Save Ontario Shipwrecks

Last updated
Save On ardio Ship worker.
AbbreviationSOS
Formation1981 (1981)
Type NGO Underwater archaeology
Legal statusRegistered Charity # 886164193RR0001
PurposeNautical Archaeological research, publishing, education & training
Headquarters Blenheim, Ontario Canada
Location
  • P.O. BOX 2389, Blenheim, Ontario N0P 1A0
Region served
Ontario, Canada
Membership
open to the public
Official language
English, French
President
Mrs. Kristine Nickle
Affiliations Nautical Archaeology Society, NDA, Preserve Ontario Shipwrecks (POW) and ErieQuest
Website saveontarioshipwrecks.ca

Save Ontario Shipwrecks (SOS) is a Provincial Heritage Organization in Ontario, Canada. [1] SOS is a public charitable organization which operates through Local Chapter Committees supported by a Provincial Board of Directors and Provincial Executive. [2]

Contents

Mission

Save Ontario Shipwrecks's mission is to study, preserve and promote an appreciation of Ontario's marine heritage. SOS believes in leaving artifacts where found as opposed to preservation in museum collection storage facilities. SOS, was formed in 1981 to change that mentality. “When diving really took off in the ’60s and ’70s, it was clear to preservationists that something needed to be done to prevent looting,” Michael Hill, president of SOS recalled. [3]

SOS studies Ontario's marine heritage through historical and archival research, oral histories, side scan surveys and underwater archaeological investigations. SOS preserves Ontario's marine heritage through mooring program, site monitoring and documentation activities. The mooring program seeks to minimize anchor damage on sites which are regularly being visited by sport divers. In 2005 SOS created the Dive To Preserve program (www.DiveToPreserve.org) which promotes Marine Heritage preservation through Low Impact diving, site stewardship, and reporting of site conditions. SOS promote an appreciation of Ontario's marine heritage through presentations to scuba training courses, public groups and dive clubs. SOS designs, produces and brings displays about marine heritage to underwater trade shows and conferences which highlight the need for all divers to use shipwreck sites responsibly and minimize the negative impact of their visit. SOS works with the diving tourism industry, from the standpoint of site preservation. SOS lobbies government to develop resource management initiatives which balance study, preservation and use. [2]

History

SOS was incorporated in February 1981 with Rick Jackson, Andrew Garay and Gain Wong as the first directors. Save Ontario Shipwrecks (SOS)'s first Chapters were Save Ontario Shipwrecks-Toronto [4] in Toronto, Niagara, Peterborough and Save Ontario Shipwrecks - Ottawa [5] in Ottawa. Although SOS was originally centered in Toronto, it is currently centered Save Ontario Shipwrecks (SOS) [6] in Blenheim, Ontario. SOS Ottawa Valley, Sault Ste Marie, Superior, London and Sudbury were formed in 1984. In 1985, SOS Quinte, and SOS Oshawa came on board, followed by Ohio in 1986. In 1986, Chapters formed in Windsor, Ingleside (which was closely affiliated with the Lost Villages Historical Society) and Thunder Bay.

More recent groups include:

In 1986, the Ministry of Culture awarded SOS Core Funding grant, which developed a more structured fiscal operating system, and reorganized to manage day-to-day affairs in a more professional manner. By 1986, SOS had a definite Board of Directors, with Officers and an Executive Committee to manage the day-to-day affairs of the corporation. [2]

Projects

SOS projects are designed to protect dive sites, and communicate to the public. SOS chapter sponsored projects include plaques, surveys, buoys, underwater sculpture park and scuba diver training through the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS).

Courses

In 2009, SOS became the licensing authority in Ontario for Nautical Archaeology Society. Courses, which are available across the province, teach and certify participants in a survey of a shipwreck or site. The courses cover how to date a vessel, how to measure a wreck, how to write a report and how to submit it to the government. [3]

Plaques, guides and dive slates

SOS produced Dive Plaques for a number of popular dive sites including: Rothesay, King Horn, Conestoga (ship), Red Pine Bay Shipwreck, Weehawk and 5 Sunken Treasures. The Rothesay (1868), a wooden side wheeler in the St. Lawrence River, west of Prescott collided with the tug Myra and sank on Sept. 12, 1889, was blown up in a munition exercise in 1901 by members of the Royal Military College of Canada and was rediscovered on Sept. 25, 1964 by the Underwater Archeology Society of Ottawa. [11] Save Ontario Shipwrecks, Thousand Island Chapter erected a plaque on the wreck of The King Horn, a two-masted schooner fitted as a barge sank around 1897 near Brockville, Lake Ontario. Unfortunately, two bilge pumps on the deck were damaged by careless use of anchors. The plaque reminds divers who visit the King Horn that Ontario marine heritage is a resource worth conserving. [12]

SOS produced Divers’ Guides and Dive Slates for a number of dive sites and wrecks which include the sight layout, history, dive notes and directions: Lillie Parsons , Conestoga, C.B. Benson, Henry C. Daryaw , Keystorm, Kinghorn, Lyman M Davis, Muscallonge, Robert Gaskin , Rothesay, Southern Trail, and Wexford. Dive Slates are field guides made of white styrene plastic that can be written on underwater in pencil. The front has a history of the vessel and an above water image. The back has an underwater plan of the site and dive notes. Lillie Parsons (1868) is a 19th-century Great Lakes centreboard schooner that hit rocks and sank off Sparrow Island, near Brockville August 5, 1877. [13]

Surveys

SOS Quinte was formed in 1985 to explore the Annie Falconer, the wreck of a late-1800s schooner near Picton (Pt. Traverse). SOS Peterborough surveyed the wreck of Stone Lodge in 1985.

In 1990, when SOS studied the Mayflower, which was lost November 12, 1912, they used grid wires to section off the ship to allow sector-by-sector photos of the wreck in Kamaniskeg Lake. [14]

SOS has explored wrecks which were once rich with artifacts, many of which are now regrettably gone. There remains the ship's stove and wheel of the Prince of Wales (1860)/ the Sligo, a three-masted barque which sank in 1918 near Toronto, Ontario, and was discovered in 1984. [15] SOS Ottawa surveyed in 1988 the wreck of the steamer Conestoga (ship) (1878) a wooden cargo ship that caught fire and sank off Cardinal on May 22, 1922 outside Lock 28 of the Old Galop Canal. [16] SOS surveyed The Mink (1912-1927) / Waome (1927-1934) a wooden steamer which sank in Lake Muskoka, 6 October 1934, just west of Keewaydin Island. [17] SOS explored the W.H. Simpson (1889) /Monarch a steam powered tugboat which sank to the bottom of St. Clair River, south of the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia, Ontario on July 6, 1934. [18]

Many wrecks explored by SOS are not fully intact, unlike the George A. Marsh (1882), a three-masted schooner, which sank on August 8, 1917, during a summer gale off Amherst Island near Kingston, Ontario [19]

The SOS Ohio chapter explored 22 wrecks in Fathom Five National Marine Park in 1986–1987, a popular place to snorkel and scuba dive. The Sweepstakes, for example, a two-masted schooner which sank in 1885, lies just below the surface in Big Tub harbor.

SOS also explored the wreck of the SS Keystorm (1909–1910), which struck Scow Island shoal in fog near Alexandria Bay, New York on October 12, 1912. [20]

Although SOS generally surveys shipwrecks, chapters also explored The Lost Villages. Guard Lock 21, which was constructed in 1885/86, was flooded in 1936 as headwater for the Hydro dam at Cornwall. [21] Mille Roches Power House (1901) at Cornwall was demolished prior to inundation in 1955 with the new Powerdam and Seaway nearing completion. [22]

SOS performs surveys on unidentified wrecks. In June 2013, for example, SOS Ottawa Chapter tentatively named The Locweld Wreck, which rests on the bed of the St. Lawrence River near the former Locweld manufacturing site west of Guidon Park in Cornwall, Ontario. [23]

Buoys

Wreck Of The Metamora WreckOfTheMetamora-August27 2010.jpg
Wreck Of The Metamora

SOS's province wide campaign to provide and maintain (80) mooring buoys which make it easy to identify and hold on the dive site, to SOS chapters and affiliated organizations began in 2005. [24] “Before our mooring program, boats would drop anchor and end up pulling part of the wreck with them when they moved,” said Michael Hill, president of SOS. “Now, the most popular dive sites all have moorings.” [25] In Georgian Bay, for example, the ship's boiler, which has been painted white and has a channel marker attached to it identifies remains of the wreck of the tug The Metamora, which sank near Pointe au Baril in Georgian Bay in 1907. The upper portion of the steeple engine, which protrudes above the river, marks the site of the Conestoga (ship) (1878), which sunk on May 22, 1922.

Underwater Sculpture Park

SOS has develops underwater parks, which are designed to divert divers from sensitive underwater ecosystems. The Thousand Islands chapter of S.O.S., for example, wants to create an underwater sculpture park in the St. Lawrence River a short distance from Centeen Park in 2014–15. Students of Thousand Islands Secondary School are creating 6 sculptures representing six people looking up at the river's surface out of concrete and rebar for the park under the supervision of art teacher Dave Sheridan. Sheridan, who is a diver and projects manager for the Thousand Islands S.O.S. chapter was inspired to develop a memorial for all who have perished in the river by diver and artist Jason deCaires Taylor. [26]

Awards

The Save Ontario Shipwrecks Marine Heritage Award is given annually. In 2013, for example, the award was received by Cris Kohl, who is a maritime historian, scuba diver, author, lecturer, photographer, and videographer. [27]

SOS Chapters

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underwater archaeology</span> Archaeological techniques practiced at underwater sites

Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipwreck</span> Physical remains of a beached or sunk ship

A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately three million shipwrecks worldwide as of January 1999, according to Angela Croome, a science writer and author who specialized in the history of underwater archaeology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wreck diving</span> Recreational diving on wrecks

Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. The term is used mainly by recreational and technical divers. Professional divers, when diving on a shipwreck, generally refer to the specific task, such as salvage work, accident investigation or archaeological survey. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites. Diving to crashed aircraft can also be considered wreck diving. The recreation of wreck diving makes no distinction as to how the vessel ended up on the bottom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Villages</span> Communities submerged by the Saint Lawrence Seaway

The Lost Villages were ten communities in the Canadian province of Ontario, in the former townships of Cornwall and Osnabruck near Cornwall, which were permanently submerged by the creation of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1958.

Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) is an American non-profit corporation based in Holland, Michigan. Formed in 2001 by the former directors of the committee which originally established the Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve, their stated purpose is to "Preserve Michigan’s Submerged Maritime History." With the discovery of the steamer H. C. Akeley outside the boundaries of the preserve, the group broadened their area of focus and formed MSRA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeology of shipwrecks</span> Study of human activity through the analysis of shipwreck artifacts

The archaeology of shipwrecks is the field of archaeology specialized most commonly in the study and exploration of shipwrecks. Its techniques combine those of archaeology with those of diving to become Underwater archaeology. However, shipwrecks are discovered on what have become terrestrial sites.

The George A. Marsh was a three-masted schooner built in Michigan City Indiana in 1882 as a lumber carrier. In 1914, the Marsh was sold to a Belleville, Ontario man as a coal carrier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinking ships for wreck diving sites</span> Scuttling old ships to produce artificial reefs

Sinking ships for wreck diving sites is the practice of scuttling old ships to produce artificial reefs suitable for wreck diving, to benefit from commercial revenues from recreational diving of the shipwreck, or to produce a diver training site.

<i>Sweepstakes</i> (schooner) Canadian Great Lakes ship sunk in 1885

Sweepstakes was a Canadian schooner built in Burlington, Ontario, in 1867. It was damaged off Cove Island, then towed to Big Tub Harbour in the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, where it sank in September 1885. The remains of Sweepstakes lie in Big Tub Harbour, in the Fathom Five National Marine Park, in Tobermory, Ontario. The schooner is said to be one of the most popular of several wrecks in the park, and it is often visited by tour boat passengers, divers, and snorkelers.

John M. Osborn Wooden steam barge that sank in Lake Superior

The John M. Osborn was a wooden steam barge that sank in Lake Superior in 1884 with the loss of five lives. The Osborn was just 2 years old when the larger, steel-hulled Alberta, which was called a "steel monster" and "terror of the lakes", rammed her. The wreck of the Osborn was discovered 100 years after her sinking. The wreck was illegally salvaged in the 1980s. Many of Osborn's artifacts became the property of the State of Michigan after they were seized from Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The State allows the museum to display the artifacts as a loan. The wreck of the Osborn is now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum.

SS <i>Vienna</i> (1873) Steamship sunk after a collision in Lake Superior

The SS Vienna was built in 1873 during the era when steamers were built with sail rigging. She had a 19 year career marked with maritime incidents including sinking when she was just three years old. She sank for her final time in fair weather in Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior after she received a mortal blow when she was inexplicably rammed by the steamer Nipigon. Although there were no deaths when the Vienna sank for the last time, more than 100 years later her wreck claimed the lives of 4 scuba divers, the most of all the wrecks in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve that now protects her as part of an underwater museum. Her wreck was stripped of artifacts that resulted in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources seizing her artifacts in a raid on the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in 1992. Her artifacts are now on display in this museum as loan from the State of Michigan.

SS <i>Samuel Mather</i> (1887) U.S. merchant ship that sank in Lake Superior

The SS Samuel Mather was the first of seven U.S. merchant ships to bear that name. The wooden Mather sank in 1891 after she was rammed by the steel freighter Brazil in heavy fog in Whitefish Bay 8 miles (13 km) from Point Iroquois, ending the Mather's 4-year career. Her intact wreck is a rare of example of wooden freighters that plied the Great Lakes and she is a popular scuba diving site. Although there was no loss of life when the Mather sank, her wreck claimed the lives of three scuba divers more than 100 years after she sank. Artifacts from her wreck were illegally removed in the 1980s by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. The artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The wreck of the Mather is protected as part of an underwater museum in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.

<i>Sagamore</i> (barge) Whaleback barge wrecked in Lake Superior

The Sagamore is reported to be the best example of a whaleback barge among Great Lakes shipwrecks. Only 44 whalebacks were ever built, and out of the 26 that sank, only 8 sank in the Great Lakes, most of them being blown up for blocking shipping channels. She sank in 1901 in the shipping lane near the Soo Locks when she was rammed by the steel steamer Northern Queen in one of Whitefish Bay's notorious fogs. Her captain and two crew members went down with her. Artifacts from her wreck were illegally removed in the 1980s. Her artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The wreck of the Sagamore is protected as part of an underwater museum in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.

<i>Miztec</i> (schooner barge) Schooner barge sunk in Lake Superior

The Miztec was built as a 3-masted schooner in 1890. She was later converted to a schooner barge and served as a consort for lumber hookers on the Great Lakes. She escaped destruction in a severe 1919 storm that sank her longtime companion, the SS Myron, only to sink on the traditional day of bad luck, Friday the 13th, 1921, with the loss of all hands. She came to rest on Lake Superior's bottom off Whitefish Point near the Myron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recreational dive sites</span> Places that divers go to enjoy the underwater environment

Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.

The Society for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR) was an amateur maritime archaeology organisation operating in South Australia (SA). It was formed in 1974 by recreational scuba divers and other persons to pursue an interest in maritime archaeology and maritime history. The SUHR was renamed as the South Australian Archaeology Society in March 2012 as part of a plan to expand its activities beyond maritime archaeology to include other archaeological disciplines.

The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum (WMM) was a maritime museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It opened officially on Monday, February 1, 1965, by the Underwater Society of Ottawa.. The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum was open to the public on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 p.m., and on Tuesdays and Thursdays evenings between 7 and 9 p.m. From February 1, 1965, until it closed in 1976, the museum was housed in the top-storey of 218 Cumberland Street in Ottawa.

The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia's articles on recreational dive sites. The level of coverage may vary:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of recreational dive sites</span> Hierarchical outline list of articles about rereational dive sites

Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.

Valerie Olson van Heest is an American author, explorer, and museum exhibit designer. She is co-founder of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association.

References

  1. ↑ "Provincial Heritage Organization Operating Grant". Ontario government. June 25, 2018. This ministry provides annual operating support to the 12 Ontario Provincial Heritage Organizations listed below.
  2. 1 2 3 "Save Ontario Shipwrecks".
  3. 1 2 "Conservationist divers take on dual roles of cop and teacher in growing movement to preserve Ontario's shipwrecks Shipwrecks".
  4. ↑ "Toronto". Save Ontario Shipwrecks. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  5. ↑ "Ottawa". Save Ontario Shipwrecks. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  6. ↑ "Home". Save Ontario Shipwrecks. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  7. ↑ "Hamilton". Save Ontario Shipwrecks. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  8. ↑ Save Ontario Shipwrecks - Central Region
  9. ↑ Save Ontario Shipwrecks - Huron Shores
  10. ↑ Save Ontario Shipwrecks - Thousand Islands
  11. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Rothesay".
  12. ↑ "Sea-View Diving Rothesay".
  13. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Lillie Parsons".
  14. ↑ "The Sinking of the Mayflower: Lost November 12, 1912 By Stephen Weir 1990".
  15. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Monarch".
  16. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Conestoga".
  17. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Waome".
  18. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Monarch".
  19. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Monarch".
  20. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Keystorm".
  21. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Lock 21".
  22. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Lock 21".
  23. ↑ "Locweld Wreck near Cornwall as Save Ontario Shipwrecks works in the area By Eric Healey, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder Tuesday, August 12, 2014".
  24. ↑ "Save Ontario Shipwrecks Buoy list".
  25. ↑ "Conservationist divers take on dual roles of cop and teacher in growing movement to preserve Ontario's shipwrecks".
  26. ↑ "park beneath the waves? By Ronald Zajac, Recorder and Times Tuesday, April 15, 2014".
  27. ↑ "Shipwrecks 2014 speakers & presenters".
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