The story
HMS Ontario was a 22-gun snow (a type of brig) of the Royal Navy, launched at Carleton Island in 1780 for use during the American Revolutionary War. At 80 feet in length, she was the largest British warship on the Great Lakes at the time. The vessel carried troops and supplies between Fort Niagara, Fort Ontario (Oswego), and Fort Haldimand on the St. Lawrence River.
In late October 1780, while returning from Fort Niagara, HMS Ontario was caught in a fierce storm and lost with all hands — approximately 130 soldiers, crew, and passengers, including several families. The sinking was one of the worst maritime disasters on the Great Lakes during the Revolutionary War.
The wreck was discovered in May 2008 by Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville using side-scan sonar, between Niagara and Rochester in water exceeding 492 feet deep. The vessel sits upright on the bottom with two masts reaching 70 feet above the lakebed — remarkably well preserved in the cold, dark water. HMS Ontario is the oldest fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes.
