- Rig
- Schooner
- Dates
- to 1886-11-18
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- maritimeshippingshipwrecksheritage
- Media
- Beaver Island History Map, 1978 revision
Summary
The Milwaukee Belle is the named vessel in a September 1968 report about repeated salvage attempts off Iron Ore Bay at Beaver Island’s southern tip. The account says the wreck remained in place while salvage equipment was lost or stranded.
A compiled vessel-loss record identifies a 133-foot, two-masted schooner of this name, official number 16642, dismasted and lost off Brevort with lumber on 18 November 1886. That account is not the underlying enrollment or casualty report, but it conflicts with the 1978 History Map’s story that the vessel ran aground at Beaver Island and six Roddy brothers tried for two winters to float it. Helen Collar’s notes preserve still other versions: fire and sinking off the Head Light, Andrew Roddy’s part ownership, and an explicit statement that the Roddys never sailed or used it.
Evidence and limits
No primary enrollment, customs record, casualty report, or contemporary
newspaper has yet reconciled these accounts. The schooner rig and 1886 loss
date follow the compiled maritime record at probable confidence; the cause,
place, cargo, Roddy role, and relationship between the Brevort loss and later
Iron Ore Bay salvage target remain contested. The map’s six-brother and
two-winter details are not promoted to fact.
Open questions
- When and how did the Milwaukee Belle sink?
- What registry, dimensions, owner, and service history identify the vessel?
- Where exactly is the wreck relative to Iron Ore Bay?
See also
Sources
- Names the Milwaukee Belle as sunk off Iron Ore Bay and says the wreck remained in place during about three years of salvage attempts; the report supplies no vessel type, casualty date, registry, or exact position.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1968-09_Beaver-Beacon
- The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1968-09_Beaver-Beacon
- Compiled record identifies official number 16642 as a 133-foot, two-masted schooner dismasted and lost off Brevort on 18 November 1886 with a lumber cargo. This is a research compilation rather than the underlying enrollment or casualty report, but it conflicts directly with the History Map narrative.
- Preserves conflicting local testimony: one note says Andrew Roddy part-owned the vessel, brought it toward Beaver Island, and that it caught fire and sank off the Head Light; another says the Roddys never used or sailed it. These are informant notes, not a primary casualty record.web · collar_subject_cards_q-z
- Described in this archive: Beaver Island History Map, 1978 revision.Says the vessel ran aground in 1886 and that six Roddy brothers spent two winters unsuccessfully trying to float her. Both the compiled vessel record and Collar's variant traditions conflict with this story.
Added 1 August 2026 · revised 7 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Milwaukee Belle”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/vessels/milwaukee-belle/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, September 1968, “Shipwreck Salvage.” (and 4 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-07. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.