NOAA’s Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary

Posted to Facebook on January 29  · 

Hello everyone! It’s Wednesday and that means we welcome back to another #WreckWednesday! Today we are featuring the sidewheel steamer SHEBOYGAN!

SHEBOYGAN was built in Manitowoc, at the Greenleaf S. Rand Shipyard, in 1869 as a sidewheel passenger and packet freight steamer for the Goodrich Transportation Company (one year later, in 1870, the Greenleaf S. Rand Shipyard was consolidated with the H. Burger Shipyard, forming the well-known Manitowoc shipyard, Rand & Burger).

At the time of its build, it was considered to be one of the most elegant sidewheel steamers of the era. The vessel spent much of its career carrying passengers and freight to and from various ports along Wisconsin’s western shoreline, and for many years, it was towed by the Goodrich tug ARCTIC.

Over its long, and active career, SHEBOYGAN had many incidents, including multiple groundings and collisions on its various routes, including colliding with and sinking the tug PRESTON BREARLY just outside Chicago Harbor in October 1869