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

FANNY AND FLOY

Specs: 143t (also reported as 97t)
Enrollment: Milwaukee, also Chicago
Owner: Smith & Sweet
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: Flat

FERDINAND SCHLESINGER

Type at Loss: propeller, wood, bulk freight
Built: 1891, Wolf & Davidson, Milwaukee
Specs: 306x43x21, 2608g 2081n
Enrollment: Milwaukee
Official No.: 120841
Date of Loss: May 31 1919
Place of Loss: 15 mi SE of Passage Island. Off Isle Royale
Lake Lost: Superior
Type/Cause: storm
Lives Lost: none
Cargo: coal
Details: She sprang a leak in a gale and sank after a struggle of many hours by her crew. They abandoned the sinking vessel for the freezing lake and were rescued by the Canadian passenger steamer ASSINIBOIA. Ashore near False Presque Isle, MI in Nov, 1905. Out of Duluth

FIRE ISLAND

Specs: 185x38x18, 1117gt, 251nt
Enrollment:
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: Owned by US Maritime Commission. Sold for scrapping Dec. 1975

FLORA

Type at Loss: sidewheel steamer, wood, passenger & package freight
Official No.: 120210
Built: 1875, Wolf & Davidson, Milwaukee
Specs: 174x28x11, 532gt
Enrollment:
Date of Loss: December 2, 1912
Place of Loss: Chicago
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause: fire
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: First operated out of Detroit MI, sold foreign March 30, 1899; known as Canadian URANIA 1899-1905) (C100303); known as FLORA 1905-1912 Burned while being dismanted Dec 2, 1912

Detroit Free Press December 22. 1866
NEW VESSELS COMMISSIONED IN 1866, AND WHERE BUILT Scow Flora, at Milwaukee, by McLellan, burthen 91 tons.

FLORA:
See Thorp Bio
See Trowell Bio

FLORA URANIA

FORD RIVER

Specs: 143x29x10, 289t
Enrollment:
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details:

FRANCES

Specs: 104x15x8, 89gt 60nt
Enrollment:
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: Dismantled in 1957

FRANK BRAEGER

Specs: 46x14x5, 39gt 26nt
Enrollment:
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details: Numerous owners since build. Rigging changed to yacht 1971, name changed to MAJESTIC in 1974

FRED CARNEY

Specs: 152x30x10, 361t
Enrollment: Milwaukee, also Chicago and Ogdensburg
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details:

FRED. HILL

Type at Loss: schooner, wood
Official No.: none
Built: 1854, J. M. Jones, Milwaukee
Specs: 109x28x9 268 t
Enrollment: Milwaukee
Owner: Davis & Hill
Date of Loss: Nov 27, 1863
Place of Loss: N. Manitou Isl.
Lake Lost: Michigan
Type/Cause: storm
Lives Lost: none
Cargo: lumber, salt
Details: Bound Saginaw for Milwaukee and Chicago, she ran ashore and was abandoned. Supposedly she was to be rescued in the spring, but there is no evidence that she ever ran again. She went high on the beach at Rondeau, Ont., L. Erie in October of the same year.

FRED HILL:
See Campbell bio
See Peacock Bio

FREE TRADER

Specs: 80 ft 52 t
Enrollment:
Date of Loss:
Place of Loss:
Lake Lost:
Type/Cause:
Lives Lost:
Cargo:
Details:

FUR TRADER

Size: 100t Owner: William Brown

F.W. BACKUS

Official No: none
Type of Ship: propeller, wood
Place of Loss: off Racine, WI (also given in error as near
Chicago or Milwaukee)
Type/Cause: fire
Cargo: hay, horses and cattle
More details: The tug DAISY LEE towed her out while she was still burning, with the intention of scuttling her, but was unable to do so. After she burned through her towline she drifted back to shore and burned to the waterline. Her live cargo (horses) was pushed overboard, but was able to swim ashore.
Date Built: 1846
Builder: E Bates
Where Built: Amherstburg, Ont
Size: 133x25x9, 289 t.[om]

FREE TRADER

Detroit Advertiser and Tribune, 11 Nov, 1868

"Ripley's Rock." - The Marquette Journal of a late date thus tells the story of how the rock in Marquette harbor, bearing the above title, was named:

"In the fall of 1848, during the early period of navigation on Lake Superior, occurred the incident which we are about to relate. Capt. Ripley, an old lake captain, and well known to many of our people to-day, was sailing a small schooner called the Free Trader, which vessel plied from the Sault St. Marie, along the lake, carrying supplies. etc. In the latter part of September of that year a fearful storm was prevailing on the lake, described by our informant as the heaviest he has witnessed during 20 years in this section. The waves were rolling fearfully high, and the bay seemed one sheet of boiling, seething foam: the rocks, which to-day are some eight or ten feet out of the water, being most of the time inundated by the waves, now and again showing their white crests for a moment, only to disappear from sight the next. A small crowd of settlers, some six or seven perhaps - indeed about all there were here at the time -had collected on the shore to witness the fate of the vessel they had decried in the bay, endeavoring to make a landing. On the boat came, rolling and plunging through the waves; it seemed to the anxious spectators on shore that every plunge must be her last, and they were prepared to render what feeble assistance lay in their power to the crew.

"The vessel, which proved to be the Free Trader, was headed directly toward the rocks, but just as she seemed about to strike, suddenly came around, directly under the rock, and the Captain having everything in readiness, at once grappled and made his boat fast. The storm lasted three days, during which time the Free Trader lay behind the rock, tossing about like an egg-shell, in imminent danger of going to pieces at every moment. The party on shore built bonfires, and for three days watched with breathless anxiety the fate of the passengers and crew. At the end of that time the storm abated, and Capt. Ripley was enabled to reach shore. The circumstances related gave the place the name "Ripley's Rock," by which it has since been known."