SS Badger
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| History | |
|---|---|
| USA | |
| Name: | SS Badger |
| Namesake: | University of Wisconsin |
| Owner: | Lake Michigan Carferry Service |
| Route: |
 US 10, Ludington, Michigan–Manitowoc, Wisconsin
|
| Builder: | Christy Corporation, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin |
| Yard number: | Hull No. 370 |
| Launched: | September 6, 1952 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Walter J. Kohler (wife of Governor of Wisconsin) |
| In service: | March 21, 1953 |
| Homeport: | Ludington, MI |
| Identification: |
|
| Nickname(s): | "The Big Badger" (Charles F. Conrad's favorite description) |
| Status: | Active |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Passenger and automobile car ferry |
| Tonnage: | 4,244 gross tons |
| Length: | 410 ft 6 in (125.12 m) |
| Beam: | 59 ft 6 in (18.14 m) |
| Depth: | 24 ft (7.32 m) molded depth |
| Installed power: | Steam, coal-fired |
| Propulsion: | Two four-cylinder compound Skinner Unaflow steam engines, totaling 7,000 shp (5.22 MW); four Foster-Wheeler water-tube type D boilers, 470 psi (3.24 MPa) |
| Speed: |
|
| Capacity: | 620 passengers, 180 automobiles, also tour buses, RVs, motorcycles, and commercial trucks |
| Crew: | 50–60 |
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SS Badger
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| Location | 700 S. Williams Street, Ludington, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 43°56′57″N 86°27′04″W / 43.94917°N 86.45111°W |
| NRHP Reference # | 09000679 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 11, 2009 |
| Designated NHL | January 20, 2016 |
| Designated MSHS | March 6, 1997 |
SS Badger is a passenger and vehicle ferry in the United States that has been in service on Lake Michigan since 1953. Currently, the ship shuttles between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, connecting U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) between those two cities. It is the last coal-fired passenger vessel operating on the Great Lakes, and was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 2016.
The ship is named after the University of Wisconsin's athletic teams, the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badger runs on Michigan time (Eastern Time Zone, whereas Wisconsin is in the Central Time Zone) and riders pay Michigan taxes on their fares. It runs on a seasonal basis from May to October.
The Badger was constructed as a rail car ferry in 1952 by the Christy Corporation of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, along with its twin SS Spartan (named after the mascot of Michigan State University) with a reinforced hull for ice-breaking. It was originally used to carry railroad cars, passengers and automobiles between the two sides of the lake all year long. Today, the ferry connects the eastern and western segments of US 10 in the two cities from May to October.
Launched September 6, 1952, SS Badger entered service March 21, 1953, for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (from 1973 a subsidiary of the Chessie System). The C&O had acquired the rail car ferry operations in Ludington with its acquisition of the Pere Marquette Railway in 1947. After 1972, service was gradually curtailed; all but the three newest vessels were retired, and sailings to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, were discontinued, leaving only the route between Ludington and Kewaunee, Wisconsin. On July 1, 1983, the Chessie System ended its car ferry service when it sold the steamers Badger, Spartan, and City of Midland 41 to Glen F. Bowden of Ludington. He organized the Michigan–Wisconsin Transportation Company (MWT) to continue the operation.
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Wikipedia