Dan’s Lake Michigan Adventure

This last weekend I was able to cross off one of my bucket list dives. It was to dive some of the wrecks in the Great Lakes. Due to the weather Rob & I were only able to dive one day on one wreck in Lake Michigan for two dives.The Milwaukee Car Ferry is a 325 foot rail car ferry that sank off of Whitefish Bay on Oct. 22, ’29. Gale force winds rocked the ship, causing the railroad cars she was carrying to leave their tracks and roll into the seagate. The seagate was bent, which allowed water to enter the vessel & sink her. All 52 crew members lost their lives in the accident. The Milwaukee is the second largest ship ever lost on Lake Michigan. The railroad cars she was carrying are still aboard, a small hole cut by diver’s permits penetration of her engine room.
The ship sits upright in about 120’ of water & is covered in Quagga mussels. The top deck of the ship has collapsed in some areas there is a rail car crushed under the stern of the ship & the wheel house sits about 75 feet away upright. You can see some of the rail cars and the tracks on the deck inside the hull. The day of our dive the water temperature was 42 & outside temperature was a high of 50 with some slight wind. Drysuits were just perfect for the weather.