwaukee connection.
This list includes information collected by David D. Swayze, Lake Isabella, MI

EAGLE

Specs: 51x15x7, 40gt 27nt
Enrollment:
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: Abandoned in 1951

E. CRAMER (Eliphalet Cramer)

Type at Loss: schooner, wood, 2-mast
Built: 1867 Gelson, Milwaukee
Size: 105x27x8 161 t
Owner: M.J. Clark
Offiial No: none
Date of Loss yr. 1855
Location of Loss: near Chicago

E.D.HOLTON

Type at Loss: propeller, steam tug, wood
Built: 1874 Wold & Davidson, Milwaukee
Specs: 58x14x6 25g 12n
Enrollment: Milwaukee, also Marquette
Official No.: 135116
Date of Loss: Aug 31 1927
Place of Loss: Dollar Bay Houghton, MI Keweenaw Waterway
Lake Lost: Superior
Type/Cause: fire
Lives Lost: unknown
Cargo: none
Details: total loss by fire

EDWARD E. GILLEN

Official No: 205312
Type of Ship: propeller tug, steel
Place of Loss: 2.5 mi off Milwaukee
Type/Cause: sank
Cargo: none
More details: Rebuilt in 1958
Date Built: 1908
Builder: B.L. Cowles
Where Built: Buffalo
Size: 61x16x9 47g 32n

EDWARD E. SKEELE

Specs: 122x26x9,199t
Enrollment:
Date of Loss: yr 1921
Place of Loss: Barrie Island North Channel
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause: sunk/lost
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: details unknown

E. HENDERSON

Type at Loss: schooner, wood
Built: 1845, G. Barber, Milwaukee
Official No.: none
Specs: 105t (also reported as 90t)
Enrollment: Detroit, also Chicago
Owner: J. Henderson
Date of Loss: yr 1861
Place of Loss: off Waukegan, IL
Lake Lost: Michigan
Type/Cause: sunk/lost
Lives Lost: unknown
Cargo: unknown
Details: Not recovered

ELIDA

Specs: 112x24x10, 275t also 192t
Enrollment: Milwaukee
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: Abandoned Nov. 8, 1912

ELIDA:
See Christiansen Bio

ELSIE MARIE

Specs: 15t
Enrollment: Milwaukee, also Marquette
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details:

E.M. CARRINGTON

Official No: 8104
Type of Ship: schooner, wood, 2-mast
Place of Loss: midlake, 25 mi SE of Milwaukee
Type/Cause: storm
Cargo: lumber [100,000 ft]
More details: After she was found she was righted and repaired and later returned to service. Registered out of Milwaukee. Drove ashore in a gale near AuSable, Michigan, in 1873. Major repairs in 1874 & 78.
Date Built: 1867
Builder: A. Stewart
Where Built: Port Huron, MI
Size: 88x22x8, 121 t

E.M. FORD

Official No: 150786
Type of Ship: propeller, steel, bulk freight cement carrier
Place of Loss: at Milwaukee
Type/Cause: storm
Cargo: cement
More details: Recovered, though divers had to chip thousands of tons of hardened cement out of her holds. Still operable in 1998 - docked at Crow Island, Saginaw R. and used for storage by LaFarge Cement, Inc
Date Built: 1898
Builder: Cleveland Shipbuilding
Where Built: Cleveland
Size: 406x50x28 4538g 3388n

EMILY

Specs: 69t
Enrollment: Milwaukee
Owner: Ben Phelps
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details:

EMMA

Specs: 169t
Enrollment: Milwaukee, also Chicago
Owner: Bagnall & McVicker
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: Large repairs in '63

Detroit Free Press, Sat., 14 Dec, 1872
Sept Schr Emma, sunk at Milwaukee, and the Coral struck the pier and knocked a hole in her side.

EMMA:
See Leigh Bio

EQUINOX

LOSS OF THE STEAMER EQUINOX SEPTEMBER 10, 1875 From "Lake Michigan Disasters" written in 1925 by Herbert Pits from newspaper accounts.

In a gale of great fury that swept over Lake Michigan September 10, 1875, the propeller Equinox was engulfed near Point au Sable, Mich. About twenty five persons, including three young ladies were aboard, and all were lost, save one.

The Equinox left Saginaw, Mich., September 5th, for Chicago with the Emma A. Mayes loaded with salt in tow. The storm struck them off Point au Sable about eleven o'clock on the night of the 10th, blowing furiously from the northeast. The crews of both vessels were on deck as they realized the extreme danger. Suddenly the Equinox began reeling from side to side, but kept making steam and going ahead. The gale increased in volume as the night bore down, and in the inky darkness, the men on the Mays could dimly see the form of the Equinox rolling heavily, while the wind and waves roard in uninterrupted fury that every moment threatened to sink both ships.

Suddenly thru the blackness, the awful din of the storm, Captain Lusk of the Mays heard a cry of "Cut that line." It was immediately cut and a moment later without a sign of distress, the Equinox careened over to the leeward side and went down, leaving no trace. The men on the Mays who witnessed the tragedy heard no cry from the dying men and women on the steamer, and if there had been any, it is doubtful whether they could have been heard in the storm. The schooner then kept on and reached Chicago with the news on Saturday morning.

Two days later the schooner Havanna arrived at Chicago with Reuben Burr, a survivor of the Equinox. He had been picked up Saturday morning eighty miles south-southwest of Manitou Island, from the pilot house and had been thirty one hours in the water.

Burr said the sea had been frightfully rough. The Equinox began to leak aft, and all efforts to keep out the water were in vain. The water rose rapidly, and calls were made to the schooner to come alongside. He thinks the schooner could not have heard the cries, as she was astern several hundred feet and the noise was great. Some of the men started to lower a life boat on the port side which was down in the water. The passengers and remainder of the crew were aft on the fantail. Eleven of the men had entered the boat when the steamer went down.

Burr had been forward, and with the captain, ran to the starboard side to lower the other lifeboat, when the ship went from under them. The captain caught the gangway, and Burr and the second cook managed to climb on the pilot house, which was washed off as the steamer sank. Huge seas washed over them time and time again but they hung on. The next day the cook, exhausted from exposure, and bruised by the waves, loosed his grasp and slipped to his death. But Burr clung to the pilot house, altho very weak, and saw several schooners pass by without seeing him. At last on Saturday morning, the 12th, the Havanna discovered and rescued him from certain death which would have come in a few hours, and made possible a story of the wreck, which otherwise would have been another unexplained disaster.

E.R. BLAKE

Type at Loss: schooner, wood
Built: 1867 Carlson, Port Washington (near Milwaukee)
Specs: 121x27x8 210g 191n
Enrollment:
Official No.: 135812
Date of Loss: Oct. 1898
Place of Loss: well offshore
Lake Lost: Huron
Type/Cause: fire
Lives Lost: ?
Cargo: ?
Details: Burned while underway. Reported ashore at Main Duck Island and Ashore at Mission Point and declared total Loss Dec. 1, 1889, major repairs in 1876

EVA M. CONE

Official No: 7522
Type of Ship: schooner, wood
Place of Loss: just outside Milwaukee harbor
Type/Cause: ice
Cargo: lumber
More details: Her crew made it to safety in her boat. Later
drifted ashore.
Date Built: 1859
Builder:
Where Built: Oconto, WI
Size: 22 t. [25 t. om]

EVERGREEN

Official No: 8301
Type of Ship: schooner, wood, 2-mast
Place of Loss: SE of Milwaukee
Type/Cause: storm
Cargo: Lumber
More details: Bystanders got a line to her and her crew was
able to come ashore on it.
Date Built: 1868
Builder:
Where Built: Holland, MI
Size: 73x20x6 68t