GBA 2022 - Summer Update

HERITAGE

By Allison Needham, UPDATE Deputy Editor

Lost on the Lake: Georgian Bay’s Shipwrecks

T here are more than 6,000 due to its geography and navigational challenges, has more than its fair share of these wrecks, especially where Lake Huron meets the Bay at the Bruce Peninsula near Tobermory. Georgian Bay has come to be the final resting place to hundreds of sunken vessels, many of them of great historic interest. Big ships, steamers, tugs, leisure yachts, and small boats are no match for Georgian Bay’s frigid waters, rugged islands, hidden shoals, and quick temper. One of the biggest disasters in the history of the Great Lakes is that of the SS Asia . The Asia set off from Owen Sound on September 14, 1882, loaded with 10 workhorses, cargo, and 128 passengers and crew destined for the French River. Despite a storm warning, and misgivings from the steamship company, which briefly considered holding her in port, the Asia pulled out around midnight. Leaving the shelter of the Bruce Peninsula, she sailed directly into the storm, which by nine o’clock in the morning is reported to have reached the velocity of a hurricane. The wind increased drastically and changed direction. Cargo was thrown overboard, and the horses were put down. By 11 a.m., the Asia was foundering in gale force winds and high seas. Heavily laden and top-heavy, she listed to starboard and sank close to Lonely Island between Manitoulin and Byng Inlet. It was reported that the doomed vessel was running without a licence, having been refused one on account of carrying an insufficient number of lifeboats and life preservers. Shocked passengers clung to floating timber and shipwrecks scattered throughout the Great Lakes. Georgian Bay,

an overturned lifeboat, but it flipped over several times and when the gale finally subsided, only two young survivors remained. Christy Morrison and Duncan Tinkis drifted ashore and were subsequently rescued by a man who took them to Parry Sound on September 17. Another ill-fated ship was the Waubuno , which conveyed passengers and freight between Collingwood and Parry Sound. She sank at Wreck Island near Moose Point during a gale on the night of November 22, 1879, though the exact cause of her sinking is unknown. The ship had been trying to leave Collingwood for days, but snow and fierce winds had kept the ship in port. During a break in the weather on November 21, the ship set off with 24 crew and passengers. It was last spotted afloat by the lighthouse keeper at Christian Island who noted the ship was faring well. Searchers found no trace of the passengers but picked up several articles they knew belonged to the missing vessel, consisting of a lifeboat, life preserver with the ship’s name, several articles of furniture, the ship’s ledger, and part of the paddle box. Barrels of apples, flour, and different articles of freight washed up on shore. Other parts of the ship have been recovered over the years: a hull can be found near Wreck Island, its rudder is on display at Midland Ontario’s Huronia Museum, and the anchor was recovered in 1959.

The Asia ’s Captain, John Savage, survived the sinking of the ship, but later died in a lifeboat.

www.georgianbay.ca

GBA UPDATE Summer 2022

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