Aloha (BaGd-4)
This is only one of many shipwrecks in the Kingston area.
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Historical Background The
two-masted schooner-barge Aloha was built by William Dulac at Mt. Clemens, Michigan
in 1888, and enrolled 173ft x 32.5ft x 12ft, 521 gross tons, 500 net tons, U.S. official
number 106542. The Aloha was under American enrolment until 1913, and assumed
Canadian registration in 1913, 171.2ft x 32ft x 12ft, 512 gross tons, 517 net tons,
Canadian official number 134264 (Figure 4). Under tow of the steamer C.W. Chamberlain
of Toronto, the Aloha was hauling 925 tons of coal from Erie, Pennsylvania to the
Kingston Locomotive Works when she foundered in the early morning of October 28, 1917
abreast of Nine Mile Point, Simcoe Island.
Left: Figure 4. The Aloha in an unidentified port, n.d..Note the
presence of the bowsprit which was later removed, and the absence of a weather deck
(Ontario Archives, S13043) |
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Figure 7. Aloha, outboard bow (at deck
level), stem (foreground), facing aft, J. Moore 1995 (BaGd-4-059-VS). |
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Figure 8. Aloha, port bow, facing starboard. Note draught marks on stem where
divers have cleared off mussels, J. Moore 1995 (BaGd-4-010-VS). |
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Figure 9. Aloha.
port bow, dislocated weather deck structure on lake bed, facing forward, J. Moore 1995
(BaGd-4-089-VS). |
At the time of sinking her home port was Midland, Ontario and
she was owned by Milnes and Kerr, coal dealers at Toronto (Figure 5). Four crew members
were saved, but the captain Daniel McVicar was lost. The wreck was later salvaged,
resulting in the removal of the decks and cargo, probably with a clam-shell.
The Aloha was relocated in August 1964 by Kingston divers Lloyd Shales and
Barbara Carson. A number of artifacts raised from the site at the time are now held by the
Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston. In 1980 a deck winch was removed from the
bow of the wreck, resulting in extensive damage, and this incident directly led to the
formation of P.O.W..
In the Fall of 1993 an obsolete dive charter boat, the Effie Mae
was purposely sunk next to the Aloha by P.O.W. to act as another attraction to
sport divers. The Aloha and Effie Mae are visited by numerous sport divers,
and P.O.W. maintains two moorings at the site, one at the bow and one off the port side
near the stern of the Aloha.
Archaeological Description
The Aloha rests in 55ft of
water, approximately one and a half kilometres northwest of Nine Mile Point, Simcoe
Island, latitude 44º 09’.783, longitude 76º 34’.089 (Figure 1b).
The wreck is upright on a level sandy bottom. The vessel is generally intact from stem
to stern post, and the wooden framework and hull planking survive to deck level. No
sections of the bulwarks survive in situ.
The bow is intact to deck level and a section of deck beams and deck planking are in
situ (to approximately 30ft aft of the stem) (Figures 6 - 15). Here an anchor windlass
and anchor chain rest on the deck planking. A substantial tow-bitt stands approximately
10ft above this section of decking. It is possible to swim under this section of decking
towards the chain locker. The heads of the stem and apron survive above the level of the
main deck, and draught marks are still visible in the stem. A weather deck once stood
above the main deck at the bow and supported a steam winch, and this fact accounts for the
height of the tow-bitt and the stem/apron assembly. The weather deck was destroyed in 1980
when the steam winch was removed, and the remains of the weather deck structure now lie at
the base of the port side of the bow (Figure 9). The donkey boiler lies off of the
starboard side near the bow.
Aft of the bow section with its in situ decking, the hull is much more broken
up; deck stanchions, deck beams and ceiling planking remain in-situ (and the beam
shelf here is exposed), but most of the deck beams and planking lie off the starboard side
in large sections, removed as a result of the salvage of the coal cargo. Therefore, the
interior of the hull is open to view but the hull is filled with sediment to a level above
the keelson(s). Very little of the cargo of coal remains in the hull. At the stern another
section of deck planking is in situ, but generally the stern is broken up, and the
transom has fallen to the lake bed (Figures 19 - 21). The capstan lies dislocated at the
stern.
There are few artifacts on the site. Apart from surfaces covered with silt, virtually
the entire wreck is covered with zebra and/or quagga mussels. The extent of mussel
coverage is considered to be 90%.
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update July 07 MDS
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