AH-WR-1852

Catherine

Auxiliary Fishing Schooner · United States · Lost 1933 · Nova Scotia & Sable Island

All 29 aboard escaped in dories after Catherine grounded near Canso and burned across New Year's Eve, 1933.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Catherine was launched at Arthur Dana Story's Essex yard in 1915 for owner-master Archie A. MacLeod. She worked the halibut and winter haddock fisheries with sail and auxiliary power. On December 31, 1933, heavy icing drove her toward Canso, where she struck Bald Rock Shoal in thick weather. All 29 aboard escaped in nine dories before the grounded schooner burned to the water's edge by New Year's Day.

Vessel

Built: 1915
Builder: Arthur Dana Story
Yard: Essex, Massachusetts
Material: Not established
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 159 gross tons; 77 net tons
Propulsion: Sail and auxiliary engine
Owners: Owner-master Archie A. MacLeod

Loss

Date: December 31, 1933
Cause: Grounding
Location: Bald Rock Shoal, northern entrance to Canso harbor, Nova Scotia
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Fishing banks after repairs at Liverpool, Nova Scotia → Canso, Nova Scotia, for shelter and relief from icing
Cargo: Reported 25,000 pounds of haddock and cod
Aboard: 29
Lives lost: 0
Master: Archie A. MacLeod

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Canso, Nova Scotia
Region: Nova Scotia & Sable Island

Named harbor-entrance shoal fits existing region; no verified wreck position supplied.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (82/100)

Hull material, reliable dimensions, surveyed wreck position, salvage and present remains are unestablished; burning chronology spans December 31 and January 1.

R. Sheedy, Down to Sea — The Catherine (January 2, 1934 account)
Complete construction, service and loss transcription: Story/Essex October 10, 1915 launch; owner-master MacLeod, engines, gross/net tonnage; Sunday grounding/abandonment and New Year's Day completion of fire; Bald Rock Shoal at Canso; nine dories, captain and 28 crew safe, 28-name roster; two fallen spars. Malformed dimensions, compressed chronology and landing-time conflicts retained. Original newspaper not independently inspected; no verified wreck site or subsequent sinking asserted.