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Submitted by Linda Talbott
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Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott
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    VESSEL NAME:   Rudolph Wetzel
    OTHER NAME(s): sometimes seen as Weitzel
    OFFICIAL NO:   21944
    DATE OF LOSS:  28 October 1882
    CAUSE OF LOSS: Explosion
    LOCATION:      Lake Michigan, 3 mi. off Oak Creek, WI
    RIG TYPE:      Propeller, tugboat
    HULL TYPE:     Wood
    BUILDER:       George Notter, Buffalo, N.Y. - 1870
    OWNER(S):      Capt. Frank F. Lovell (or Lowell)
    MASTER:        (same)
    TONNAGE:       23.25 gt
    DIMENSIONS:    56.4 x 14 x 6.6
    CASUALTIES:    3 (all)

                   Exploded her boiler while racing with the tug HENRY S.
                SILL. The explosion was so violent that the tug SILL, only
                a few feet away, was fairly lifted from the water. Dust,
                coal and pieces of debris covered the SILL. Dennis Hanley,
                fireman aboard the SILL was struck with a large piece of
                WETZEL's boiler and injured.

                Victims:
                Capt. Frank F. Lovell (or Lowell), Racine
                William Kelly (or Kelley), engineer, Chicago
                Pat White, fireman, Racine

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Sources: Ludington Daily Record - 9 November 1882
         Detroit Post and Tribune - 31 October 1882
         Great Lakes Maritime Database, Univ. of Mich.
         Swayze, David D. "Shipwreck!!" - 1992