Wreck of Royal Albert cargo schooner discovered in Lake Ontario

A recently-discovered shipwreck could shed new light on shipping methods around the Great Lakes in the post-Civil War period.

According to a report from the Associated Press, the wreck of the Royal Albert schooner was discovered 35 miles northwest of Syracuse in Lake Ontario.

The 104-foot ship set sail in 1868 with 285 tons of railroad iron bound for Ohio. The wreck appears to indicate rough waters caused the cargo to shift and break through the ship’s seams. The crew was able to abandon ship.

The team that made the discovery said shipwreck was discovered in mid-June using sonar. Video taken by a remote-controlled vehicle allowed the team to identify it as the Royal Albert, the only two-masted schooner known to have sunk in the area.

Rough conditions brought down the schooner

Constructed in 1858 in Ontario, the schooner was headed to Lake Erie and ultimately Toledo, Ohio via Canada’s Welland Canal. The research team said the Royal Albert was just a few miles into its journey when lake conditions became rough.

Video of the wreck revealed both masts fell over and a few of the railroad rails shifted into in the aft hold. While the finding isn’t as considerable as some other recent discoveries, the team said it does provide a glimpse into shipping processes and manifests in the post-Civil War period.

“It’s essentially typical of how goods were being shipped and the kind of goods being shipped,” said team member Jim Kennard, who has been discovering shipwrecks in the lake for some time. “The heavier commodities couldn’t be shipped through the canals on canal boats.”

In 2008, the same team discovered a rare 19^th century dagger-board ship at the bottom of Lake Ontario, the only ship of this kind to be found in the Great Lakes. Dagger-board ships were used for a short period during the early 19^th century, and they featured a long wooden panel that could be extended through the keel to provide extra stability.  The dagger-boards could be raised allowing the ship to load and unload cargo in very shallow waters.

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Image credit: Roland Stephens

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