The Washington, a single-masted sloop, is the second-oldest shipwreck found in the great lakes. It was discovered this summer, after sinking during a storm in 1803, taking at least five people with it.
Photo Credit: AP / Roger L. Pawlowski

Shipwreck discovered in Lake Ontario

The shipwreck of The Washington was discovered last month, making it the second-oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes between Canada and the United States.

It sank in Lake Ontario during a storm in 1803, not far from Oswego, New York with at least five people aboard, three crew and two merchants.

“This one is very special. We don’t get too many like this,” said Jim Kennard, in an interview with the Associated Press. Kennard along with Roger Pawlowski and Roland “Chip” Stevens has found numerous wrecks in Lake Ontario and other waterways.

The 53-foot long ship, which was used to transport goods and people between western New York, Pennsylvannia and Ontario, had set sail on November 6, 1803, from Kingston, Ontario with a cargo that included goods from India. On the way to its home port of Niagara, Ontario it was caught in a fierce storm and sank.

Carrie Sowden is the archaeological director at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio in the U.S. The museum sponsored the divers, exploration.

Single-masted sloops were replaced early in the 19th century by two and three masted schooners, which were easier to sail according to Sowden.

The sloop was built in 1798 on Lake Erie, in Pennsylvannia. Then it was placed on skids and hauled by a team of oxen across the Niagar Isthmus to Lake Ontario in 1802, when it was sold to Canadian merchants.

There are no drawings of The Washington, but the discovery of the wreckage will help maritime historians in their research into the type of sailing vessels used on the Great Lakes between the American Revolution and the War of 1812.

“Every shipwreck offers something different that adds to our knowledge base.” Sowden told AP.

The oldest wreck in the Great Lakes is HMS Ontario, a British warship that went down in Lake Ontario in 1708.

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