Established | 1965-1976 |
---|---|
Location | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Type | maritime museum |
Director | Andre E. Lamirande |
President | John Fleming |
Curator | Andre E. Lamirande & Jean Trudel |
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. (See also https://sites.google.com/view/underwater-society-of-ottawa/home/uso-main ). 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. [1]
In February 1963, the Underwater Society of Ottawa began searching for shipwrecks in the National Capital Area for the National Capital Commission as a Canadian Centennial project. [2]
At the time, Underwater Society of Ottawa and National Capital Commission considered devoting a section of the Bytown Museum to Ottawa River navigation. [3] Andre Lamirande served as dive co-ordinator of a team of 18 divers.
The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum at 222 Cumberland Street, Ottawa was the Ottawa Underwater Society's contribution to Canadian Centennial. The collection of the Underwater Society of Ottawa, which had been in operation since February 1964, formed the maritime museum. The museum, which was financed by society dues, was open without charge to the public from February 1, 1965 – 1976. [1]
Andre Lamirande served as the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum's director; he and Jean Trudel served as the curators of the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum. Andre Lamirande was the president-founder of the Underwater Society of Ottawa [4] along with James Miller, Richard Desjardins and five others. [2]
The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum objectives were:
A Board of Advisors was formed comprising professional historians and archaeologists. [2]
The Underwater Society of Ottawa discovered and catalogued 197 shipwrecks in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec waters from 1964 to 1976. Although the society concentrated on paddle-wheeler and schooners that went down between 1809 and 1921, other ships were found. A man-o-war, for example, which was burned by the British during the War of 1812 was discovered in Shanks Harbor in the United States. [2] Artifacts from the wreck of the "Atlantic", a 19th-century liner which sunk off the Marshead, Nova Scotia coast in April 1873 included a tile from the ship's staircase and a heavy "dead eye", used to secure rigging for the ship's mast. [5]
The Underwater Society kept several volumes containing statistics, reports, diagrams, photographs and other pertinent information on the shipwrecks. [2] The wrecks were discovered in the St. Lawrence River from Lake St. Francis to Kingston, Ontario, the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River from Montreal, Quebec to Lake Timiskaming as well as two dozen inland tributaries and lakes. [4]
The artifacts included "old bottles with labels such as Old Power Scotch Whisky and Ushers Green Stripe, bottles, dinner plates with boats' names on them, a 39-inch telescope, a host of small clay pipes, a shoe with the area around the big toe inexplicably cut out, one-penny gold coins issued by Mayors Store in Ottawa and a bottle labelled, 'For teeth and breath'." [6] Artifacts salvaged from the S.S. Rothesay in the St Lawrence River included opaque china, spitoon, ceramic jug and an iron fry pan. [7]
All findings were carefully cleaned and preserved. "Nothing is ever cut or torn from a wreck until we first make an accurate sketch of the vessel," explained Mr. Lamirande, "once it has been identified, it is carefully cleaned with chemicals or a wire brush. When rust and corrosion are removed it is coated with a plastic-like substance which can later be dissolved to permit further examination." [2]
At the end of each diving season a list of findings was sent to the proper authorities. Once the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum was fully recognized 1965–1976, it was allowed to retain all findings. [2] See also site https://sites.google.com/view/underwater-society-of-ottawa/home/uso-main
At the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum, artifacts were wired to pegboards with brief sketches of their history taped beneath. On display were chains, valves, gauges wedges, axe heads, hinges, propellers, steering wheels, and more. [2] Items retrieved from wrecks in the Ottawa River, included china, bottles, and a pressure toilet made in 1859. Other exhibits retrieved from wrecks in the St Lawrence River included a pulley from the schooner "Marion", which capsized in 1869. [2]
One of the larger items in the museum was the oak hull of the Lady Colborne , constructed on Lake Deschenes in 1832, which burned and sank 1845 in Britannia Bay. [2] The Wheelhouse Museum also has pieces of ribbing from the French brig l'Outaouais, which was sunk off Carleton Island by the British in the 1760s. [1]
The museum was affiliated with: Canadian Museums Association, the Bytown Museum, and the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology and the Santa Maria Society. An underwater diving park was opened in Ottawa in August 1982 by Transport Minister Jean-Luke Pepin. Although opened only to divers and historical researchers, the Santa Monica Society hoped to open it to the public in the future. In 1982, Frank Martin, an official with the Santa Maria Society, moved the Bruce, a 19th-century steamer, to a permanent underwater grave near the Ottawa Rowing Club below Sussex Drive. Among the seven vessels planned for the park were the William King, Ivy, Otter, Resolute, Maggie Bell, Mansfield and the Bruce. [6]
The funding and accommodation did not meet the Ottawa Underwater Society's exhibit needs, and new accommodation was sought to store the extensive collection and display the exhibits. [1] "Our greatest handicap is lack of outside financial assistance," said Mr. Lamirande. "Most of our members are in the average salary level and it's getting more and more difficult to finance operations." [2]
The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum closed to the public in 1976 due to lack of funding and the 14-ton collection was transferred to the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology [4] 1976–1990.
The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum continued to be involved in building scale models of the ships and published 'A Foregone Fleet:A Pictorial History of Steam-Driven Paddleboats on the Ottawa River' in 1982. On June 12, 1983, the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum provided a Retrospective on commercial navigation in the Ottawa Valley at the Billings Estate Museum. [8]
By 1990, a decision was made to move the collection from the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston. The Ottawa Chapter of Save Ontario Shipwrecks documented and photographed several hundred artifacts, which were described as deteriorating in the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology warehouses in Ottawa and then had them properly wrapped and stored prior to their shipment to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes 1990–present. [9]
Andre Lamirande and Gilles Seguin "A Foregone Fleet:A Pictorial History of Steam-Driven Paddleboats on the Ottawa River" Wheelhouse Maritime Museum (Ottawa, Ont.), Highway Book Shop, Cobalt, Ontario, 1982 ISBN 9780889542365
Maritime archaeology is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore-side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged landscapes. A specialty within maritime archaeology is nautical archaeology, which studies ship construction and use.
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. Its acceptance has been a relatively late development due to the difficulties of accessing and working underwater sites, and because the application of archaeology to underwater sites initially emerged from the skills and tools developed by shipwreck salvagers. As a result, underwater archaeology initially struggled to establish itself as actual archaeological research. This changed when universities began teaching the subject and a theoretical and practical base for the sub-discipline was firmly established in the late 1980s. Underwater archaeology now has a number of branches including, maritime archaeology: the scientifically based study of past human life, behaviours and cultures and their activities in, on, around and (lately) under the sea, estuaries and rivers. This is most often effected using the physical remains found in, around or under salt or fresh water or buried beneath water-logged sediment. In recent years, the study of submerged WWII sites and of submerged aircraft in the form of underwater aviation archaeology have also emerged as bona fide activity.
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. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately three million shipwrecks worldwide.
Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. 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.
Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield of Ontario. The international border runs through the bay, which is heavily used by shipping traffic northbound from and southbound to the Soo Locks.
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 SS Regina was a cargo ship built for the Merchant Mutual Line and home ported in Montreal, Quebec. Named after Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina had a tonnage of 1,956 gross register tons (GRT) and a crew of 32.
The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve was established in 1987 to protect and conserve shipwrecks and historical resources on 376 square miles (970 km2) of Lake Superior bottomlands in Whitefish Bay and around Whitefish Point, Michigan. The formation of the Michigan Underwater Preserves helped stop controversy over artifact removal from shipwrecks of this area. The preserve is now known for deep, well preserved shipwrecks in clear water accessible to scuba divers with technical skill and experience. The preserve is one of the last places in the Great Lakes to observe shipwrecks without zebra mussel encrustation.
The SS Superior City was considered a pioneer vessel at her launching in 1898. She was the largest vessel ever built on freshwater at that time. She sailed the Great Lakes for twenty-two years until she sank after a collision in 1920 with the steamer Willis L. King in Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior that resulted in the loss of 29 lives. Controversy was immediate over the collision. It was subsequently ruled that the captains of both ships failed to follow the “rules-of-the-road”. Controversy started again in 1988 when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society produced a video called "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" that included extensive footage of the skeletons of the Superior City crew. The controversy continued as late as 1996 over artifacts removed from her wreck. She is now a protected shipwreck in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.
SS Comet was a steamship that operated on the Great Lakes. Comet was built in 1857 as a wooden-hulled propeller-driven cargo vessel that was soon adapted to carry passengers. She suffered a series of maritime accidents prior to her final sinking in 1875 causing the loss of ten lives. She became known as the only treasure ship of Lake Superior because she carried 70 tons of Montana silver ore when she sank. The first attempts to salvage her cargo in 1876 and 1938 were unsuccessful. Comet was finally salvaged in the 1980s when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society illegally removed artifacts from the wreck. 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 fate of her silver ore cargo is unknown. Comet's wreck is now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum.
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.
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 3 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.
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.
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.
HMS Sapphire was a 32-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy, scuttled at Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, Canada in 1696. It is currently a protected archaeological site. It was the only vessel of any size sunk in the Anglo-French wars in North America.
SS Myron was a wooden steamship built in 1888. She spent her 31-year career as lumber hooker, towing schooner barges on the Great Lakes. She sank in 1919, in a Lake Superior November gale. All of her 17 crew members were killed but her captain survived. He was found drifting on wreckage near Ile Parisienne. Her tow, the Miztec, survived. Myron defied the adage that Lake Superior "seldom gives up her dead" when all 17 crewmembers were found frozen to death wearing their life jackets. Local residents chopped eight of Myron's sailors from the ice on the shore of Whitefish Bay and buried them at the Mission Hill Cemetery in Bay Mills Township, Michigan.
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.
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.
Save Ontario Shipwrecks (SOS) is a Provincial Heritage Organization in Ontario, Canada. SOS is a public charitable organization which operates through Local Chapter Committees supported by a Provincial Board of Directors and Provincial Executive.
Valerie Olson van Heest is an American author, explorer, and museum exhibit designer. She is co-founder of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association.
Coordinates: 45°25′59″N75°41′30″W / 45.4331°N 75.6918°W
https://sites.google.com/view/underwater-society-of-ottawa/home/uso-main