The propeller PERSEVERANCE was a vessel built in 1864 in Saint Catharines, Ontario, by Louis Shickluna. It was constructed as a wooden-hulled propeller with two decks and measured 177 feet in length, 31 feet in beam, and had a depth of 12 feet. The vessel had a gross tonnage of 632 and a capacity of 750.
It was powered by a single-cylinder steam engine with a 530 horsepower rating, driving a single propeller. The engine was built by John Gartshore in Dundas, Ontario. The vessel was equipped with two boilers, each measuring 26 feet by 8 feet and containing 100 flues.
The PERSEVERANCE primarily operated in the grain trade, carrying cargo between Saint Catharines, Ontario, and Oswego, New York, on Lake Ontario. It was part of the Welland Railway Line and was used for transporting grain between the two locations.
On October 6, 1868, while on a voyage with a load of corn, the PERSEVERANCE caught fire while underway on Lake Ontario, near Pultneyville, New York. The fire quickly engulfed the vessel, resulting in a tragic disaster. Fourteen crew members, including Captain John FitzGibbons, were lost in the fire, while five survivors were rescued by the sister ship ENTERPRISE.
The exact cause of the fire remains unknown, and the vessel burned to the waterline. The cargo of the PERSEVERANCE, consisting of 20,147 bushels of corn, was insured, but the exact amount of insurance coverage is not mentioned in the sources.
The PERSEVERANCE was a significant loss in terms of both human lives and property, and it marked one of the most heart-rending accidents in the history of Lake Ontario shipping.
Sources and External Links
- The Democracy, Buffalo Thursday, July 19, 1855
- Register of the Ships on the lakes and River St. Lawrence for 1864
- Toledo Blade December 5, 1867
- Maritime History of the Great Lakes Website
- Toronto Globe October 1, 1864
- Kingston Spectator (Kingston, ON), June 18, 1833
- Daily Journal (St. Catharines, ON), Wed., Oct. 7, 1868
- St. Catharines Constitutional, July 6, 1864; July 7, 1864; August 25, 1864.
- St. Catharines Evening Journal, Auust 15, 1864; August 26, 1864; October 7, 1868.
- Toronto Globe and Mail, September 28, 1864.
- Journal of the Assembly of Upper Canada-1846, Appendix N.
- Statement of Wreck & Casualty, Dept. of Marine & Fisheries, 1870.
- Great Lakes Ships Website
