She is the largest car ferry ever to sail Lake Michigan,
and has provided a safe, fun, and reliable shortcut across
the huge inland sea for more than fifty years. The S.S.
Badger is a national treasure, offering a cruise experience
that links us to an earlier time when a sea voyage was
the ultimate travel and vacation adventure.
The 410' S.S. Badger entered service in 1953, designed
specifically to handle the rough conditions that it would
likely encounter during year 'round sailing on Lake Michigan.
Built primarily to transport railroad freight cars, but
with superior passenger accommodations, the Badger reigned
as Queen of the Lakes during the car ferries' Golden Era
in the late Fifties, with Manitowoc, Milwaukee, and Kewaunee
as her Wisconsin ports of call. By the Seventies, changing
railroad economics were condemning other car ferries to
mothballs or the scrap yard. With little railroad freight
business left, and without ever tapping into the opportunity
to serve the needs of the vacation traveler, the Badger
sailed from Wisconsin to Ludington and tied up for the
last time in November 1990 - signaling the end of the century-old
tradition of car ferry service on Lake Michigan.
The demise of the car ferries was devastating to the communities
they had served and the thousands of passengers who loved
them. It seemed that the magic of these wonderful ships
would only live in memory, never to be experienced by future
generations. However, in 1991, an entrepreneur named Charles
Conrad committed his own financial resources to reinvent
the S.S. Badger to carry leisure passengers and their vehicles.
Since then, this legend of the Great Lakes has delighted
a whole new generation of people, allowing them to experience
a bit of history that almost slipped away while cruising
to fun destinations on both sides of Lake Michigan. The
S.S. Badger now sails daily between Manitowoc, Wisconsin
and Ludington, Michigan from mid-May through mid-October.
Blending tradition with innovation, the Badger affords a
rare opportunity to take a step back into the past and take
a journey that's as important as the destination.
S.S. BADGER HISTORICAL AWARDS & DESIGNATIONS
1996
The Badger’s propulsion system designated a mechanical engineering landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1997
The Badger officially named a Registered Michigan Historic Site by the Michigan Historical Commission
1997
The Badger officially named a Registered Wisconsin Historic Site by the Wisconsin Historical Commission
1997
Lake Michigan Carferry designated a Michigan Centennial Business by the Historical Society of Michigan
2002
The Badger is named Ship of the Year by the Steamship Historical Society of America
