Shipwrecks of Ottawa Walking Tour
This tour focuses on twenty-two shipwrecks or wreck sites located along the Ottawa River between Kettle Island and Britannia Bay.
The tour is meant to be used along the Ottawa River Pathway/Trans-Canada Trail, with audio playing automatically based on location. The locations of twelve of these shipwrecks were found by the Underwater Society of Ottawa, while the rest come from research into the New Mills List, Parliament of Canada Sessional Papers, and other sources. Research was conducted as part of a project for DH5000 at Carleton University, with additional research and construction of the walking tour conducted for HIST5706 at Carleton University.
In 1823, Thomas Mears and Philemenon Wright launched the first steamboat on the Ottawa River proper. Named the "Union," its launch marked the beginning of more than one hundred years of steam vessel use on the river. Over the course of the century, hundreds of steam vessels plied the Ottawa River. Some were retired or sold for use on other waters, but many sank and remain under the river's surface. Use this walk to find out more about the shipwrecks in your area.
