Wisconsin (Steamer)

The Wisconsin was a 99-metre steel passenger and package freight steamer built in 1881 in Detroit. On 21 October 1929, while running from Chicago to Milwaukee in a heavy gale, she took on water through hull seams that had been weakened by years of ice; despite a rescue effort by the Coast Guard, she sank with the loss of nine of the 75 people aboard. She rests upright on a flat clay bottom at 40 metres about three nautical miles off Kenosha, Wisconsin, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The deck and bulwarks are intact at around 35 metres, with the wheelhouse, smokestack base and the steam engine still recognisable. The cold fresh water has preserved the iron and steel well. Visibility ranges from 6 to 15 metres depending on lake conditions, and water temperature stays near 4 C at depth. Dry suit, advanced or technical certification and good gas planning are essential.