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June 13, 2008

A. Maze.

ZING.

A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the "Holy Grail" shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water, explorers announced Friday.

Shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.

The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes, Scoville and Kennard said.

Posted by tree hugging sister at June 13, 2008 11:47 PM

Comments

Really cool! Imagine, this ship has been on the bottom of Lake Ontario for 220 years and she still looks like she'd sail if brought to the surface. Wow!

Posted by: joated at June 14, 2008 10:33 AM

Hey, maybe the bottled grog survived!

Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at June 14, 2008 12:00 PM

Looks like a set from "Pirates Of The Caribbean"...

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 14, 2008 02:18 PM

Wow. Really cool.

Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at June 14, 2008 05:52 PM

That's awesome.But, I thought the Erie canal was
built in the 1820s.How did a British ship get to the
Great Lakes in the 1780s? Does anyone know?

Posted by: greg newson at June 14, 2008 07:27 PM

St. Lawrence River (and now the Seaway), Greg. It's how trappers and the "black robes" got into the interior of Canada and then into our Mid-West.

Posted by: tree hugging sister at June 14, 2008 07:45 PM

Thank you,Tree hugging sister.I'm very ignorant
of the geography of the Eastern US.I always thought
the Eire canal was the connector to the ocean.

Posted by: greg newson at June 14, 2008 08:26 PM

Many cool.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at June 14, 2008 09:55 PM

Greg, the Erie Canal connects the Hudson River to Lake Erie. Thus, after it was built, you could sail into the Great Lakes from New York City instead of having to come down the Saint Lawrence. The Erie Canal essentially created western New York, western Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Posted by: Dave J at June 15, 2008 03:34 PM

Dave J:I'm learning alot.Someday, I'm going back East.Like to see Gettysburg,the Empire State building,and all that.

Posted by: greg newson at June 15, 2008 10:51 PM

hoh-ree moh-ree

very cool

Posted by: WordGirl at June 16, 2008 08:20 AM