Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan

Southport Video, producers of fifteen documentaries on notable shipwrecks, including the critically acclaimed Loss of the Linda E, has just released Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan (1912-1958), a one-hour program detailing the stories of eight prominent Lake Michigan shipwrecks:

• Rouse Simmons, otherwise known as "The Christmas Tree Ship," a wooden, three-masted schooner that was lost in a storm on November 12, 1912. The ship was loaded with Christmas trees, which it was to deliver for sale in Chicago. All hands on board were lost.
   
• Eastland, a beautiful passenger liner, which rolled over and sank in the Chicago River in 1915, while taking on passengers for an all-day excursion, at a loss of 835 lives. This accident remains the worst disaster, in terms of lives lost, in Great Lakes history. 
   
• Lakeland, a 280-foot vessel which sank on December 3, 1924, is one of the more controversial shipwreck stories in Great Lakes maritime history. Time has shown that this ship was "scuttled," probably for insurance money.
   
• Milwaukee, a sturdy 318-foot car ferry, which departed from Milwaukee in the midst of a fierce storm on October 22, 1929, quickly sinking at the cost of 46-52 lives.
   
• Wisconsin, another large bulk carrier, which, one week to the day after the loss of the Milwaukee, was dismantled on the lake during a storm, at a loss of 16 crew members. Only heroic rescue efforts prevented this from becoming an even greater disaster.
   
• Senator, the third ship to sink in the period of nasty storms at the end of October 1929, this one the victim of a collision with another ship in thick fog. The Senator sank with a cargo of automobiles, which are still on board today.
   
• Prince Wilhelm V, a 258-foot freighter, which also collided with another vessel in the fog, sinking on October 14, 1954.
   
• Carl D. Bradley, perhaps the best-known of Lake Michigan shipwrecks, which split in two on the surface and sank during a fierce storm on November 17, 1958. At 640 foot, the Bradley was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, and its final voyage has all the drama of a theatrical motion picture, complete with a harrowing tale of survivors on Lake Michigan's frigid waters.

As always, the ships' stories are recalled by Great Lakes maritime authorities, and illustrated with rare photographs, paintings, and newspaper headlines. Stunning underwater footage takes the viewer to the ships' final resting places, where viewers see the remains of these once proud vessels.

"Lake Michigan has been the site of thousands of shipwrecks, from small pleasure boats to huge ore carriers," says Mark C. Gumbinger, producer of the Southport Video series. "We thought it would be great to put together an overview — something that would show the scope of these historic shipwrecks."

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