AH-WR-0443

Washington

Sloop · United States · Lost 1803 · Lake Ontario & the St. Lawrence

One of the oldest confirmed Great Lakes shipwrecks: a pioneering sloop portaged around Niagara Falls, lost with all hands in 1803.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Washington was built in 1798 near Erie, Pennsylvania, the first commercial sailing vessel constructed on Lake Erie. In 1802 she was hauled overland by ox team around Niagara Falls to begin sailing Lake Ontario for Canadian merchants at Queenston. On November 6, 1803, she departed Kingston, Ontario, with five men and a cargo including goods from as far as India, and was never seen again. Discovered in deep water off Oswego in June 2016 by veteran shipwreck hunters, she is regarded as the second-oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes.

Vessel

Built: 1797
Builder: Not established
Yard: Near Erie, Pennsylvania
Material: Wood
Length: 53 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Canadian merchants (Queenston, Ontario, from 1800)

Loss

Date: November 6, 1803
Cause: Not established
Location: Lake Ontario, en route from Kingston, Ontario
Water: Lake Ontario
Voyage: Kingston, Ontario
Cargo: Various goods valued around $20,000, some originating from as far as India
Aboard: 5
Lives lost: 5
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Mostly intact, mast still standing
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 2016-06
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Oswego, New York
Region: Lake Ontario & the St. Lawrence

Extensive news coverage (AP, Smithsonian, National Museum of the Great Lakes) of Jim Kennard's 2016 discovery of the sloop Washington in deep water off Oswego confirms the find but does not publish the wreck's specific coordinates, consistent with the searchers' general practice of withholding exact positions for deep, sensitive sites.