AH-WR-0441

Iona

Steambarge · United States · Lost 1912 · Lake Ontario & the St. Lawrence

A coal-laden steambarge that burned to a loss off Oswego in 1912, all thirteen aboard escaping safely.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in 1892 at Trenton, Ontario, the wooden steambarge Iona spent two decades in the St. Lawrence River forwarding trade, carrying grain and coal between Lake Ontario, Montreal, and Quebec ports, occasionally reaching as far as Lake Superior. On the evening of May 18, 1912, while carrying 1,000 tons of soft coal from Sodus, New York, to Montreal, a fire broke out in her boiler room roughly 15 miles off Oswego. Strong winds spread the blaze through the stern, and the vessel was lost, though all 13 aboard survived.

Vessel

Built: 1892
Registry: Canadian official no. 94922
Builder: S. Perry
Yard: Trenton, Ontario
Material: Wood
Length: 123.5 ft
Beam: 24.2 ft
Tonnage: 231.53
Propulsion: Steam, single screw
Owners: F.E. Hall & Company, Montreal, Quebec (built for Captain James D. Van Alstine, Picton, Ontario)

Loss

Date: May 18, 1912
Cause: Fire
Location: Lake Ontario, approximately 15 miles off Oswego, New York
Water: Lake Ontario
Voyage: Sodus, New York → Montreal, Quebec
Cargo: 1,000 tons of soft coal
Aboard: 13
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Port bow and forecastle preserved, with anchors stowed on the main deck
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary

Position

Coordinates: 43.45° N 76.51° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Oswego, New York
Region: Lake Ontario & the St. Lawrence

General area only: coordinate of Oswego, New York from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel ("Lake Ontario, approximately 15 miles off Oswego, New York"), not a surveyed wreck position.