ALBANY, NEW YORK—The AP reports that a wreck recently discovered in Lake Ontario is believed to be the second-oldest ship ever found in the Great Lakes. The 53-foot-long single-masted sloop, called the Washington, was carrying cargo including goods from India when it set out from Kingston, Ontario, for Niagara, Ontario, on November 6, 1803. It ran into a fierce storm and sank, killing all on board, including at least three crewmembers and two merchants. Explorers Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski, and Roland Stevens found the wreck in deep water off Oswego, New York, where pieces of wreckage reportedly washed ashore the day after the Washington sank. They confirmed the ship was the Washington based on footage from a remotely operated vehicle. The discovery of the wreck will help historians learn more about the design and construction of sloops used on the Great Lakes in the early nineteenth century. “Every shipwreck offers something different that adds to our knowledge base,” said Carrie Sowden, archaeological director at the National Museum of the Great Lakes, which sponsored the exploration. The oldest ship to sink in the Great Lakes was the HMS Ontario, a British warship that sank in Lake Ontario in 1780. For more about shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, go to “Shipwreck Alley.”
