Quick Facts

History & Story

Built in 1890 at the F.W. Wheeler Shipyard in West Bay City, Michigan, the wooden schooner A. C. Tuxbury (later renamed E.M.B.A.) measured 181 feet in length and was constructed for service in the Great Lakes lumber trade. At the time of her launch, she was among the larger wooden cargo schooners operating on the Lakes. Originally rigged with three masts, she was designed as a tow barge capable of carrying sail but primarily intended for operation in consort with steamers.

In 1905, following a change in ownership, the vessel was cut down from three masts to two by removing the main (middle) mast — a modification commonly referred to as a “Grand Haven rig.” This alteration reduced maintenance costs and created additional working deck space for handling cargo. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many large Great Lakes schooners operated regularly in tow, allowing greater cargo volumes to be moved efficiently as sail commerce gradually yielded to steam.

The A. C. Tuxbury was towed as a consort to the steamer W. H. Sawyer, operating alongside sister vessel C. E. Redfern. Together, the three vessels carried bulk cargoes on the Great Lakes for the W. H. Sawyer Lumber Company of Wheatfield, New York, transporting lumber, coal, and grain. On April 19, 1893, while operating near Turtle Island on Lake Erie, a strong gale drove all three vessels aground. During the incident, the A. C. Tuxbury was swamped and temporarily sank, but was later recovered and returned to service.

In October 1905, Edward Hines, president of the Edward Hines Lumber Company, became sole owner of the vessel. By this time, one mast had been removed to reduce maintenance and operating costs.

One of the most dramatic episodes in the schooner’s career occurred in November 1914. While in tow of the steamer Oscoda and accompanied by another schooner-barge, the small fleet sought shelter near St. Ignace during deteriorating weather. After departing again in shifting winds, fog and flurries reduced visibility as they entered Naubinway Bay. On November 8, 1914, the Oscoda struck Pelkie Reef.

The barges anchored nearby while the steamer remained hard aground. At daybreak, the A. C. Tuxbury came alongside to begin lightering cargo in an effort to free the Oscoda. As winds shifted and seas intensified, the vessels pounded heavily against one another. Late that afternoon, the Oscoda heeled over against the Tuxbury, losing her funnel overboard. Both crews abandoned the steamer and gathered aboard the schooner-barge.

Over the next two days, worsening conditions caused the Tuxbury to leak from repeated impacts. With no rescue forthcoming, the crew fashioned makeshift rafts from lumber cargo and launched a yawl in an attempt to reach safety. All twenty-one men ultimately escaped without loss of life. When members of the crew later reached shore, local fishermen who had recovered their floating belongings reportedly demanded $200 for their return — a small but telling detail of Great Lakes maritime life. The Oscoda was declared a total loss. The A. C. Tuxbury, though severely damaged and missing her rudder, survived.

Subsequent inspection revealed extensive structural damage, including large holes at the waterline and bottom, significant keel and framing failure, and damage to the sternpost and shoe. Despite the severity of the destruction, the schooner was rebuilt and returned to service in 1915. Later that season, she was again left adrift overnight in a Lake Superior storm after a towline parted, losing part of her deckload before being recovered.

In 1923, the schooner was sold to the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company. The vessel was converted into a self-unloading coal barge and renamed E.M.B.A., an acronym for Employees’ Mutual Benefit Association. The conversion included installation of a boom and conveyor system used to discharge coal mechanically, reflecting the growing industrial efficiency of the period. Because the vessel would operate primarily within the Milwaukee River, she was declared exempt from federal registration in 1924.

During this conversion period, the weather deck above the cargo hold was removed to improve loading efficiency and increase capacity. Without planked decking and hatch structures, coal could be loaded directly into the hold and piled above deck level, settling through the deck beams into the hoppers below as it was discharged. This modification helped offset cargo space lost to the unloading machinery and contributed to the open structural appearance visible today.

After more than four decades of operation on the Great Lakes, the barge was retired in 1932. Stripped of much of her unloading equipment, including the boom, the vessel was taken into Lake Michigan and intentionally scuttled on December 15, 1932.

Historic View

Photo Highlights

Present-Day Dive Overview

Dive Type: Technical
Depth Range: 156 to 170ft (47.5 to 51.8m)
Certification: This site is suitable for divers with training and scuba certification(s) appropriate for the planned depth and conditions.
Depths are approximate and may vary with lake level, seasonal and weather conditions.

The wreck was found by Milwaukee diver Kent Bellrichard in 1975, on the same day he found the St. Albans.

The E.M.B.A. rests upright in approximately 170 feet of water, about eight miles northeast of Milwaukee. The weather deck lies at 156 feet, and the top of the self-unloading tower rises to a depth of approximately 136 feet, placing the wreck firmly within technical diving range.

Intentionally scuttled in 1932, the hull remains largely intact. Much of the self-unloading machinery is still present, including the tower and internal hopper structure, though the unloading boom was removed prior to sinking. Amidships, the open cargo hoppers reveal numerous large rocks resting beneath the deck beams. These stones are too large to have been handled by the unloading system and were most likely added as ballast to ensure proper scuttling of the stripped hull.

Forward, the bow shows the only significant hull damage. The vessel struck the bottom bow first, breaking the upper stem and cant frames and causing the windlass deck to collapse into the forecastle area. A large steel ventilation funnel lies below deck immediately aft of the collapsed windlass. The hawsepipes remain within the bow wreckage, but the anchors are absent, having presumably been removed prior to scuttling. Within the forecastle, a vertical steam pump still rises from the vessel’s floor, mounted to starboard of the keelson — a clear reminder of the ship’s original working systems.

Aft, the stern is clean and well preserved, with the large rudder standing prominently beneath the counter stern. From certain angles, the silhouette of the self-unloading tower frames the stern, giving divers a strong sense of the vessel’s industrial profile.

Visibility at the site is often excellent — frequently 80 feet or more for much of the season — allowing divers to appreciate the vessel’s full outline and structural details. More than ninety years after her deliberate sinking, E.M.B.A. remains a remarkably complete example of an early Great Lakes self-unloader, resting much as she settled on the lakebed.

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