On September 14th, 1873, the freighter SS Ironsides left Milwaukee for Grand Haven with a cargo of wheat, flour, and pork, along with 19 passengers and 30 crew. What started off as a light breeze soon turned into a powerful gale that rocked the ship. Captain Harry Sweetman attempted to enter the harbor at Grand Haven twice, but could not guide her through the rough seas. Captain Sweetman decided to wait out the storm instead, but the ship soon began taking on water. By 4:00 AM on September 15th, the ship’s boiler had caught fire in the engine room, but soon the engine room flooded with water and put out the fire. With the ship quickly sinking, all of the people on board made it into lifeboats and escaped. However, 3 out of the 5 lifeboats capsized while attempting to reach shore, and 20 people were lost.