Welcome to the Lake Superior Maritime Collection at the University of Wisconsin-Superior! Use this index to search the collection for ship files and subject files. This is only an index. This index will tell you if we have a file on a particular vessel or topic, but it does not contain information about the vessel or topic itself.

Types of Files in the Index

This index currently includes three types of files: Ship Files, Port Files, and General Subject Files.

Ship Files

The LSMC contains files on almost 7,000 Great Lakes vessels. These files may include photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, historic boat documents, accident reports, engineering drawings, and more. Use this index to find out if we have a file on a particular vessel.

Remember, ships have many lives. Often they are given a name or a vessel number at the time they are built, but that name does not necessarily follow them for their entire life. To use this index effectively, researchers must be able to cross reference these changing ship names over time. For instance, in order to research the shipwreck of the Mataafa, you need to know she was originally named the Pennsylvania and built in 1899. The date of build is necessary, as more than one vessel may bear the same name.

Port Files

Many of the subject files in the LSMC are arranged by Port, and then by category and sub-category. For example, a researcher who wishes to find materials on Elevator A in Duluth would want to look at the file entitled Lake Superior -- Duluth-Superior -- Elevators -- Elevator "A". Use this index to search for keywords such as locations, shipyards, organizations, and companies to find out if the LSMC has a file on the topic you wish to research.

General Subject Files

The LSMC contains many general subject files related to industry and other activities on the Great Lakes. Subject files include: products that are important to Great Lakes industry, fleets of vessels, environmental issues, general Great Lakes history, shipwrecks, and many other subjects. Use our searchable index to determine if we have a file on a particular topic.

If you have trouble searching the index, or don't find what you are looking for, please contact the archivist.