T/S State of Michigan visits Milwaukee
TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College’s (NMC) Great Lakes Maritime Academy (GLMA) training ship, the T/S State of Michigan, will call on Milwaukee for the first time in over a decade on Sept. 15-16 to raise funds for the Wisconsin Navy League’s scholarship at GLMA .
Media is invited to tour the training ship, a 224-foot former Navy submarine surveillance vessel, from 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16 at the Pier Wisconsin Cruise dock, 530 N Harbor Dr., Milwaukee. The T/S State of Michigan is the flagship of NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy, one of only six state maritime academies in the nation and the only one on freshwater.
The Milwaukee stop is part of a training cruise for the 18 GLMA cadets aboard, as well as two from the Texas A&M Maritime Academy. All cadets are required to earn 360 days of sea time while enrolled at the Academy. The ship will arrive in Milwaukee Friday from Traverse City and depart Saturday afternoon for Grand Haven, Mich. Read more about the ship.
The Wisconsin Navy League is seeking to endow the $1,000 annual scholarship, established in 2021 for Maritime cadets from Wisconsin. It honors the life of World War II Merchant Marine veteran Francis Murphy of La Crosse, Wis., who enlisted in 1944 as a newly-minted high school graduate. During his service to the nation from 1944 to 1951, Seaman Murphy made 57 round-trip Atlantic Ocean crossings on eight different ships.
Founded in 1969, NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy educates and trains deck and engineering officers for the U.S. Merchant Marine. Graduates earn a bachelor’s degree, and an unlimited tonnage/horsepower merchant marine license. Read more at nmc.edu/maritime. NMC’s Great Lakes Culinary Institute also offers a culinary-maritime certificate program which trains students to be shipboard cooks, who are in high demand by the shipping industry.
The Navy League of the United States, founded in 1902, is a nonprofit civilian, educational and advocacy organization that supports America’s sea services: the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S.-flag Merchant Marine.
Release date: SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
For more information:
RADM Jerry Achenbach
Great Lakes Maritime Academy Superintendent
(231) 995-1203
gachenbach@nmc.edu