The SS ''Joys'' was a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

that sank in

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

off the coast of

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin Sturgeon Bay is a city in Door County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 9,646 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the bay of Sturgeon Bay for which it is named, it is the most populous city o ...

, United States. In 2007, the shipwreck site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

The ''Joys'' was built in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

in 1884. She would go on to haul cargo through the

Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal is a ship canal connecting Sturgeon Bay with Lake Michigan across the Door Peninsula in Door County, Wisconsin, Door County, Wisconsin. A dredged channel continues through Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay (Lake Michigan), G ...

from

Menominee, Michigan Menominee ( ) is a city and the county seat of Menominee County, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula. The population was 8,488 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Menominee County, Mi ...

to the ports of Milwaukee,

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Manistee, Michigan Manistee ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in southwestern Manistee County, it is part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula. Manistee is the county seat of Manistee County, and its population was 6,259 at the 2020 census. ...

and

Michigan City, Indiana Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 32,075 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Lake Michigan in the Michiana region, the city is about east of Chicago and is west o ...

. On December 23, 1898, the ''Joys'' was at anchor in the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. At about 1:00 a.m., the captain saw flames from the wheelhouse and sounded the alarm. The crew was able to escape, but in the ensuing chaos the ship was carried in the current toward the canal office and government warehouse. Eventually, efforts from those on land were successful in towing the vessel away from land, where it then burned to the waterline and sank.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joys 1884 ships Ships built in Milwaukee Maritime incidents in 1898 Ships sunk with no fatalities Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Door County, Wisconsin Steam barges