AH-WR-1959

Lac La Belle

Steam Screw · Lost 1872 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

The grain steamer Lac La Belle foundered off Racine in an October gale in 1872 after a heavy sea put out her boiler fires.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built in 1864, the wooden propeller Lac La Belle left Milwaukee one October night in 1872 bound for Grand Haven with grain and 53 crew and passengers. Some 25 miles off Racine she began leaking, and around midnight, in a gale from the north, a heavy sea flooded her and put out her boiler fires, leaving her helpless. By early morning everyone who would go took to the lifeboats and landed south of Racine. Some accounts say eight passengers refused the boats and went down with the ship.

Vessel

Built: 1864
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam (screw)
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 14, 1872
Cause: Storm
Location: About 20 miles off Racine, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Milwaukee, Wisconsin → Grand Haven, Michigan
Cargo: Grain
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Accounts conflict: the lifeboats all reached shore, but eight passengers are claimed to have stayed aboard and gone down with her.
Master: Not established