AH-WR-1770

E.M.B.A.

Schooner-Barge · United States · Lost 1932 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

A wooden schooner-barge converted to self-unloading coal transport was scuttled off Milwaukee in 1932.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

E.M.B.A. was launched as A.C. Tuxbury at West Bay City, Michigan, in 1890 as a three-masted schooner-barge. She carried coal, lumber and grain as a consort of W.H. Sawyer and returned to service after an 1893 sinking. Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company acquired her in 1923, renamed her and converted her to self-unloading coal transport. After retirement and partial stripping, she was scuttled off Milwaukee on December 15, 1932. The upright hull and much of its unloading machinery remain in 170 feet of water.

Vessel

Built: 1890
Registry: US registry no. 106706
Builder: Frank W. Wheeler Company
Yard: West Bay City, Michigan
Material: Wood
Length: 181 ft
Beam: 34.6 ft
Tonnage: 679.51 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail as built; subsequently operated as a towed self-unloading barge
Owners: W.H. Sawyer and A.C. Tuxbury; Edward Hines; Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company

Loss

Date: December 15, 1932
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Five miles east of Milwaukee’s North Point, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 136 feet at the top of the unloading tower; 170 feet at the bottom
Condition: Mostly intact wooden hull with impact damage and collapsed bow; substantial self-unloading machinery and a vertical steam pump survive.
Orientation: Upright
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Position

Coordinates: 43.07° N 87.75° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Institutional inventory position N 43°03.907′, W 087°44.950′ converted faithfully; not independently verified as an exact survey fix.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Well documented (93/100)

Final-scuttling crew and casualty totals are not established. Coordinates reproduce the institutional inventory and are not independently verified; whole-hull artwork is interpretive.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
1890 build and March 18 launch, former identity, registry, dimensions, wood schooner-barge origin, 1923 conversion, retirement and December 15, 1932 completed scuttling; upright 170-foot site, tower at 136 feet, bow damage and surviving gear, inventory coordinates and National Register listing. Earlier recoverable casualties distinguished.