The SS City of Milwaukee is a Great Lakes railroad car ferry that once plied Lake Michigan, often between Muskegon, Michigan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was built in 1931 for the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company and is the only pre-1940s ship of this type to survive. She now serves as a museum ship, bed and breakfast, and event venue on the waterfront of Manistee Lake in Manistee, Michigan. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990.
Video SS City of Milwaukee
Description
The City of Milwaukee is a steel-hulled ship with a carrying capacity of 22 modern railroad freight cars. It was powered by four steam boilers producing 185 pounds of pressure, driving twin screws with 185 horsepower. She has a relatively shallow draft, determined in part because ships carrying railroad vehicles needed to have a flat deck. The hull is divided into eight compartments, with the boiler room and engines in the first two holds, followed by a hold with some crew cabins. Rear hold areas contain space for ballast water and steering mechanisms. The car deck is mostly covered an sheltered on the sides by the hull. There are four pairs of rails, with extra rails outside each pair to which the cars being carried were anchored by chains. The main crew quarters, including dining area and cooking galley, is located in an aft area. It retains original woodwork, brass, and other features.
The ship was built in 1930 and launched in 1931 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to replace SS Milwaukee, which sank with all hands on October 22, 1929 during a gale. Car ferry service had been introduced to the Great Lakes in 1892, and there was many as 14 vessels operating on the lakes at the system's peak. These specialized vessels were capable of carrying up to 24 railroad cars across the often stormy and ice-packed lakes at any time of year. City of Milwaukee sailed for the Grand Trunk until 1978 when, as the last of their fleet of three to be sailing, she was chartered to the Ann Arbor Railroad. She sailed for this road until 1982, when she was retired permanently. She is currently preserved in Manistee, Michigan as a National Historic Landmark museum. In addition to being a museum to tour, she is also operated seasonally as a bed and breakfast. She is the last unmodified traditional railroad car ferry afloat upon the lakes, still with her triple expansion steam engine, original woodwork and brass fixtures.
Maps SS City of Milwaukee
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Manistee County, Michigan
References
External links
- S.S. City of Milwaukee web site
- HNSA Ship Page: S.S. City of Milwaukee
Source of article : Wikipedia
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