The ship was located 100 meters underwater by archaeologist James Conolly from Trent University, after first appearing as a “large anomaly” during a 2017 fiber-optic cable survey.
“We had to take a moment to calm down — finding a wreck in perfect condition, completely intact, is overwhelming,” said Ontario Underwater Council President Heison Chak, who led the dive.
Unlike many shipwrecks damaged over time by anchors, storms, or divers, this one still has its full structure — including two upright masts and even a topmast, a detail Chak says he has never seen before in decades of exploring wrecks across Canada, the U.S., and the Caribbean.
The team had originally been searching for the Rapid City, a ship built in 1884 and lost in 1917. Instead, clues such as the absence of a centerboard, the lack of a wheel on the aft deck, and rope-based rigging suggest this discovery is much older.
“Metal rigging only became standard after the 1850s,” Conolly explained, indicating the ship likely dates to the first half of the 1800s.
