The Niagara II
A History of the Niagara II
:
The Niagara II was built in 1930 by the Furness Shipbuilding Company Ltd. of
Haverton Hill-on-Tees, England. She is is 55.5 meters long, has a beam of 10.7
meters, draws 4 meters and a gross tonnage of 723. Launched as the
Rideaulite
she worked for Imperial Oil on the Montreal to Ottawa route, by way of the lower St.
Lawrence canals and the Ottawa River. At some point her name was changed to the
Imperial
Lachine. In 1954 her name was changed to the Niagara and she was
converted to a self unloading sand sucker at Toronto Dry Dock Ltd.. At this time the
wheelhouse was moved aft. In 1969 she became the W.M. Edington and had
several people from the Tobermory area as crew. She had several owners over the next
few years and in 1972 was converted to diesel.
In 1984 her name became the
Niagara II and in 1990 she had her engines removed
and was converted to a barge. In 1997 McKeil Marine decided to sell her for scrap.
However on March 31, 1998 the Tobermory Maritime Association purchased the
Niagara
II ( purchase price $ 40,000.00 Canadian ) to sink in the Tobermory area as a wreck
for scuba divers. In October of 1998 the Association had the Niagara II
towed from Lake Erie to Tobermory. She arrived at the dock at 10:00 a.m. on October
25, towed by the 27.4 meter, 1000 h.p. tug Miseford. On Saturday May 15, 1999,
The Tobermory Maritime
Association sank the Niagara II in a spectacular display of
pyrotechnics, and she is now Tobermory's most popular dive site.