Shotline Diving Wreck Profile
- Name: Ida H. Lee
- Type: Wooden screw tug (towboat)
- Year Built: 1863
- Builder: Hingston Brothers, Buffalo, New York
- Dimensions: Approximately 45 ft (13.72 m) long × 10 ft beam × 5 ft draft; approx. 24 gross tons
- Registered Tonnage: 24 gross tons
- Depth at Wreck Site: 18 m / 60 ft
- Location: Milwaukee harbour breakwater
- Official Number: 100058
- Original Owners: W. D. Lee
- Number of Masts: Single deck
Wreck Location Map
Vessel Type
A small steam-powered wooden tugboat, used for towing barges and schooners around harbor environments, typical of mid-19th century industrial port operations.
Description
Built with a single deck and compact hull, the Ida H. Lee was designed for harbour towage. Her wooden structure supported a simple steam engine driving a single propeller.
History
- 1863: Enrolled at Buffalo under the ownership of W. D. Lee (wisconsinshipwrecks.org)
- 1866: Re-enrolled in Chicago
- 1867: Rebuilt at Sheboygan under Captain Nels Theodore Nelson
- 1869: Suffered a fire at Sturgeon Bay (this likely refers to another small tug)
Her final operation on 23 April 1874 involved towing the lumber-laden schooner Ida. The tugs and tow collided—Ida H. Lee tangled in her own towline and was rammed by the Ida—causing her to capsize and sink rapidly. Captain Daly and deckhand James Dixon escaped, but engineer James Slocum remained trapped below and drowned (wisconsinshipwrecks.org, greatlakesrex.wordpress.com).
Significant Incidents
- 23 April 1874: Capsized and sank while towing the schooner Ida, resulting in one fatality.
Final Disposition
The vessel sank upright in Milwaukee harbour after capsizing. No salvage of the hull is recorded.
Current Condition & Accessibility
Not located as a wreck site. It sank in deep harbor waters; no modern dive or archaeological records document its remains.
Resources & Links
[shotline_reference_links slug=”ida-h-lee-us-100058″ title=”References & Links”]
The Ida H. Lee, a 45-foot steam tug built in Buffalo in 1863, was lost in a tragic accident at Milwaukee harbour on April 23, 1874. While towing the schooner Ida, an entanglement set off a collision that overturned the tug. Two men survived, but the engineer’s entrapment led to a single fatality. The incident exemplifies the dangers of towline entanglement and proximity operations in confined waterways. No known wreck remains have been documented.
Legacy Notes & Full Historical Record
This section preserves the original unedited Shotline content for this wreck so that no historical detail is lost as we transition to the new logbook format.
Shotline Diving Wreck Profile
- Name: Ida H. Lee
- Year Built: 1863
- Official Number: 100058
- Built at: Buffalo, New York by the Hingston Brothers
- Type: Wooden screw tug (towboat) with single deck
- Hull Materials: Wood
- Dimensions: Approximately 45 ft long × 10 ft beam × 5 ft draft; approx. 24 gross tons
- Propulsion: Single-screw; steam propulsion details not recorded
- Final Location: Milwaukee harbour breakwater, Lake Michigan — capsized and sank in about 60 ft (18 m) of water
- Date of Loss: 23 April 1874
- Casualties: One fatality (engineer trapped below deck)
Vessel Type
A small steam-powered wooden tugboat, used for towing barges and schooners around harbor environments, typical of mid-19th century industrial port operations.
Description
Built with a single deck and compact hull, the Ida H. Lee was designed for harbour towage. Her wooden structure supported a simple steam engine driving a single propeller.
History
- 1863: Enrolled at Buffalo under the ownership of W. D. Lee (wisconsinshipwrecks.org)
- 1866: Re-enrolled in Chicago
- 1867: Rebuilt at Sheboygan under Captain Nels Theodore Nelson
- 1869: Suffered a fire at Sturgeon Bay (this likely refers to another small tug)
Her final operation on 23 April 1874 involved towing the lumber-laden schooner Ida. The tugs and tow collided—Ida H. Lee tangled in her own towline and was rammed by the Ida—causing her to capsize and sink rapidly. Captain Daly and deckhand James Dixon escaped, but engineer James Slocum remained trapped below and drowned (wisconsinshipwrecks.org, greatlakesrex.wordpress.com).
Final Disposition
The vessel sank upright in Milwaukee harbour after capsizing. No salvage of the hull is recorded.
Located By & Date Foun
Not located as a wreck site. It sank in deep harbor waters; no modern dive or archaeological records document its remains.
Notmars & Advisories
None noted. The sinking occurred within port limits and posed no long-term navigation hazard.
Resources & Lin
- Wisconsin Shipwrecks – Ida H. Lee: Detailed description of the capsizing and casualty (greatlakesrex.wordpress.com)
- Linkstothepast.com – Milwaukee Marine Disasters: Brief record of collision and cause (linkstothepast.com)
Conclusion
The Ida H. Lee, a 45-foot steam tug built in Buffalo in 1863, was lost in a tragic accident at Milwaukee harbour on April 23, 1874. While towing the schooner Ida, an entanglement set off a collision that overturned the tug. Two men survived, but the engineer’s entrapment led to a single fatality. The incident exemplifies the dangers of towline entanglement and proximity operations in confined waterways. No known wreck remains have been documented.
Keywords, Categories, Glossary Terms
Ida H. Lee, steam tug, wooden towboat, capsized, Milwaukee harbor, 1874 collision, tug towing schooner, engineer fatality, mid-19th-century harbor vessel