(Registry No. 14122; built 1892)

Identification & Site Information

  • Former names / Registration numbers: Luise M., US Registry Number 14122. (wisconsinshipwrecks.org)
  • Year built / Launch / Location: Completed in 1892 at Rieboldt, Wolter & Company shipyard, Sturgeon Bay (Sheboygan), Wisconsin. (wisconsinshipwrecks.org)
  • Dimensions: Length 53.00 ft (16.15 m); beam 11.90 ft (3.63 m); depth of hold 5.00 ft (1.52 m). Gross Tonnage 18.72. (wisconsinshipwrecks.org)
  • Loss date / Location: Sank in storm overnight of 28–29 August 1916. Approx. 40 mi offshore from Winthrop Harbor, en route Benton Harbor to Racine, in Lake Michigan, Kenosha County, near 42° 46′ 17″ N, 87° 06′ 32″ W. No lives lost. (wisconsinshipwrecks.org)

Vessel Type

  • Configuration & use: Small wooden steam screw Tug originally built for fishing operations; later converted to a fruit‐carrier. Zero masts; steam propulsion. (wisconsinshipwrecks.org)

Description

  • Structure: Wooden Hull, built robustly as a small Tug; cabin structure added over entire Deck during Conversion to fruit carrier. Tonnage under 19 gross tons.
  • Propulsion: Single boiler powering screw propeller; steam engine typical of small late‑19th‑century vessels.

History

Final Disposition

  • Circumstances: Departed St. Joseph on 28 Aug 1916 in a SW storm. By ca. 0130 on 29 Aug, vessel began to take on water; crew extinguished boiler fires, jettisoned cargo but vessel “Foundered,” broke in two, sank rapidly. Crew Abandoned in lifeboat; later rescued by Steamer America. No casualties. Cargo and vessel wholly lost. (Facebook)
  • Insurance / legal follow up: Vessel and cargo uninsured; no noted marine board inquiry or registry adjustments. Insurance or registry archives contain no entries.

Located By & Date Found

  • Wreck discovery: No formal documentation of site survey, sonar contact, or diver identification recorded in public archives or Wisconsin wreck databases. Wreck remains presumably unlocated/unidentified to divers. (wisconsinshipwrecks.org, wisconsinshipwrecks.org)
  • Condition: Unknown; believed broken in two and scattered in deep storm off-shore zone (~40 mi offshore), depth unknown.

Notices to Mariners & Advisories

  • None recorded in archival sources or later hazard bulletins.

Resources & Links

Shore Dive Information

  • Site not located or confirmed; no dive entry or GPS coordinates. Depth unknown; presumed well beyond shore access. No dive provisions or shelf information.

Conclusion

This vessel is a historically significant example of local small‐scale commercial modification: converted from local fishing Tug to fruit‐carrier under Captain McCallum. Her loss highlights the vulnerability of small wooden steam vessels to storms in deep Lake Michigan waters. Despite no loss of life, the absence of insurance and her resulting Total Loss underscore mortal risks faced by small operators in the era.

The wreck has not been positively identified or surveyed; no imagery, ROV data, sonar signature or dive logs exist in public domain. Further research would require targeted sonar surveying near given coordinates (~40 mi east of Winthrop Harbor), cross‐referenced with NOAA mapping, private diver logs, or insurance filings. Archival follow‐up in Racine and Benton Harbor newspapers from Sept 1916 (Chronicling America, Toronto Telegram fonds) may yield crew names or port authority inquiries. Consulting NOAA’s Thunder Bay wreck inventory or USACE content archives may also be fruitful.

Keywords / Categories / Glossary: Region: Lake Michigan; Vessel type: steam screw Tug; Cause of loss: foundering in storm; Material: wood; Period: 1916; Dive difficulty: unknown; Hazards: deep water, debris field; Use: fishing / fruit cargo.