The Wreck of the Francis Hinton

November 16, 1909-Life saving crew going out to the wreck of the Francis Hinton off Two Rivers. MCHS Image Id: 2009.32.60

We are just three weeks past the 110th anniversary of the Francis Hinton’s sinking in Lake Michigan. The Francis Hinton, a 115-foot long wooden steam-powered vessel which sank in November 1909, was carrying a large load of lumber when it went down in a gale between Manitowoc and Two Rivers. It went undiscovered for over 75 years until it was discovered by local divers in 1987. 

Randy Wallander and Dan Hildebrand discovered the wreck of the Francis Hinton off the coast of Manitowoc after searching for it for years. The duo had dived many known shipwrecks for years leading up to their discovery of the Hinton in 1987, which was the first unlocated shipwreck the duo themselves had discovered. After many years of research and combing the bottom of the lake between Manitowoc and Two Rivers, the duo finally succeeded in finding the wreck of the Francis Hinton. In a December 1987 article in the Herald Times Reporter the duo talked about what it was like finding the wreck. “To be the first one on it (the sunken ship) after 78 years is something. You can’t match that feeling”, diver Dan Hildebrand said. The duo was very pleased that their years of researching and diving had paid off.

At the time of the sinking the Hinton was on its way to Chicago from Manistique with a load of lumber. The ship attempted to reach the Two Rivers Harbor but had little success as the ship began to take on more water, so the crew decided to drop anchor. The lifesaving crew in Two Rivers saw that the ship needed help and made an attempt to rescue but ultimately had to turn around due to unsafe seas. With that the captain of the Francis Hinton decided it was time to abandon ship, so he and his eleven crew members deployed the yawl, a ship’s small boat, and made it to shore safely.

The Francis Hinton was built in Manitowoc in 1889 by Hansen and Scove, so it is somewhat fitting that it now lies only a little way from the place it was built 110 years earlier. At the time of the sinking in 1909, the Hinton was valued at a total of $23,000. The Hinton itself was worth $8,000 and the lumber it was carrying was worth a total of $15,000.

The ship lies currently in 15 plus feet of water off the coast of the Mariners Trail, about a quarter mile off the end of Reed Avenue. The Hinton lies somewhat broken and scattered about on the bottom of Lake Michigan. Due to a lot of wave and ice action in combination with the shallowness of the wreck, it has received a considerable amount of damage. The site is marked by a buoy by the State Historical Society, which alerts kayakers and boaters it is there.