1929 — Oct 29, steamer Wisconsin sinks, Lake Michigan storm, off Kenosha, WI — >12

–12-16 Blanchard estimated death-toll range.*

— 18 Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. Big Earth Publishing, 2003, p. 72.
— 18 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 250.
–10-17 Ironwood Daily Globe, MI. “Steamer Sinks in Storm.” Oct 29, 1929, p. 1.
— 16 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. p. 261.
— 16 Manitowoc Herald-News, WI. “Sixteen Lives Lost as Boat Goes Down.” 10-30-1929, 1.
— 16 News-Palladium, Benton Harbor, MI. “Launch Lake Wreck Probe.” Oct 30, 1929, p. 1.
— 16 Tanzilo. “91 years ago today, the steamer Wisconsin wrecked off Kenosha.” 10-29-2020.
–10-15 Ludington Daily News, MI. “10 Men Go Down With Wisconsin in…Storm.” 10-29-1929, p.1.
— 9-11 News-Palladium, Benton Harbor, MI. “Seek Causes of Wisconsin Loss….” 10-30-1929.
— 9 McNeil. “Wisconsin (Propeller)…sunk, 29 Oct 1929.” Maritime History…Great Lakes.
— 9 Steamboat Inspect. Svc. (US). Annual Report…Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1930. 1930, p.15.

* Blanchard estimated death-toll range. We show from identified sources a range of 9 to 18 fatalities. In an attempt to narrow the confusion and range of deaths we attempted to compile our own listing of deaths identified in the press at the time. There were certainly 12 such reported deaths, unless mistakes were made in this reporting which we have not been able to identify. We feel comfortable in reporting that there were at least twelve deaths. As to the reports of 16 or 17 deaths, these reflect day-of or day-after reporting, without the provision of names. Such reports are very frequently found to have been incorrect afterwards. We would speculate that other sources reporting sixteen deaths in later years, followed an early newspaper report. We are unable to speculate on how Shelak and Swayze derived their reports of eighteen deaths. We attempted a newspaper archive search through the remainder of the year 1929 and were unable to add further to our compilation of twelve deaths.

Narrative Information

Berman: “S.S. Wisconsin…St. s. …1,921…1881 [built]…Oct 29 1929…unknown [cause]…Off Kenosha, Wisc., Lake Michigan. Length 210′. Beam 40′; 16 lives lost.” (Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. p. 261.)

Steamboat Inspection Service (U.S.): “On October, 1929, the steamer Wisconsin, of 1,921 gross tons, sank 4 miles offshore from Kenosha, Wis., resulting in the loss of 9 of the crew….” (Steamboat Inspect. Svc. (US). Annual Report…Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1930. 1930, p. 15.)

Swayze: “Wisconsin. Iron passenger and package freight steamer of 1,921 t. and 209 ft., launched in 1881 at Wyandotte, Michigan.

“Lake Michigan: The large package freighter Wisconsin was carrying a cargo of machine tools when she was lost on November [sic] 29, 1929. The vessel was anchored and waiting out a storm off Kenosha, Wisconsin, when she was overpowered by weather and sank. Eighteen of the 76 passengers and crew on board were lost in the sinking….” (Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 250.)

Newspapers

Oct 29, Associated Press: “Kenosha, Wis., Oct. 29.—(AP)—From 10 to 15 men went down with the lake steamer Wisconsin in a terrific gale off the Kenosha shore early today. More than three score were saved, many of them maddened and some near death from the horror and the exposure of hours in the wind-whipped sea. The three passengers aboard were rescued.

“Captain Dougal Morrison, bound to his duty and true to the tradition of the sea, remained aboard his ship to the last and went down with a score of shipmates for whom the rescuing coast guard vessel came too late. His body was picked up Chief Engineer Judas Buschmann of Manitowoc, Wis., clung to a life raft as the steamer up-ended, rolled over and sank. Rescuers tried to haul him from the water but, crazed by his plight, he fought them off and died.

Crews Battle Grimly.

“For five hours the twin coast guard crews from Racine and Kenosha and the crew of the tug Chambers Brothers battled grimly with the 30-foot waves and the driving northerly gale to take off the luckless passengers and crew. Unable to take aboard a line from the rescuers, most of the
crew set off in five lifeboats and were transferred to the coast guard ships. The Racine and Kenosha crews and the Chambers tug were fighting their way to the ship again when it foundered. A score of men were taken from the two life rafts that floated free of the wreck.

“By mid-morning, eight were known dead; 66 accounted for, and seven of the dead had been identified….Twenty one men were rescued from bobbing life rafts on storm-tossed Lake Michigan today after their ship, the veteran steamer Wisconsin, had foundered in the heavy seas four miles off Kenosha.

“Fifteen sailors who clung to the raft as, the steamer rolled over and sank were picked up by the fishing tug Chambers brothers. Six more were saved by coast guardsmen. More than two score of the crew and two of three passengers who boarded the Wisconsin at Chicago last night had been rescued from lifeboats and brought ashore by coast guard crews before the steamer went down….

“The Wisconsin, its hold full of water, finally settled back on its stern and with the impact of a terrific wave rolled over and vanished. A score of men still aboard, lashed to their life rafts and girdled with life belts, were set adrift while the Racine and Kenosha life crews were plunging out from the shore for a new attempt at rescue.

Finds Two Rafts

“The tug Chambers reached the scene first and found two rafts tossing about. Three men were afloat on one and none on the other. Three more were in the water. The latter were picked up first. Then the tug approached the heaviest laden raft which turned over thrice in the churning sea before it was reached. Eight of the men loosed their straps and were helped aboard the tug. The ninth was unable to get up. Clifton Young and Clarence Ferries of the tug crew left their ship and carried him safely aboard….

“Kenosha, Wis., Oct 29 – (AP) – The veteran lake steamer Wisconsin sank off the Kenosha shore in a storm today with her captain and from 12-17 men missing. They were believed to have gone down with the ship. Three score persons were taken off the ship by life guards.” (Ironwood Daily Globe, MI. “Steamer Sinks in Storm.” Oct 29, 1929, p. 1.)

Oct 29, Associated Press: “Kenosha, Wis., Oct 29 – (AP)…crew and passengers from the foundered steamer Wisconsin told today the story of a ‘nightmare cruise’ on Lake Michigan only one degree removed from tragedy for all. Dazed and chilled by exposure to the force of a storm as bad as that in which three Great Lakes boats went down last week, their first aim was at first ‘Where’s a stove? Where’s a cigarette? Whose got something hot to drink?’ Later as they huddled around a huge stove in the Kenosha coast guard station, they related how Lake Michigan had proved too strong for the passenger-freight boat which had weathered many fierce blows.

“Hardly a minute after the Wisconsin poked her nose out of Chicago harbor, she was caught up in the storm. Hitching and rocking like “a big swing,” one sailor said, she struggled up the Wisconsin shore toward Milwaukee. Then she began to take water in her bunkers, it came cascading in on the stokers and oilers working desperately in the engine room. The pumps were falling behind. Soon five feet of water had flooded the floor. As it crept up toward the stokers’ heads, they raised their shovels high above and for half an hour kept the fires going. Just about 1 a. m., the water reached the furnaces. They went out, but still the stokers stayed until they finally had to leave to save their lives. Above, the radio operator clung to his post, sending first “we are in distress” and then the “SOS, We are in a sinking condition.”…. (Ironwood Daily Globe, MI. “Shipwreck Survivors tell ‘Nightmare Cruise’ Story.” 10.29.1929, p. 1.)

Oct 30, AP: “(By Associated Press). Kenosha, Wis., Oct. 30. – Sixteen men lost their lives when the steamer Wisconsin sank in a storm Tuesday, it was determined Wednesday by the testimony of Harvey Lyon, purser of the ship, at a federal investigation. Might Have Gone Ashore.

“From two witnesses came statements that the cargo had shifted but they doubted if the shift was
great enough to account for the sinking. All those from the Goodrich lines who testified were agreed the storm in which the boat went down was more fierce than the one it weathered last week, which caused the car ferry Milwaukee to sink with a loss of 38 lives.

“Witnesses testified the ship could have been run aground safely on the sandy beaches along the Wisconsin-Illinois shore.

“First Slate Henry Halverson, senior surviving officer, who told a graphic story of the wreck, said Capt. Douglas Morrison apparently believed he could keep the boat afloat by anchoring off this port until a tug for which he had radioed came to his aid.

“What caused the Wisconsin to sink was not determined at the morning session of the investigation, conducted by Capt. Fred Meno of Detroit, federal supervisor of steam boat inspection for the Great Lakes.

“The line of questioning indicated, however, a desire by the government to determine whether the damage suffered by the Wisconsin in last week’s storm which caused the ship to dock at Milwaukee with a 20-degree port list, might have been responsible.

“With the death toll in, Tuesday’s wreck of the Goodrich liner Wisconsin, four miles off Kenosha in a raging easterly gale, fixed today at 16, with two missing and 56 of the crew rescued, a three-way investigation into the cause of the third major catastrophe on Lake Michigan within the past month was under way at Kenosha today.

“Executives of the Goodrich Transit Company joined eagerly with the United States Steamboat Inspection service and Wisconsin authorities in an effort to determine the cause of the disaster, which carried the 48-year-old passenger and freight vessel to the bottom, with Captain Douglas Morrison of Chicago on the bridge.

“The S. S. Wisconsin, although an old boat, had the reputation among lake men of being one of the staunchest weather ships on the lake. The boat was inspected September 17 and pronounced entirely seaworthy. The Goodrich line is noted for the labor it expends in keeping its ships in first-class condition….

“One question which was in the foreground of the inquiry today had to do with the Wisconsin’s radio cries for help. It was pointed out in a preliminary survey Tuesday night that the boat was less than an hour out from Kenosha Harbor when it first began radioing distress signals. There were lifeboats and life preservers for all, and the wireless was working up to a short time before the vessel was abandoned…

“As near as officials were able to state, the Wisconsin carried a crew of 70 men and four passengers. Nine lives were lost, including those of Capt. Douglas Morrison and Chief Engineer Julius Buschmann. Sixty-three persons, including the passengers, were rescued. This leaves two persons unaccounted for.” (News-Palladium, Benton Harbor, MI. “Seek Causes of Wisconsin Loss; 9 Dead.” 10-30-1929, p. 1.)

Steamer Wisconsin Fatalities

1. Burt, Joseph. Third Cook
2. Buschmann, Julius. Chief Engineer Manitowoc, WI.
3. Cassegus (or DeGassogus ), I. B. A. Chicago, IL.
4. Estes, Victor. Seaman Chicago, IL.
5. Metz, Joseph Deckhand
6. Morrison, Douglas. Captain. Chicago, IL.
7. “Old Joe” Deckhand
8. Reskus, Stanley Deckhand (One of four initially unidentified deaths.)
9. Ryan, Walter. Deckhand
10. Unidentified man. 1st of four noted as unidentified in Kenosha County morgue.
11. Unidentified man. 2nd of four noted as unidentified in Kenosha County morgue.
12. Unidentified man. 3rd of four noted as unidentified in Kenosha County morgue.

Sources

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Door County News, Sturgeon Bay, WI. 10-31-1929, p. 1, col. 4. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sturgeon-bay-door-county-news-oct-31-1929-p-1/

Ironwood Daily Globe, MI. “Shipwreck Survivors Tell ‘Nightmare Cruise’ Story.” 10-29-1929, p. 1. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-globe-oct-29-1929-p-1/

Ironwood Daily Globe, MI. “Steamer Sinks in Storm.” Oct 29, 1929, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=10940537

Janesville Daily Gazette, WI. “Four Bodies Unidentified.” 11-2-1929, p. 17, col. 4. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/janesville-daily-gazette-nov-02-1929-p-17/

La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, WI. “Another ‘Wisconsin’ Victim is Identifies.” 11-6-1929, p. 12, col. 3. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/la-crosse-tribune-and-leader-press-nov-06-1929-p-12/

Ludington Daily News, MI. “10 Men Go Down With Wisconsin in Severe Storm.” 10-29-1929, p. 1. Accessed 2-11-2021: https://newspaperarchive.com/ludington-daily-news-oct-29-1929-p-1/

Manitowoc Herald-News, WI. “Sixteen Lives Lost as Boat Goes Down.” 10-30-1929, p. 1. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/manitowoc-herald-news-oct-30-1929-p-1/

Manitowoc Herald-News, WI. “Wisconsin Sinks Off Kenosha Today, Most of Crew Saved.” 10-29-1929, p. 1 c.1. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/manitowoc-herald-news-oct-29-1929-p-1/

McNeil, William R. “Wisconsin (Propeller), U80861, sunk, 29 Oct 1929.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/62947/data?n=1

News-Palladium, Benton Harbor, MI. “Launch Lake Wreck Probe. Seek Causes of Wisconsin Loss; 16 Dead.” 10-30-1929, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=85294353

News-Palladium, Benton Harbor, MI. “Seek Causes of Wisconsin Loss; 9 Dead.” Oct 30, 1929, p. 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=74053454

Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. Big Earth Publishing, 2003. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4CBCcye0n6IC

Steamboat Inspection Service (U.S.). Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General Steamboat Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1930. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1930. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015073345384&view=1up&seq=5&q1=wisconsin%201929

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.

Tanzilo, Bobby. “91 years ago today, the steamer Wisconsin wrecked off Kenosha.” OnMilwaukee.com, 10-29-2020. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/steamer-wisconsin-1929