The tugboat John Evenson is located in Lake Michigan, near the Town of Ahnapee, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. The vessel was built in 1884, and measures 54 feet in length. John Evenson was constructed by Principal Carpenter John Evenson at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1884. The vessel was built to compete for harbor towing at Milwaukee. operated primarily at Milwaukee and Sturgeon Bay; for the last five years of its carrier was used to transport stone barges for harbor projects around Lake Michigan. John Evenson caught fire several times throughout its service but was rebuilt to the same proportions.

On 5 June 1895 John Evenson answered the signal of the steamer I. Watson Stephenson for assistance entering the Sturgeon Bay ship canal with two consort schooner barges. While picking up the I. Watson Stephenson's towline, John Evenson passed in front of the steamer's bow. The tug was rolled over and sank in a matter of minutes carrying one of the crew down with the ship. The vessel was valued at $3,500 but carried only fire insurance. Attempts to raise and salvage the vessel were short-lived and it was declared a total loss.

The John Evenson site has the potential to yield additional important archaeological data in future years. Its hull-bed is present along with major pieces of its machinery including boiler, steam engine, propeller, and rudder. Additional hull components may remain in the adjacent area and extant beneath the sand. As one of only a few examples of a harbor tug in Wisconsin waters, John Evenson provides historians and archaeologists the chance to study wooden tugboat construction.

State and federal laws protect this shipwreck. Divers may not remove artifacts or structure when visiting this site. Removing, defacing, displacing, or destroying artifacts or sites is a crime. More information on Wisconsin’s historic shipwrecks may be found by visiting Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Shipwrecks website.

Wisconsin Shipwrecks