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AP/courtesy of Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville
A video still of the sunken 228-year-old
British warship HMS Ontario
A video still of the sunken 228-year-old
British warship HMS Ontario
Sunken British Warship Found After 228 Years
June 16, 2008 08:00 AM
The HMS Ontario, a British warship that sank in 1780, has been discovered nearly intact.
30-Second Summary
The HMS Ontario, a British warship that sank in 1780, has been found.
During its time, the vessel was the largest British war ship to sail the Great Lakes. It sank after just 5 months on the water.
The ship and its crew disappeared in a blizzard on Halloween night. Six bodies washed ashore eventually, and though the British searched for the vessel, they never reported its loss to American troops.
Sailors and ship enthusiasts have searched for the HMS Ontario for 228 years. In 1995, divers apparently misidentified another ship as the HMS Ontario.
But finding a sunken ship is like “finding a tossed coin in the lake,” said one of the investigators who thought he had found the HMS Ontario 13 years ago.
Even more impressive than the recent discovery of the real HMS Ontario is that the vessel is nearly intact. According to one of the ship’s discoverers, Dan Scoville, “The Ontario is so complete, the two masts are in place and there's still glass in some of its windows." [#1]
Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the shipwreck in his book, “Legend of the Lake: The 22-Gun Brig-Sloop Ontario, 1780,” explains why the vessel was found in such good condition: “The dark, cold freshwater acts as a perfect preservative. At that depth, there is no light and no oxygen to hasten decomposition, and little marine life to feed on the wood.”
During its time, the vessel was the largest British war ship to sail the Great Lakes. It sank after just 5 months on the water.
The ship and its crew disappeared in a blizzard on Halloween night. Six bodies washed ashore eventually, and though the British searched for the vessel, they never reported its loss to American troops.
Sailors and ship enthusiasts have searched for the HMS Ontario for 228 years. In 1995, divers apparently misidentified another ship as the HMS Ontario.
But finding a sunken ship is like “finding a tossed coin in the lake,” said one of the investigators who thought he had found the HMS Ontario 13 years ago.
Even more impressive than the recent discovery of the real HMS Ontario is that the vessel is nearly intact. According to one of the ship’s discoverers, Dan Scoville, “The Ontario is so complete, the two masts are in place and there's still glass in some of its windows." [#1]
Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the shipwreck in his book, “Legend of the Lake: The 22-Gun Brig-Sloop Ontario, 1780,” explains why the vessel was found in such good condition: “The dark, cold freshwater acts as a perfect preservative. At that depth, there is no light and no oxygen to hasten decomposition, and little marine life to feed on the wood.”
Headline Links: Wreck of HMS Ontario Finally Located
Two shipwreck hunters have discovered a British warship that sank in Lake Ontario 228 years ago, during the Revolutionary War. The ship is apparently still nearly intact. According to Jim Kennard, who found the ship with his partner Dan Scoville, “This is the Holy Grail of Great Lakes wrecks.”
Source: The Toronto Star
The HMS Ontario was launched just five months before it sank. The ship was used primarily to ferry troops and supplies along upstate New York's frontier and despite being the biggest British ship on the Great Lakes, it was never used for battle. Arthur Britton Smith, who wrote a history of the wrecked vessel, said of the discovery, “If it wasn't for the zebra mussels, she looks like she only sunk last week.”
Source: MSNBC [Associated Press]
Background Links: The HMS Ontario, Lost and Not Found
History of the HMS Ontario
The HMS Ontario was lost in 1780 in a blinding snowstorm. According to an article in the Niagara County Historical Society newsletter, “It is believed the Ontario met her fate on Halloween night, October 31, 1780. Wreckage from the ship was found the next morning along the south shore of Lake Ontario.”
Source: Lockport-NY.com [Niagara County Historical Society newsletter]
Mistaken Identity
Three men, Roderick Hedley, Richard Acer and Larry Bowman, thought they had found the HMS Ontario in 1995. “If we have found it, we will have a time capsule, a relic of the past and a potential tourist and business attraction,” said Hedley. “If there is doubt about the ship’s identity, it’s because hundreds of sailing vessels lie on Lake Ontario floor,” he asserted.
Source: Maritime History of the Great Lakes [Buffalo News]
Reference: Specifications of the HMS Ontario
Sketches, blueprints, models and photos of the submerged HMS Ontario are available on ShipwreckWorld.com.
Source: ShipwreckWorld.com
Related Topics: Items Associated with the HMS Ontario
Canadian literary magazine CM reviews “Legend of the Lake: The 22-Gun Brig-Sloop Ontario, 1780,” a book on the history of the HMS Ontario. According to the review, author Arthur Britton Smith “places the detailed aspects of the ship’s manufacture and military attributes within the framework of life on Lake Ontario during the later 18th century. The story of the Ontario becomes a rich history of the Great Lake lowlands' growing and hectic life.”
Source: CM magazine
For $1,600, you can have your very own HMS Ontario, crafted to scale by model ship artisans from the original plans of the ship.
Source: Doran Bay Ships
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
