AH-WR-2039

Flora Alberta

Fishing Schooner · Lost 1943 · Nova Scotia & Sable Island

The Lunenburg schooner Flora Alberta was cut in two by the steamer Fanad Head in fog on April 21, 1943; 21 of 28 crew died.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Launched at Lunenburg in 1941 by Smith and Rhuland, the auxiliary fishing schooner Flora Alberta left for the Western Bank under Captain Guy Tanner on April 17, 1943. Before dawn on April 21, in dense fog, the British steamer Fanad Head, sailing from Halifax with a convoy, struck her on the starboard side and cut her in two. She sank within minutes. Most of the crew were asleep; 17 or 21 of the 28 aboard died, by differing accounts, leaving 46 children fatherless. Courts later found Fanad Head two-thirds to blame.

Vessel

Built: 1941
Builder: Smith and Rhuland
Yard: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail and auxiliary engine
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: April 21, 1943
Cause: Collision
Location: Western Bank, roughly 140 km southeast of Halifax
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia → Western Bank fishing grounds
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Accounts differ: the Canadian Disaster Database gives 17 of 28 crew lost with 11 survivors; another account gives 21 of 28.
Master: Guy Tanner

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: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Region: Nova Scotia & Sable Island

No pin: no surveyed wreck position in the sources used.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (70/100)

Based on a published secondary account corroborated by the Government of Nova Scotia shipwreck catalogue; original records were not independently inspected.

Wikipedia — Flora Alberta
Article narrative of construction, voyage and loss (secondary summary of cited books and newspapers).
Government of Nova Scotia — Marine Heritage Shipwrecks Database
Official catalogue entry: vessel name, date, event type and written location.
Public Safety Canada — Canadian Disaster Database, Flora Alberta
Collision with Fanad Head in fog on Western Bank, 21 April 1943; crew of 28.