Researchers Find Steamship That Sank 138 years​ ago In Lake Michigan

HOLLAND, MI — A team of explorers found a ship that sank about 40 miles off the Holland shoreline in Lake Michigan 138 years ago, researchers with the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association announced Saturday night.

Researchers and explorers with the organization found the steamship Milwaukee, which sank in 1886 after a collision on Lake Michigan about 40 miles from Holland. They found the "remarkably intact steamship"under 360 feet of water, according to the group.

"This marks the 19th shipwreck our team has found off the shores of West Michigan" Valerie van Heest, who with her husband Jack van Heest coordinated the search effort, said. "MSRA shares their historic discoveries with the public through books, articles, lectures, and museum exhibits."

The group's researchers actually discovered the Milwaukee last June using side-scan sonar before using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to get footage of the Milwaukee’s final resting place, according to the group.

"News accounts of the accident, as well as the study of water currents, led us to the Milwaukee after only two days searching," Neel Zoss, who spotted the telltale image on the side scan sonar said.

Jack van Heest, who piloted the ROV, said the "visibility was excellent."

"We saw the forward mast still standing as the ROV headed down to the bottom," van Heest added.

The ship rests upright facing northeast as it was traveling that night in 1886, according to the group.

The researchers also found something new when they got their first full look at the Milwaukee.

"The pilothouse on the wreck looks nothing like the octagonal pilothouse in the historic photo," Valerie van Heest said.

"In studying the video, we realized that Lyman Gates Mason, who owned the Milwaukee, had made both the pilothouse and the aft cabin smaller in order to maximize the amount of lumber the ship could carry on each run," researcher Craig Rich said.

Researchers and explorers with the organization found the steamship Milwaukee, which sank in 1886 after a collision on Lake Michigan about 40 miles from Holland/Michigan Shipwreck Research Association

The Milwaukee had a career that spanned 18 years. It was commissioned by the Northern Transportation Company of Ohio in 1868 to carry passengers and goods westward from the terminus of the Northern Railroad line at Ogdensburg, New York, to Chicago — stopping several times along the way, according to the group.

At 135 feet long with three decks, the steamship was able to fit the dimensions of Welland Canal locks between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. For more than a decade the Milwaukee ran on four of the five Great Lakes carrying settlers and settlement supplies westward, according to the group.

In 1883, lumberman Lyman Gates Mason of Muskegon purchased the Milwaukee for exclusive use to haul his company’s lumber to Chicago. He later sold the ship, which started a new career carrying cargo on Lake Michigan, according to the group.

On a foggy night in July 1886, a nearly identical ship called the C. Hickox struck the side of the Milwaukee, which sank roughly two hours later, according to the group.

Everyone aboard the Milwaukee was able to get onto the Hickox, according to the group.

Although there were no lives lost in the shipwreck, the captains still faced consequences as Captain Armstrong of the Milwaukee and Captain O’Day of the Hickox both lost their licenses for a period because neither slowed down as expected, according to the group.

"Slowing down in the face of danger may be the most important lesson this shipwreck can teach," the group said.