SILGO

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The barkentine Prince of Wales was built in 1860 in St. Catharines, Ontario, by Louis Shickluna. The original owner of the vessel was John Campbell Graham from St. Catharines. The Prince of Wales, also known as Sligo, was constructed using wood as its primary hull material and featured a single deck.

With three masts, the Prince of Wales had a length of 137 feet, a beam of 23 feet, and a depth of 11.8 feet. Its tonnage, measured in the old style, was 400. The vessel was designed as a barkentine, which is a type of sailing ship with three or more masts, with the foremast being square-rigged and the other masts carrying fore-and-aft sails.

Throughout its history, the Prince of Wales went through several ownership changes and modifications. In 1862, it loaded a cargo of oil in Sarnia, Ontario, and set sail for Liverpool, England. In 1862-63, it was converted into a “three & after” schooner. The vessel changed owners multiple times and underwent rebuilds, including a reconstruction in St. Catharines in 1874 when it was renamed Sligo. Ownership of the vessel transferred to J.G. Graham in 1878 and then to Graham & O. in 1879.

In 1880, the Prince of Wales experienced a significant event when it broke its moorings during a gale in Kingston, resulting in three other vessels being torn loose. The vessel underwent another rebuilding process in the same year. In subsequent years, it changed owners several times, including being owned by Captain Kerwin of Port Sarnia in 1887.

In 1890, the Prince of Wales encountered a stranded incident at the head of Round Island in Lake Superior. In 1893, it underwent another conversion, this time to a schooner-barge at James Simpson Shipyard in Port McNicoll, Ontario. The vessel’s tonnage was reduced to 284 tons during this conversion.

Ownership of the Prince of Wales changed hands once again, with Haney & Miller owning it in 1909 and later Point Anne Quarries, Ltd. around 1909. The vessel had a unique incident around 1910 when it became buried in a slip due to the collapse of Adamson’s Elevator, which caused 1,000 tons of stone, timber, and galvanized iron to fall. However, the Prince of Wales was eventually returned to service.

The final moments of the Prince of Wales occurred on September 5, 1918, during a thunderstorm on Lake Ontario. The vessel grounded and sank in Humber Bay, near Toronto Island, off the coast of Toronto, Ontario. At the time of the sinking, the Prince of Wales was carrying a cargo of stone. The wreck now rests at a depth of 67 inches in Lake Ontario.

In 1987, the sunken remains of the Prince of Wales were discovered by SCUBA diver Don MacIntyre in Toronto, Ontario, providing a glimpse into the history of this once-prominent vessel.