The Barkhausen Collection

Named for the donor, the Henry N. Barkhausen Collection consists of several historically significant segments including: artifacts, 19th-century art, photographs, early shipbuilding information and rare books. Each pertains to the maritime heritage of the Great Lakes.

Berns Photographic Collection

Harry F. Berns acted as the official Naval Photographer for Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company during World War II. This collection consists of Berns' photographs of submarines and LCT's in Manitowoc during construction and sea trials.

Burger Boat Company Collection

This collection reflects the workings of one of the earliest Manitowoc shipbuilding companies. The materials consist of photographs, blueprints and manuscripts that deal primarily with vessels built during the 20th century.

Captain Edward Carus Collection

The Captain Edward Carus Collection was donated by Henry N. Barkhausen and Henry Schuette. Developed by Capt. Edward Carus (1860-1947), a Great Lakes steamer captain, the collection consists of photograph and manuscript albums that deal with the development of early shipping, shipwrecks, and wooden hulled sailing and steam vessels from 1880s to 1920s.

The USS COBIA Collection

The USS COBIA Archival Collection consists of thousands of items related to the World War II fleet submarine USS COBIA, a National Historic Landmark. Collection items include all 1,600 COBIA construction blueprints and hundreds of original Navy-issued operation manuals and technical guides. The COBIA Archival Collection is a unique survivor of World War II and is used extensively by researchers and by volunteers and Naval Reservists for ongoing restoration and preservation of USS COBIA.

Kalhenberg Collection

The Kalhenberg Collection reflects the work of the Kahlenberg Manufacturing Company of Two Rivers, Wisconsin from 1895 to the 1960s. The collection consists of photographs, catalogs, affidavits, and sales bulletins for the diesel engines and air horns which the company produced, as well as photographs of some of the yachts which contained Kahlenberg manufactured materials.

Captain Timothy Kelley Family Collection

Developed by Captain Timothy Kelly of Manitowoc, a Great Lakes sailor during the late 1800s and the early 1900s, the collection consists of 65 of his personal diaries dating from 1870 to 1943. These dairies reflect the life of a Great Lakes sailor aboard both sailing vessels and steamers.

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. Collection

This collection contains materials such as photographs, blueprints, and manuscript items offering information on the construction of vessels by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Manitowoc and the Bay Shipbuilding Corp. of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Of particular note are views of various vessels, including World War II era submarines, during different stages of construction in the shipyards.

Rare Book Collection

Thompson's Great Lake Pilot (1859 and 1869); John Charnock's three-volume History of Marine Architecture (1800); M. F. Maury's A New Theoretical and Practical Treastise on Navigation (1836) and The Physical Geography of the Sea (1856); Arthur H. Clark's The History of Yachting 1600–1815 (1903); The Treatise on Marine and Naval Architecture (1851) by John W. Griffths; and Sketches of a Tour To The Lakes (1827) by Thomas L. McKenney are some of the titles included in this section of the Library.

Ship's Log Collection

This special collection includes logs from the Ann Arbor Carferry Line which date from the early 1920s to the mid-1970s; the Orion Steamship Co;, and the Manitowoc Soo Line Bridge Tenders' Log. The collection also holds logs from vessels such as the Wels Burt, George Burnham, C. L. Johnston, Lottie Wolf, White Swan, and Thomas Howland.

The Wooden Shipbuilding Collection

The collection consists of plans, vessel lists, builders' half models, prints, watercolors, and oil paintings of historic wooden vessels. The Great Lakes shipbuilders and designers represented in this collection include: William Wallace Bates of Manitowoc, Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Grebe Shipbuilding Company of Chicago, Burger Boat of Manitowoc, the Detroit Dry Dock Co., and C. T. McCutheon, Jr.