SS Badger
Encyclopedia : S : SS : SSB : SS Badger
| Length | 410 feet, 6 inches |
| Width | 59 feet, 6 inches |
| Height | 106 feet, 9 inches (7 stories) |
| Weight | 4,244 gross tons |
| Staterooms | 40 |
| Propellers | Two cast steel, 4-blade propellers, 15' in diameter and weighing 15,400 pounds each |
| Anchors | Two Stockless anchors weighing 7,000 pounds each |
| Engines | Two Skinner Unaflow four-cylinder steam engines with 3,500 horsepower at 100 RPM (total 7,000 horsepower) |
| Boilers | Four Foster-Wheeler type D coal-burning |
| Average speed | 18 miles per hour |
| Number of crew members on each trip | 50-60 |
| Current Carrying Capacity | 620 passengers, 180 automobiles, tour buses, RVs, motorcycles, and commercial trucks |
| Number of crossings per season | 492 |
History
Built by Christy Corporation of Sturgeon Bay, WI for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1952 at a cost of USD$5 million, the 410' S.S. Badger entered service in 1953, built primarily to transport railroad freight cars, but with superior passenger accommodations. By the 1970s, changing railroad economics were condemning other car ferries to mothballs or the scrap yard. With little railroad freight business left, and without ever tapping into the opportunity to serve the needs of the vacation traveler, the Badger sailed from Wisconsin to Ludington and tied up for the last time in November 1990 - signaling the end of an era.In 1991, entrepreneur Charles Conrad committed his own financial resources to reinvent the S.S. Badger to carry leisure passengers and their vehicles. Still called the Manitowoc car ferry, the name changed meanings from railroad cars to passenger cars.
The S.S. Badger now sails daily between Manitowoc, Wisconsin and Ludington, Michigan from mid-May through mid-October, and twice daily June through August.
External links
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