page_title: SS Milwaukee
section_title: Sinking
hierarchical_section_title: SS Milwaukee / Sinking
caption_attribution_description: The lifeboat from the shipwrecked SS Milwaukee train ferry, on display at the Port Washington (Wisconsin) Light Station. It was found with four dead occupants in lower Michigan.
context_page_description: SS Milwaukee was a train ferry that served on Lake Michigan. It was launched in 1902 and sank with all hands off Milwaukee on October 22, 1929. Fifty-two men were lost with the vessel.
context_section_description: Around 2:00 pm on October 22, 1929, the Milwaukee sailed off on Lake Michigan into a storm bound for Grand Haven, and was lost.   The Milwaukee had been loaded earlier that day with 27 railcars, with freight including lumber, perishable foods, bathtubs and Nash automobiles.  The Milwaukee was last seen passing by U.S. Lightship 95 (LV-95/WAL-519), a ship anchored three miles offshore, serving as a lighthouse.  The Milwaukee was reported to be pitching and rolling heavily as it disappeared into the rainy mist.  The ship did not have radio equipment. It was considered routine for the Milwaukee to challenge the storm.  Some of the 27 railroad cars in the ship's hold came loose in the 37 mph (32 kn; 60 km/h) gale and crashed through the sea gate, allowing water to come in over the stern and sink the ship.  The captain, Robert H. McKay, apparently turned back for Milwaukee, but never made it.
  On October 24, aircraft searched Lake Michigan, but found nothing.
  Some of the lifeboats were launched by the crew, and the bodies of two crew members wearing SS Milwaukee lifejackets were picked up two days later by the steamer, SS Steel Chemist, off Kenosha, Wisconsin, and two more, including the body of Captain McKay, were found by the coast guard at Kenosha later that day. A lifeboat containing four dead crew members was found on 26 October floating near Holland, Michigan, on the other side of the lake. That lifeboat is now located at the 1860 Light Station and Museum in Port Washington, Wisconsin and is on display as permanent museum exhibit.
  On October 27, an empty lifeboat was found floating near Grand Haven, Michigan. On further investigation, it was found that the ship's message case was floating nearby with an apparent final message: Oct. 22, 1929. 8:30 pm. The ship is making water fast. We have turned around and headed for Milwaukee. Pumps are working, but sea gate is bent in and can't keep the water out. Flicker is flooded. Seas are tremendous. Things look bad. Crew roll is about the same as last payday. A.R. Sadon, Purser.
  Another note, found in a bottle, read:  This is the worst storm I have ever seen.  Can't stay up much longer.  Hole in side of boat.
  All 52 people on board were lost, while 15 bodies were recovered.  The watch on one of those crew members was stopped at 9:35.    As the years passed, interest in the circumstances around the loss of the ship was occasionally rekindled.  For example, the story was retold by marine historian Dwight Boyer in his Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes in 1968.
caption: Lifeboat found near Holland, Michigan with four dead occupants
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