Conestoga (ship)


Conestoga was an iron-clad wooden steam freighter constructed in 1878. In 1922, Conestoga caught fire at Cardinal, Ontario and sank.

Description

Conestoga was long with a beam of and a draft of. Conestoga had a hold.

Construction and career

The freighter was built in Cleveland, Ohio by Quale & Son for the Anchor Line of Erie, Pennsylvania. The vessel was launched on July 6, 1878.
On May 22, 1922, while awaiting passage through the Galop Canal Lock 28, a fire started in Conestogas engine room. The ship was flushed away from the lock and drifted downstream, where it burned to its waterline and sank. There was no loss of life and its cargo of 30,000 bushels of wheat was salvaged.
Conestoga is now a popular wreck dive where it sank in the Saint Lawrence River south of Cardinal, Ontario. It rests at a depth of and is about from shore. The upper portion of the steeple engine protrudes above the river, marking the site.