Another Lake Ontario Shipwreck Located

[Art Tirrell]

If you think the wreck of HMS Ontario, the lost British warship I feature in my novel The Secret Ever Keeps, is at all far-fetched, here's a bit of news that will interest you. This week, shipwreck enthusiast Ken Kennard of Rochester NY announced the discovery of the schooner Orcadian, lost in Lake Ontario west of Sodus Bay in 1858.

Kennard used side scan sonar, just as my fictional heroine Laurel Kingsford did, to locate the wreck. While Laurel dove on her wreck, Kennard's find lay in 250 feet of water and he utilized a submersible to photograph the wreck. 250 foot depths that can be reached with SCUBA, but require a great deal of technical preparation and expertise.

Orcadian collided with another vessel at 3 AM, while bound for Oswego with a cargo of wheat.

"These guys were the truckers of 150 years ago", Kennard said, "and it represents how commerce was being carried on at that time." There are no pictures of the Orcadian. The ship is broken up and in pieces.

Estimates vary, but there are about 200 shipwrecks on the bottom of Lake Ontario. One of them, the most prized of all, is HMS Ontario, a snow brig built at Carleton Island in the St. Lawrence and launched in May 1780. Ontario was lost November 30, 1780, while bound for Oswego. The remains have never been found.