Shotline Diving

Connecting You to the Depths of the Great Lakes

Garden Island Graveyard

Here’s a full Shotline-style article you can drop into a new page called something like: Garden Island Barge Graveyard (Back Bay, Kingston) I’ve kept it in your usual wreck/logbook voice, assuming this is a multi-wreck site rather than a single hull. IDENTIFICATION & SITE INFORMATION Site Name: Garden Island Barge Graveyard (Back Bay, Garden Island)Also…

Here’s a full Shotline-style article you can drop into a new page called something like:

Garden Island Barge Graveyard (Back Bay, Kingston)

I’ve kept it in your usual wreck/logbook voice, assuming this is a multi-wreck site rather than a single hull.

  • Type: Ship graveyard – cluster of abandoned wooden barges, schooner-barges, tugs & steam barges
  • Lengths: Typical hulls ~30–65 m (100–215 ft) – e.g. tug PARTHIA c. 33 m / 108 ft; steam barge INDIA c. 66 m / 216 ft
  • Deaths: No known loss-of-life disasters at the graveyard itself (individual hulls may have earlier casualty histories elsewhere)
  • Location: Back Bay on the north side of Garden Island, St. Lawrence River, ~3 km SE of Kingston, Ontario, between the mainland and Wolfe Island
  • GPS: Multiple wreck positions – cluster of hulls used as piers and breakwaters in the sheltered back bay. Use updated charts / Shotline map layer for individual coordinates.
  • Depth: Very shallow – mostly ~1–5 m (3–16 ft), with some pockets slightly deeper; many timbers and frames are at or just below normal water level and visible from the surface.
  • Difficulty: Novice–intermediate. Easy water conditions but navigation, entanglement and boat-traffic hazards demand disciplined procedures. Ideal for kayak / SUP / snorkel; scuba possible as low-profile, shallow dives.
  • Access: Boat / paddle craft only – sheltered bay; often visited on guided “Get Wrecked”–style tours with Marine Museum interpreters.

IDENTIFICATION & SITE INFORMATION

Site Name: Garden Island Barge Graveyard (Back Bay, Garden Island)
Also Known As: Garden Island ship graveyard; Garden Island marine graveyard; Back Bay hulks
Waterbody: St. Lawrence River, eastern Lake Ontario approach (Kingston, Ontario)
Site Type: Abandonment ground / ship graveyard – cluster of stripped hulls beached and sunk deliberately to serve as piers, wharves and breakwaters in the sheltered Back Bay of Garden Island.

According to the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation, “as many as twenty-three vessels” from the Calvin fleet (schooners and later steamers) were taken out of service and put to work as piers and breakwaters in a marine graveyard in the Back Bay of Garden Island. Modern tours and surface photography still show 20+ visible hulls and partial wrecks in the bay.

This site is NOT the same as the better-known Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard in Port Adelaide, South Australia – same name, completely different continent. (Department for Environment and Water)

CONSTRUCTION & OWNERSHIP

The Garden Island Barge Graveyard is not a single vessel but a cluster of Calvin-related hulls, including:

  • Timber schooners and schooner-barges built at the Calvin Shipyard on Garden Island between 1839 and 1903
  • Unpowered wooden barges and scows used in the square-timber and bulk-freight trades
  • Steam barges and tugs from the late Calvin & Breck / Calvin Co. period

Identified or strongly associated hulls include, at minimum: (

  • PARTHIA – wooden tug, built 1896 at Garden Island for Calvin Co.; abandoned 1914 – Garden Island Graveyard
  • INDIA – large wooden steam barge, built 1899 at Garden Island; burnt 1928 – Garden Island Graveyard
  • Additional barges and ex-Calvin schooners re-used as fixed piers and cribwork in the bay, some now collapsed into low, scattered ribs and keelsons

    • Hull construction is typical late-19th century Great Lakes practice:

    • Structure: Oak/elm framing, sawn frames with iron/steel fasteners, heavy keelsons and wale strakes
    • Planking: Softwood outer planking (often pine), reinforced around bilges and turn of the bilge
    • Decks: Multiple deck beams and king posts now largely collapsed; scattered treenails and iron knees still visible in situ

    Because the ships were stripped and re-purposed as piers, many superstructures, engines and fittings were removed before abandonment. Surviving structure is mostly lower hull and framing.

    POWER

    Originally, this cluster represented multiple power configurations:

    • Unpowered barges / schooner-barges: Towed by Calvin tugs such as HERCULES, HIRAM A. CALVIN and FRONTENAC during their working lives.
    • Tugs (e.g. PARTHIA): Coal-fired steam tugs, designed for raft towing and harbour work.
    • Steam barges (e.g. INDIA): Screw steamers with large holds for bulk freight and timber, later stripped and burned/hulked.

    By the time they reached the barge graveyard, these hulls were effectively de-powered, reduced to bare wooden shells.

    HULL DIMENSIONS (TYPICAL)

    Because this is a multi-wreck site, dimensions vary. Representative examples from Calvin yard records and secondary sources:

    • Tug PARTHIA (1896) – approx. 33 m (108 ft) length, 7–8 m (23–26 ft) beam, typical Calvin towboat proportions
    • Steam Barge INDIA (1899) – approx. 66 m (216 ft) length, ~11 m (36 ft) beam (large lumber and bulk carrier)
    • Smaller barges and schooner-barges: typically 30–50 m (100–165 ft) long

    On site, divers and paddlers mostly encounter partial hulls:

    HISTORY

    Garden Island & Calvin’s Fleet

    Between roughly 1830 and 1914, Garden Island served as the headquarters for the Calvin family’s timber forwarding, shipbuilding, towing and wrecking operations, with 62+ vessels built at the Calvin Shipyard alone. (Springer Link)

    As the fleet aged and steel shipping, railways and motor transport eroded the timber-trade economy, older schooners, barges and steamers became uneconomical to maintain afloat. Rather than tow them to deep water, Calvin & Co and later harbour authorities followed a more practical approach for some hulls:

    Strip the vessels, tow them into the Back Bay, ground them in shallow water and use their hulls as piers, cribbing and breakwaters to protect working waterfronts and shoreline structures. (Cataraqui Research Foundation)

    The Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation notes that “as many as twenty-three vessels” from the Calvin fleet ended up serving as piers and breakwaters in a marine graveyard in the Back Bay of Garden Island. (Cataraqui Research Foundation)

    From Working Wharf to Ship Graveyard

    Over time:

    • Timber superstructures rotted or were salvaged for re-use, leaving open hulls
    • Ice, waves and freeze-thaw cycles collapsed decks and upper sides
    • Additional small craft, scows and harbour debris accumulated around the hulks

    By the mid-20th century, the Back Bay had effectively become a ship graveyard – not a disaster cluster like a storm wreck field, but an abandonment ground where obsolete wooden vessels were deliberately left to decay.

    Modern historical and archaeological work on ship abandonment around Kingston uses the Garden Island graveyard as a key example of how working craft become coastal infrastructure and then archaeological sites. (Cataraqui Research Foundation)

    WRECK SITE DESCRIPTION & DIVING NOTES

    General Layout

    • The graveyard occupies the sheltered Back Bay on the north side of Garden Island, with multiple hulls lying parallel or perpendicular to shore, often forming rough lines that once acted as wharf faces or cribbing. (Cataraqui Research Foundation)
    • At normal water levels, many frames and planks are visible from the surface; low water reveals extra timbers along the shore. (Curiocity)
    • Visibility can be surprisingly good on calm days (especially for snorkel / kayak viewing), but bottom conditions range from silty pockets to areas of weed and zebra/quagga colonisation.

    Depth & Conditions

    • Depth: typically 1–5 m (3–16 ft); occasional deeper scours may reach ~6–7 m (20–23 ft).
    • Current: minimal; sheltered bay.
    • Temperature: follows St. Lawrence seasonal pattern – cold in spring, warming in mid-summer, but still drysuit-friendly for most serious survey work.

    This is not a “big wreck” destination – it’s a low-relief archaeological scatter of overlapping hulls. The value here is context and density, not dramatic structure.

    Hazards

    • Extreme shallows: boats can easily ground or strike timbers; very real prop & hull hazard.
    • Snags & entanglement: broken ribs, spikes, bolts and old timbers protrude from the bottom and waterline.
    • Nails & metal fasteners: risk of cuts; robust gloves strongly recommended.
    • Boat traffic: paddlers, small boats and occasional tour craft use the bay; surface marking and situational awareness are essential.
    • Visibility swings: silt, algae and warm-water bloom can drop visibility quickly after storms or heavy traffic.

    Suggested Use Profile

    • Best for:
      • Kayak / SUP / canoe tours, especially with a historical interpreter on board
      • Snorkellers and shallow-water photographers documenting hull forms
      • Archaeological mapping & training dives focused on site formation, abandonment and hull construction, rather than depth or penetration
    • Less ideal for:
      • “Big wreck” sightseeing charters
      • Very large dive boats (draft + shoals)

    Guided “Get Wrecked”-style tours from Kingston already bring paddlers into the bay to see 20+ wrecks and hear the story of the island community and Calvin’s fleet; this is the interpretive context your article can plug into. (sarahjmccabe.com)

    FINAL DISPOSITION & SIGNIFICANCE

    The Garden Island Barge Graveyard is an example of:

    • Industrial re-use: working vessels converted to infrastructure (piers, breakwaters) before becoming archaeological sites. (Cataraqui Research Foundation)
    • Timber-trade lifecycle: vessels built for the square-timber and bulk trades, then parked and allowed to decay when those trades declined.
    • Maritime cultural landscape: the graveyard sits within a broader Kingston ship-abandonment system that includes graveyards off Amherst Island, Simcoe Island and Kingston Inner Harbour. (Cataraqui Research Foundation)

    Today the site functions as:

    • A shallow-water training and interpretation area
    • A field laboratory for understanding ships’ graveyards and abandonment processes in the Great Lakes
    • An accessible way for non-divers (paddlers, shoreline visitors) to see real wooden hulls in situ and connect them to the Calvin & Breck / Garden Island shipyard story.

    Protection guidelines and best practices mirror those for other Kingston-area wrecks: no removal, no disturbance, minimal contact, and respect for the integrity of the site.

    SHORT DATABASE ENTRY

    Garden Island Barge Graveyard (Back Bay, Garden Island, Kingston, Ontario) – Cluster of up to 23 abandoned wooden hulls (barges, schooners, steam barges and tugs) from the Calvin & Co fleet, deliberately grounded in the sheltered Back Bay of Garden Island to serve as piers and breakwaters. Depths mostly 1–5 m (3–16 ft). At least two identified Calvin hulls – tug PARTHIA (1896) and steam barge INDIA (1899) – now lie here as stripped hulks, along with numerous barges and ex-schooners. Site is a classic ships’ graveyard / abandonment ground, important for understanding the end-of-life phase of Garden Island’s 19th–20th century timber and towing fleet.

    REFERENCES & LINKS

    • Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation – “Underwater Archaeology” – notes on Calvin vessels and the “marine graveyard in the Back Bay of Garden Island” with up to 23 vessels used as piers/breakwaters. (Cataraqui Research Foundation)
    • Jonathan Moore, “Resting Places of the Pioneer Craft: Ship Abandonment at Kingston, Canada” in The Archaeology of Watercraft Abandonment – overview of Kingston’s ship graveyards, including Garden Island. (Springer Link)
    • Naval Marine Archive – “Calvin Shipyard, Garden Island, Ontario” – yard history & vessel list for Calvin-built barges, tugs and schooners. (Naval Marine Archive)
    • Shotline Diving – Builder: Calvin & Co – summary listing of Calvin-built vessels, including PARTHIA (tug, 1896, abandoned 1914 – Garden Island Graveyard)and INDIA (steam barge, 1899, burnt 1928 – Garden Island Graveyard)
    • Sarah J. McCabe – “Garden Island (Ontario) Shipwrecks” – photographic overview and notes on more than 20 wreck sites visible around Garden Island. (sarahjmccabe.com)
    • CurioCity – “Garden Island has historical shipwrecks you can see from the water” – popular article highlighting shallow-water wrecks at Garden Island (Ontario). (Curiocity)