Nov 26, 2025
Nov 19, 2025
The Highest Concentration of Shipwrecks in North America - Georgian Bay's Fathom Five National Marine Park
- Richard Crowder
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
Fathom Five National Marine Park, Canada’s first federally protected marine area, was created in 1987 off the tip of the Bruce Peninsula separating Georgian Bay from Lake Huron. It was established to protect the delicate ecosystem, unique geological features, crystal clear water, and historic shipwrecks in this relatively small area encompassing only 43 square miles (112 square kilometres).
The 60-mile long (100 km) Bruce Peninsula, part of the Niagara Escarpment, itself a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, consists primarily of dolomite, a harder form of limestone which when worn away by the constant wave action of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay forms the iconic cliffs, caves, tunnels, and flower pots for which the Peninsula is renowned.
But it is exactly these limestone protrusions at or just beneath the surface of the water just off the end of the Peninsula that cause such a high concentration of shipwrecks for those unfortunate vessels seeking refuge from Lake Huron storms. And that is because the 650-mile long (1,050 km) Niagara Escarpment doesn’t end at the Bruce Peninsula.
It actually starts on the south shore on Lake Ontario near Rochester, New York, which forms Niagara Falls, the cliffs of Hamilton and Milton, Ontario, the ski hills across to Collingwood, and then the Bruce Peninsula. Then it dips underwater for a bit, forming Manitoulin Island (the largest freshwater island in the world), the islands separating Lake Huron from the North Channel of Georgian Bay, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and finally Door County, Wisconsin, which separates Green Bay from Lake Michigan before the Escarpment peters off west of Milwaukee.
The first recorded wreck within the boundaries of Fathom Five is that of the wooden schooner Cascaden in the fall of 1871. The remains are scattered over a large area at a depth of 20 feet (6 m). Two wrecks within the park are recorded from a wicked November snowstorm in 1883. The 137-foot (42 m) two-masted empty schooner China lies broken apart on a reef named after it in 10 feet (3 m) of water. In that same storm very little wreckage remains of the 108-foot (33 m) two-masted and fully loaded schooner John Walters lying in only 15-feet (5 m) of water. The closer to the surface a wreck is, the more and the faster it is torn apart by the action of wind and waves over the years.
Arguably the most talked about shipwreck in the area is that of the 119-foot (36 m) two-masted schooner Sweepstakes. It had been damaged off Cove Island in September of 1885 carrying a load of coal and was being towed to Big Tub Harbour in Tobermory for repairs when it sank some 150-feet (46 m) inside the entrance to the Harbour in 20 feet (6 m) of clear water. It is mostly all intact and easily viewed from the surface of the Harbour.
About 100 feet (30 m) from the Sweepstakes lies the remains of the wooden 125-foot (38 m) passenger steamer City of Grand Rapids. In October of 1907, it started on fire at the commercial docks in Little Tub Harbour in Tobermory and its flaming mass was towed away from the docks. It drifted into close by Big Tub Harbour where it eventually ran aground and sank in 15 feet (5 m) of water.
In another terrible November storm on the Great Lakes, this time in 1901, the 220-foot (67 m) wooden bulk freighter W.L. Wetmore was carrying a load of lumber from Parry Sound, Ontario to Buffalo, New York, while towing two barges similarly loaded with lumber. The Wetmore was headed for Tobermory as a refuge from the storm but ended up being wrecked and broken apart on the northwest side of Russel Island just northwest of Tobermory. It is easily seen in 24 feet (7 m) of water. One of the barges, the 175-foot (53 m) James C. King burned and sank into 95 feet (30 m) close to the Wetmore. The second barge was salvaged.
And finally an interesting tale of a more recent loss. In a fierce gale in October of 1980, the 135-foot (41 m) Avalon Voyageur II struck bottom off Cape Hurd on the far northwest tip of the Bruce Peninsula and hobbled as far as Hay Bay around the corner from Big Tub Harbour in Tobermory. The remarkable Avalon had started life as a minesweeper off Canada’s east coast in World War II. After the war, it became a cargo ship in the fishing industry out of Twillingate, Newfoundland.
After thirty years, the Avalon moved to the Great Lakes and was converted to a floating restaurant in Kincardine, Ontario on the east shore of Lake Huron. It was being moved from Kincardine to Owen Sound, Ontario at the southern end of Georgian Bay to continue as a floating restaurant when it foundered. It was set ablaze by vandals but its hull and machinery are visible in 25 feet (8 m) of water.
There are several more wrecks to a total of 20 within the boundaries of Fathom Five National Marine Park and they are accessible to snorkeling, scuba diving, or to viewing from glass-bottom tour boats out of Tobermory. They each have a story to tell.
One very sad and unnecessary loss still within the boundaries of Fathom Five National Marine Park is that in June, 2000 of the 35-foot (10.6 m) glass-bottom tour boat out of Tobermory, the True North II. Returning young students from an overnight school field trip on Flowerpot Island, the Captain apparently ignored small craft and gale-force wind warnings to pick up and return the twenty persons of which thirteen were young students. The boat took on water and sank in 50 feet (15 m) of water, just 650 feet (200 m) from shore. All aboard were able to swim ashore except two 12 year old boys who drowned. No one was wearing a life jacket.
There are a lot more interesting and often tragic shipwrecks in Georgian Bay proper. After all, the eastern portion of the Bay consists mostly of granite rock and boasts of the largest concentration of freshwater islands in the world – the Thirty Thousand Islands. And those are just the protrusions of land that stay above the average mean water level of the Bay. There are thousands more shoals and islands just below surface water level, or are just above at times of lower water levels. Today the Canadian Hydrographic Service provides excellent offshore and onshore buoys and markers and electronic and paper charts to provide clear routing through this maze of islands and shoals. But back in the day, there were none.
The 178-foot (54 m) passenger freighter SS Manasoo regularly operated between Owen Sound at the bottom of Georgian Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. With 20 crew, two passengers, 115 cows, and two bulls, it left Manitoulin Island in September, 1928 destined for The Soo. Off Griffith Island in the far North Channel of Georgian Bay, the Manasoo rolled and sank, possibly due to the cattle shifting position on board. Sixteen people died. It was recently found quite intact in 2018 in just over 200 feet (60 m) of water. Still inside is the 1927 Chevy Coupe of the ship’s owner with license plates still attached.
One of the worst disasters in all of the Great Lakes happened in a vicious September storm in 1882 when the 136-foot (42 m) passenger steamship Asia capsized some 20 miles (32 km) off Lonely Island where it had turned to head for refuge from the storm. The Asia was on its regular route from Owen Sound to Sault Ste. Marie with a stop in Killarney with a crew of 25 and 100 passengers. After capsizing in massive waves, the apparently flimsy lifeboats were unstable and kept overturning. One lifeboat did make it to shore the following day near the Byng Inlet lighthouse with two teenagers alive onboard and several others, including the ship’s captain, who had all died. In all, 123 lives were lost.
A tragic loss is that of the 87-foot (27 m) private pleasure yacht Wawinet owned by ex-Montreal Canadien and Toronto Maple Leaf defenseman Bert Corbeau of Penetanguishene, Ontario. Bert was manager of the Midland Foundry and Machine Company which had just completed a wartime contract in September of 1942. To celebrate, and to thank his employees, Bert invited them all for a cruise aboard his yacht. Forty-two of the forty-five employees showed up.
They left Penetanguishene in late afternoon and cruised to the Delawana Inn in Honey Harbour for refreshments. On the return home on a calm and moonlit night, the Wawinet hit a sandbar off the southern shore of Beausoleil Island, took on water and sank in only a few minutes. What is left of the Polson Iron Works-built hull after so many years, including pilfering by divers, rests mostly intact in 25 feet (8 m) of water between Beausoleil and Present Islands. Only 17 of the 42 on board survived. Bert Corbeau did not survive. Even a commemorative plaque on the wreck to those who died has apparently been pilfered.
The loss of the 135-foot (41 m) side-wheel passenger steamer Waubuno in a November gale in 1879 off Wreck Island with all 20 passengers and crew aboard remains a mystery to this day. No bodies have ever been found. The Waubuno regularly plied the route from Collingwood to Parry Sound and The Soo but was on its last legs, and possibly its last trip, before the ice set in and forced its tragic retirement. The captain had complained of a leaking hull that was coming apart and a boiler on the verge of breakdown, too. The gale likely tore it apart somewhere northeast of Christian Island and south of the Western Islands. Many small pieces of wreckage have been recovered. The following year, another ship, the Simcoe, owned by the same company and said to be in similar unsafe condition, was lost in November of 1880.
The reefs around Hope Island, which is north of Christian and Beckwith Islands off the tip of the Penetanguishene Peninsula of Georgian Bay, have claimed a lot of ships including the 325-foot (99 m) bulk carrier Thomas Cranage in September, 1911, carrying a load of wheat from Duluth, MN. This was the largest wooden-hull ship ever built on the Great Lakes. It lies in 10 to 20-feet (3-6 m) on Watcher Reef just northeast off Hope Island.
Other Hope Island wrecks include the 297-foot (90 m) barge the Michigan, originally a car ferry, which sank in a November, 1943 gale on Lottie Wolf Shoal off Hope Island while trying to rescue another ship. It lies in many pieces in very shallow water but features massive lifting winches and some gearing over 10 feet (3 m) in diameter. Also off Hope Island is the 200-foot (61 m) schooner Lottie Wolf which sank in a gale in October of 1891 and for which the shoal is named. It lies in 30 feet (9 m) just off the Hope island Lighthouse.
The 120-foot (37 m) freighter and passenger tugboat Metamora was towing a log boom and headed for Byng Inlet in September, 1907 when it hit a shoal off Pointe au Baril. It caught fire and sank but remained visible for years. Today its boiler is still visible and is painted white with an attached channel marker as a hazard warning.
There are just so many more interesting but also tragic shipwreck stories to bring to light that happened, quite often during the famous gales of late fall on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. But to end on a somewhat different note, the 114-foot (35 m) passenger steamer Midland City spent the last twenty years of its 84-year working life transporting passengers daily between Midland and Parry Sound. As road transportation improved and car ownership grew, boat passenger transport declined.
The Midland City was towed by its owners to the Wye River in Midland in 1955, dismantled and burned. The remains became part of the breakwall at the huge Wye Heritage Marina at the mouth of the Wye River on Georgian Bay. The Midland City is still working the waves and power of Georgian Bay.
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