SS ''Milwaukee Clipper'', also known as SS ''Clipper'' , and formerly as SS ''Juniata'', is a retired passenger ship and automobile ferry that sailed under two configurations and traveled on all of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

except

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

. The vessel is now docked in

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...

''Juniata''

The ''Milwaukee Clipper'' was launched on December 22, 1904, in Cleveland, Ohio, at the shipyards of the

American Shipbuilding Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the World War II, Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio in 1898. It changed ...

. Christened ''Juniata'' when she was launched, she was built for the Anchor Line, the Great Lakes marine division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Her sister ships are the SS ''Tionesta'' of 1902 and SS ''Octorara'' of 1910. The ship is in length, in beam, a depth of , with a gross tonnage of 4333 tons. She carried 350 passengers in staterooms at 18 knots. As originally built, she had a riveted steel hull and a wooden superstructure. For the Pennsylvania Railroad, she carried passengers and freight between

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

and

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

until 1915. That year, the anti-

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

Panama Canal Act, which forbade railroads from owning steamships, went into effect. Forced to divest from its marine divisions, the Pennsylvania Railroad sold its Anchor Line along with four other railroad-owned company fleets, to the newly formed Great Lakes Transit Corporation. Under this flag, she carried passengers along her old routes for another 20 seasons. For the duration of the 1933 season, ''Juniata'' carried passengers to and from Chicago for the Chicago World's Fair. ''Juniata'' was laid up in 1936 due to poor economic conditions as well as new regulations on wooden passenger ships following the ''Morro Castle'' disaster.

''Milwaukee Clipper''

''Juniata'' was moored in Buffalo until being sold in 1940 to

Wisconsin & Michigan Steamship Company Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...

, a subsidiary of the McKee family-owned Sand Products Corporation of Detroit, MI. She was rebuilt and used as a passenger ship on Lake Michigan. ''Juniata'' was extensively modernized at the yard of the

Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, located in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, was a major shipbuilder for the Great Lakes. It was founded in 1902, and made mainly steel ferries and ore haulers. During World War II, it built submarines, tank landing craft ( ...

. Her boilers were converted to burn fuel oil instead of coal, and the old cabins and wooden superstructure were removed and replaced with steel to meet the new maritime fire safety standards created after the SS ''Morro Castle'' fire off

Asbury Park Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1934. The streamlined forward stack is false and does not ventilate engine exhaust. It is a signature of naval architect George Sharp, whose ideas regarding fireproof ships were first incorporated into ''Juniata''. This stack became standard on many new ships that were to come. Sharp is credited with three historic vessels, ''Milwaukee Clipper'', SS ''Lane Victory'', and NS ''Savannah''. The modernized ship now featured air conditioned staterooms, a children's playroom, a movie theater, a dance floor with a live band, a soda fountain, bar, cafeteria, lounges and sports deck, and capacity to carry 120 automobiles. She was christened ''Milwaukee Clipper'' on June 2, 1941, by Patricia McKee, daughter of Max B. McKee, principal of Sand Products Corporation, owner of the vessel. She made her maiden voyage from Milwaukee to Muskegon the following day. As ''Milwaukee Clipper'', she steamed between

Muskegon Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...

and

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, as well as excursions throughout Lake Michigan visiting various other ports, for 29 seasons. She was also called the "Queen of the Great Lakes" and carried around 900 passengers and 120 automobiles in the summer. The amount of oil used varied per round trip, but was approximately . On week days she made two round trips that took 7 hours each way, using three of the four boilers. On weekends, she made three, six-hour round trips on all four boilers. The crew lists were between 105 and 109, with around 55 of them in the steward's department alone to take care of the around 900 passengers on board. The cost per person in the 1950s was $3.33 and $8.00 extra for an automobile, with an extra 75 cents charged to travel in the forward Club Lounge and to use the forward deck.Interview with Ray Hilt, Clipper Ship Historian, February 6, 2012 During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, ''Milwaukee Clipper'' transported defense materials between Muskegon and Milwaukee. The ship had contracts with auto manufacturers to carry new cars during her entire career. The passenger season was between May and September. After that she was under various limited passenger certificates which allowed her to carry a reduced number of passengers and up to 250 automobiles. By 1970, the company had plans to replace ''Milwaukee Clipper'' with the newer and larger ''Aquarama''. Negotiations regarding dredging the Milwaukee harbor for ''Aquarama'' failed and the plan did not materialize. Ironically, though 1970 was a banner year for ''Milwaukee Clipper'', she stopped running her regular route after that year.

Museum ship

In 1977, ''Milwaukee Clipper'' was purchased by Chicago interests headed by James Gillon, operating out of Navy Pier. They planned to put her on a Chicago to Milwaukee run made popular by the whaleback passenger ship SS ''Christopher Columbus''. Unfortunately, after being towed to Bay Shipbuilding for inspection, financial backing fell through and ''Milwaukee Clipper'' was seized by the U.S. Marshal. After several court cases, the vessel was returned to Gillon, being towed to Chicago in 1980 for use as a museum ship on Navy Pier. In December 1983, ''Milwaukee Clipper'' was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, and in May 1989 the ship was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. and
Today, both plaques are on board the ship. The next year (1990), she was sold to Hammond, Indiana where she served as the centerpiece for their large new marina. After ''Milwaukee Clipper'' was replaced by a new casino ship, she was towed to South Chicago and laid up on the Calumet River. She was sold on December 2, 1997 for use as a museum in

, her old home port. ''Milwaukee Clipper'' is currently docked in Muskegon, Michigan at the old Grand Trunk Ferry dock, undergoing restoration by volunteers of the SS Milwaukee Clipper Preservation, Inc. organization. In the summer season, visitors tour the pilothouse, some staterooms, crew quarters, dance floor, soda bowl, movie theater and more. A large collection of the original Art Deco furniture remains on board. Warren McArthur was the designer and builder of the ship furniture. The frames were all

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

. He designed furniture for buildings, such as theaters, and there were no two that were alike. A piece of ''Milwaukee Clipper'' furniture off the ship is readily identifiable. There are also displays of memorabilia from both ''Juniata'' and ''Milwaukee Clipper'', which include memory books, photographs, brochures, dishes and other items of interest. The ''Clipper'' retains the last American Quadruple Expansion Steam Engine.

Media and legacy

A 45-minute documentary
''The Milwaukee Clipper: A Legend Saved''
was produced by filmmaker Mark Howell in 1997 and shown on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. The program has interviews with the key people who worked aboard the ship and includes restored 16 mm color film footage of ''Milwaukee Clipper''s christening, sailing, and other operations.

References

External links