Motor Vessel
Prins Willem V
 

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Prins Willem V,
Launched 1940 & 1948 - Hardinxveld, Netherlands
Lost: Thursday October 14th, 1954
Collision off Milwaukee WI, no lives lost
Depth: 48 to 90 feet
Other names   :  none

Official no.     :
Netherlands PGWF

Type at loss    :  propeller motor vessel, steel, package freight

Build info       :  1940, N.V. Scheepswerf en Machinefabreik,
Rotterdam, Neth.*

Specs               :  258 ft.,  1567 t.
Date of loss    :  1954, Oct 14
Place of loss   :  3.75 mi E of Milwaukee Harbor mouth

Lake
                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  collision
Loss of life      :  none
Carrying         :  T.V.'s, gen frt
Detail              : She collided with the towed barge SINCLAIR XII, in tow of the tug SINCLAIR HOUSTON (or SINCLAIR CHICAGO), and sank with a 20x8 foot hole in her side. Her crew of 30 were rescued by the Coast Guard cutter HOLLYHOCK.

The wreck is one of the most frequently visited on
Lake Michigan
She was scuttled while building to prevent capture by Nazis, refloated and completed in 1948-9.
Official U.S. Coast Guard Report
Sources            :   sg2,glp,sol,is,lmdc,mpl,eas

The Prins Willem (Willie), is a very popular wreck in lake Michigan.  This is the second time the vessel sank.  The Willie was originally started in 1939 in the Netherlands and she was almost completed when World War II started.  What was completed of the Willie was purposely sunk on May 10th, 1940 in the river at Rotterdam to block the waterways use by the invading Germans.  In 1945, after the war ended, the Willie was refloated, cleaned and completed.  She finally enter service in January 1949 for the owners, Oranje Line.




Photos by Rob Polich, Steven Kovich

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