Robert C. Pringle (tug)

Robert C. Pringle, originally named Chequamegon, was a wooden-hulled American tugboat that sank without loss of life on Lake Michigan, near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on June 19, 1922, after striking an obstruction, possibly floating driftwood.

Chequamegon was built in 1903 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company. She was built for the newly formed Chequamegon Bay Transportation Company of Ashland, Wisconsin, under whom she hauled freight between Ashland, Bayfield, Washburn and Madeline Island. Between 1904 and 1918, she was sold multiple times, and was renamed Pere Marquette 7 in 1911. In 1918, Pere Marquette 7 was sold to the Pringle Barge Line of Cleveland, Ohio. She was converted to a tug and was renamed Robert C. Pringle.

On June 18, 1922, Robert C. Pringle began towing the wooden bulk freighter Venezuela from Milwaukee to Sandusky, Ohio, where the Venezuela was scheduled to receive extensive repairs. At about 2:00 a.m. on the following day, as the vessels were passing Sheboygan, Robert C. Pringle struck an obstruction, and began taking on water fast. Despite her pumps being in operation, the water eventually extinguished her boilers, forcing her crew to abandon her and row to Venezuela. All of the crewmen were delivered safely to Manitowoc.

Robert C. Pringle's wreck was discovered in 2008 by Steve Radovan. In the summer of 2019 it was subjected to a thorough archaeological survey by the Wisconsin Historical Society, who described the wreck as "remarkably intact". The wreck of Robert C. Pringle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 14, 2020.