 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | S. C. Baldwin |
| Owner | Adolph Green |
| Builder | Campbell, Owen & Company |
| Launched | 1871 |
| In service | 1871 |
| Out of service | August 27, 1908 |
| Identification | U.S. Registry #23957 |
| Fate | Sank 1908 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 418 GRT |
| Length | 160 ft (49 m) |
| Beam | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Depth | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Installed power | High pressure steam engine |
S. C. Baldwin Shipwreck (barge) | |
   | |
| Location | 2.3 miles (3.7 km) SSE ofRawley Point Light inLake Michigan |
| Nearest city | Two Rivers, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 44°11′35″N87°27′12″W / 44.193011°N 87.453247°W /44.193011; -87.453247 |
| Built | 1871 |
| Architect | Stephen R. Kirby |
| Architectural style | Steam barge |
| NRHP reference No. | 16000565[1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 22, 2016 |
SSS. C. Baldwin was a wooden-hulled steambarge built in 1871, that capsized in a storm on August 26, 1908, onLake Michigan, offTwo Rivers, Wisconsin, United States, with the loss of one life. On August 22, 2016 the remnants ofS. C. Baldwin were listed in theNational Register of Historic Places as reference number 16000565.[2]
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S. C. Baldwin (Official number 23957) was built in 1871 by Campbell, Owen & Company ofDetroit, Michigan for the Escanaba & Lake Michigan Transportation Company to carry iron ore fromEscanaba, Michigan to the ports ofChicago, Illinois andMilwaukee, Wisconsin. She was named after an officer of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad.[3] She had a length of 160 feet (49 m), herbeam was 30 feet (9.1 m) wide and hercargo hold was 11 feet (3.4 m) deep. She had agross register tonnage of 418 tons.[4] She was powered by ahigh pressure steam engine that was built by theDry Dock Engine Works, and had a cylinder with a 26-inch (660 mm) bore and a stroke measuring 32 inches (810 mm), and "double crank". At the start of her career she had a single deck.[3]
In March of 1873S. C. Baldwin had a second deck added in Chicago, Illinois, this increased her gross register tonnage to 634 tons, and is believed to have made her the first double decked steamer on the lakes.[3] On April 30, 1876 she went ashore at North Point Reef onLake Huron. On June 18, 1876S. C. Baldwin collided with the schoonerEllen Spry offKewaunee, Wisconsin. On April 28, 1877,S. C. Baldwin went ashore nearAlpena, Michigan,[5][6][7] and was repaired afterwards in Detroit, Michigan.[8] In 1879S. C. Baldwin was sold to the Inter Ocean Transportation Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In April 1882 she was sold to David Whitney Jr. of Detroit, Michigan, and her second deck was removed in order to refit her for the lumber trade. after the refit,S. C. Baldwin's gross register tonnage was reevaluated to 412.5 tons.[3] In 1884 it was reported that she was damaged nearAshland, Wisconsin. Following engine failure, and a storm nearPort Colborne, Ontario. she was rebuilt with steel arches, and her original engine was replaced with a 450-horsepower (340 kW)Steeple compound engine that had a cylinder with a 37-by-32-inch (940 mm × 810 mm) bore and a stroke measuring 21 inches (530 mm).[8][3] In September 1886S. C. Baldwin went aground inLake George in theSt. Marys River with the freighterR.J. Hackett; both of them were released by the tugMystic. In 1891 she was sold to the Whitney Transportation Company ofHamtramck, Michigan. In 1892S. C. Baldwin was sold to S.R. MacLaren ofToledo, Ohio. On November 5, 1894S. C. Baldwin collided with the steamerIron King offMarine City, Michigan, and sank in 35 feet (11 m) of water.[8]
In 1903S. C. Baldwin was traveling fromGreen Bay, Wisconsin toBuffalo, New York with a cargo of lumber when she struck an ice pack and sank inGreen Bay, about 10 miles (16 km) north of the entrance to the Fox River, near Long Tail Point. The tugsWright andNelson went to try and raiseS. C. Baldwin, but could only move her 25 feet (7.6 m). This caused her cargo of lumber to roll off her deck, and break her upper cabin structure off.[3] In April, 1904S. C. Baldwin was raised, and purchased by Adolph Green of the Green Stone Company. Despite some damage to her rudder and her keel, her hull remained mostly intact. In July, 1904 the Green Stone Company decided to convertS. C. Baldwin to a barge, and removed her machinery in the winter of 1904. In June 1905S. C. Baldwin started hauling limestone from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and other ports up Lake Michigan's west coast.[3]
On August 26, 1908S. C. Baldwin, and scowNo.37 were headed south from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin with a cargo of stone, in tow of the tugTorrent. The three vessels encountered a storm as they were passing Kewaunee, Wisconsin, and at around midnight,S. C. Baldwin began taking on water. At around 3:00 A.M., she capsized and remained unnoticed by the crew ofTorrent until sunrise.[9] When she capsized, two of her crew members jumped off, leaving a single crewman clinging to her hull. WhenTorrent's crew realized she had capsized, they cut the line connecting the vessel.S. C. Baldwin turned over again, and sank. After the remaining crewman was rescued,Torrent went to search for the missing crew members. After her crew didn't findS. C. Baldwin's crew, they sailed to Manitowoc, Wisconsin to tell the lifesaving station. after this,Torrent and some other vessels went back to retrieve scow No.37, and search for the missing men.[9] On August 28, Captain George Heim, the Captain ofS. C. Baldwin was located by theGoodrich Transportation Company vesselCaroline. A few days later, the body of Jacob Witgen, the other crewman washed ashore near Kewaunee, Wisconsin.[9]
The wreck ofS. C. Baldwin was discovered sometime in the mid-1970s by sport fishermen who reported her location to divers. Her wreck is a popular recreational dive site, as she lies in only 75 feet (23 m) of water. Her wreck sits upright, with her stempost intact. Other than her stempost, her wreck consists of her stern, her stern deck and her transom. In 2015 theWisconsin Historical Society conducted a full archeological survey of her wreck.[10]
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