Some of my favourite shipwrecks are the ones that remain in the shallows - close enough that you can still see them, or in some cases, walk out and touch them. This week's shipwreck falls right into that category. A vessel of many owners and many names, and ended up aground in the cold Canadian North: the M/V Ithaca.
Read MoreThe Northwest Passage has long been a route which many ships have tried to traverse, and a large number have failed while trying. This past summer, the HMS Erebus was discovered, a ship affiliated with the Franklin Expedition of the Northwest Passage. Another ship, lesser known unless you are from the area, is the Maud, a Norwegian oak-hulled exploration vessel that was claimed by the icy waters off the Nunavut coast in the 1920s. It is this wreck that we're looking at for this week's Over the Waves.
Read MoreHello everyone! I know I'm a couple of days late but this week has just been crazy! I'm happy finally be able to sit down and tell you about a well known Newfoundland ship. The first time I came across this wreck was a few years ago, when I was an intern living in St. John's for the summer. I was on a day-trip out to the community museum in Carbonear, and it was one of my first trips out of the city. It was also very early in the morning, and I was making a desperate effort not to doze off in the front seat of the car (which was being driven by my supervisor). As we drove along the highway, me clutching my coffee, I happened to look down into an inlet and caught glimpse of a ship done up in a traditional early-1900s paint job. With her yellow and black smokestack, black hull, and red keel, I had to do a double take to make sure she wasn't actually operational. I immediately woke up and asked my supervisor what ship I was looking at.
Read MoreWhen you think of Saskatchewan, what comes to mind? Flat, fields of wheat, blue sky, prairie... Probably not shipwreck. Today I'm going to tell you the story of one of the few wrecks in Saskatchewan, right in the South Saskatchewan River - the wreck if the SS City of Medicine Hat.
Read MoreAs some of you may have heard, September was a very busy month for shipwrecks. The Canadian Government, working with Parks Canada and different agencies, finally located the HMS Erebus from the fabled Franklin expedition. Shortly after, a four-man team located the wreck of the Nisbet Grammer, a steel cargo ship that collided with another ship and sank to the bottom of Lake Ontario almost 90 years ago.
Read MoreThis week was Hallowe'en! In honour of what is, honestly, my favourite holiday, I decided to seek out a story that tied in marine history and an excellent ghost story. For help, I reached out to the ever-fantastic and helpful Dale Jarvis - folklorist, storyteller, and creator of the St. John's Haunted Hike. Dale sent me in the direction of the story of the SS Blue Jacket, a story that combines heroism, terror, and the a ghost story that has continued on from 1862 to present day.
Read MoreThis week, we are going to leave the East Coast and venture along the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Brockville narrows. Just offshore of Cockburn Island lies the wreck of a drilling scow that met a quick and violent end - the John B. King.
Read MoreHappy Canadian Thanksgiving! I hope all my Canadian friends have had lots of time for love and laughter this weekend, as well as super food! This week, we are starting off with the earliest wreck that I have covered so far; the Lady of the Lake, which sank in 1833.
Read MoreHello everyone. For this weeks Over the Waves I decided to focus on a Canadian Navy story from the Second World War. Personally, I knew there had been U-boats off Canada's shores during wartime, and I knew about a couple that had been sunk (such as the one off of Bell Island, near St. John's). What I didn't know was the story of the HMCS Esquimalt and U-190, something that happened right in Canadian territory with one of our own ships. So, for this week, that's the story I am bringing to you all.
Read MoreAt the beginning of the Second World War, it was decided by the Allied forces that perhaps Newfoundland was more strategic of a location than they had previously thought. Being closer to Europe that anywhere else in North America, and being an island, gave it an advantage that land-based ports didn't have. Unfortunately, the effects of the Depression and the FIrst World War were still being felt, and Newfoundland could not afford to build any new defences on its Island shores. The Americans built two bases - one in St. John's, on the site of Pleasantville (the old training grounds of the Newfoundland Regiment) and one in Argentia, along the south shore. One night in 1942, however, this arrangement would prove costly for two ships of the American fleet: the USS Pollux and the USS Truxtun. This weeks entry is going to focus on the loss of the Truxton.
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