(trucks whooshing by) - [Jerry] That's about the age I was there.

18, 19, something like that.

For years, I was the youngest guy on a lotta the rigs we worked on.

- [Traci] When the shipwreck was happening, were you scared?

- Yeah.

Oh, of course.

I thought this is not right.

You don't go out and go to work and expect to drown.

The dredge had no business being out there as far as I'm concerned, but who was I?

I was just a young guy.

(soothing music) (water burbling) (projector clicks) - [Peter] Dredge number six.

It was built by Manitowoc Ship Building, and it was built to dredge.

It was a pretty flat hulled vessel.

It had a big scoop on it.

It was built for a company in Chicago, Fitzsimons and Connell, and it was used essentially to dredge channels.

In 1956, the Oak Creek power plant was just being built by Wisconsin Electric.

And they were in the process of building four different units for that power plant.

And what they wanted to do was deliver the coal by water with full vessels, full Great Lakes vessels, but the channel at the dock, and there was a turnaround the area, wasn't deep enough to allow those vessels to be filled with coal.

So the dredge's job was hired to do was to dredge the channel at the Wisconsin Electric Plant in Oak Creek deep enough to allow a full vessel of coal to deliver coal.

(ominous music) So it was May 23rd of 1956, and they were working late, but the wind started kicking up.

- All of a sudden just turned around, boom.

It come right out of the Northeast, which is the worst on Michigan.

And at 2:00 in the morning, this thing decides to turn over.

(projector clicks) A guy cable that holds the bucket broke and the bucket swung one all the way over, and that's about 30 tons being shifted to one side.

Fireman told me, he said, "Jerry, get the hell outta here.

"It's time to go."

So we jumped into the water.

(water burbling) Finally come up, and I turn and look and the bottom of that dredge is right there going over, and it rolled right over and went down.

(water burbling) (oxygen tank huffing) (water burbling) - [Peter] The crew of 19 had no opportunity to launch their lifeboat, and nine of the 19 perished as a result.

- Nine were killed, 10 were saved, and two were never found 'til this day.

They've never found them, was one of the oilers and a second cook.

(water burbling) (ominous music)