- Barge
- 250ffw
- 200ft Length
- Amherst Island, Lake Ontario
- N 44’08.162 W76’49.615
LONDONDERRY, originally registered in 1901 as the QUEBEC (2), was a steel sailing barge with a gross tonnage of 1016.88 tons and a net tonnage of 988.75 tons. It was built by the Carrier-Laine Co. in Lèvis, Quebec, measuring 206.16 feet in length. The barge had three masts and was a sister ship to the HAMILTON. Over the years, its value fluctuated, ranging from $41,500 in 1903 to $49,000 in 1919.
The QUEBEC (2) experienced several incidents and challenges throughout its history. In 1905, it was docked, caulked, and chartered to the Pentecost Lumber Co. It ran ashore near Charlotte (Rochester), New York, on November 12, 1906, and underwent caulking again in 1908. The barge found itself aground at Alexandria Bay, New York, in August 1913. In 1915, it ran aground on Main Duck Island near Kingston, Ontario, along with the barge BURMA. Another stranding occurred near Morrisburg, Ontario, on June 29, 1916, but the QUEBEC (2) was refloated on July 15. Tragedy struck on August 9, 1919, when the barge was involved in an explosion at the government grain transfer elevator in Port Colborne, Ontario. Eleven people were killed, including one crew member from the QUEBEC (2), and sixteen were injured. The barge was declared a constructive total loss, and the Montreal Transportation Co. received $20,000 from the underwriters. It was then sold to John E. Russell Construction of Toronto in 1920, who had it rebuilt.
On February 20, 1929, the barge was renamed LONDONDERRY. It was subsequently owned by Sincennes-MacNaughton Lines, Ltd., based in Montreal, Quebec, from 1929 to 1959. The ownership transferred to McAllister Towing, Ltd., also located in Montreal, in 1959 until 1962. From 1962 to 1967, McAllister-Pyke Salvage, Ltd., based in Kingston, Ontario, owned the barge. Eventually, the LONDONDERRY was scuttled off Amherst Island on Lake Ontario.
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