Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Linda E. OTHER NAME(s): Le Clair Bros. OFFICIAL NO: 236906 DATE OF LOSS: 11 December 1998 REASON: uncertain - likely run down by a barge LOCATION: Lake Michigan, 7 miles SE of Port Washington, WI RIG TYPE: Fishing tug, diesel MP150, propeller HULL TYPE: Steel BUILDER: Burger Boat yards, Manitowoc, 1937 OWNER(S): Capt. Leif Weborg MASTER: Capt. Leif Weborg TONNAGE: 29 gt DIMENSIONS: 42 x 13 x 6 CASUALTIES: 3 (all) On a beautiful sunny day the tug seemed to simply drop off the face of the earth. The Smith Bros. Fish Company, a Port Washington company that the tug supplied with fish, called the LINDA E. by cell phone at 9:45 Friday morning. At that time the tug reported having caught 1,000 pounds of fish. The vessel and crew were reported missing when they failed to arrive by Friday night. The Coast Guard launched a two day long massive air and water search, covering 3000 square miles but finding no trace of the fishing tug. On 18 June 2000 her fractured wreckage was discovered in 260 feet of water by the Navy minesweeper USS DEFENDER which had been in Lake Michigan on a recruiting mission and was asked by U.S. Rep. Mark Green if they could look for the missing LINDA E. as part of a training exercise. The NTSB had declined to search for the missing tug, cost being the reason. NOAA had offered to help search but would not pay costs related to the search. A remote operatered vehicle (M-ROVER) was launched from the Coast Guard buoy tender ACACIA to film the wreck. The footage showed extensive damage to the tug's starboard side with fractures, breaks and dents in her reinforced steel hull and a section of the deck near the pilothouse torn open. A subsequent Coast Guard investigation concluded that the LINDA E. had been rammed by a barge owned by Amoco Corp., which, of course, denied any responsibility. The Linda E. was equipped with VHF radio, cell phone, radar, magnetic compass, autopilot and a variety of life- saving apparatus. No distress call was sent and the remains of the crew were never found. The Lost Crew Capt. Leif Weborg, age 61 Scott T. Matta, age 33 Warren G. Olson, Jr., age 45 ======================================================================== Sources: Shelak "Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan," pp. 63-64 Ludington Daily News - 14 December 1998 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - 22 June 2000 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - 19 June 2001 Coast Guard Investigation - 1999