SS ''Kamloops'' was a Canadian lake freighter that was part of the fleet of Canada Steamship Lines from its launching in 1924 until it sank with all hands in Lake Superior off Isle Royale, Michigan, United States, on or about 7 December 1927.

The ''canaller''

The steamship ''Kamloops'' was built by Furness Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Haverton Hill,

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

, Durham, England, United Kingdom, for Steamships Ltd. of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With a length of only 250 feet (75 m) and rated at 2,402 gross tons, ''Kamloops'' was a relatively small vessel for the Great Lakes in the 1920s. She was built to fit inside the locks of the Canadian-operated canals of the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River during the years prior to the construction of the

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...

. The ship had two rigged masts and a 1000HP triple expansion steam engine with

Scotch boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a squat horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler ...

s. ''Kamloops'' completed its sea testing on 5 July 1924, was shipped to Copenhagen, Denmark, to pick up freight, then was taken to Montreal and Houghton, Michigan, United States. As a canaller, she carried diversified "package" freight between Canadian ports. Her chief duty was carrying manufactured goods from Montreal up the lakes to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. As Canada was still a part of the British Empire in the 1920s, the economically fast-growing Prairie Provinces bought a significant quantity of their manufactured goods from England. Canada's freshwater fleet, including ''Kamloops'', was an essential link in this vein of imperial commerce. It is the custom of Great Lakes shipping to try to move as much freight as possible before winter and associated ice conditions bring boat movements to a halt. ''Kamloops''s owners operated the ship as late into the season as possible: in 1924 it was one of the last vessels to pass through the

Sault Ste. Marie Canal The Sault Ste. Marie Canal is a National Historic Site in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and is part of the national park system, managed by Parks Canada. It includes a lock to bypass the rapids on the St. Marys River. The first canal near the s ...

, and in 1926 it ended the season stuck in the ice in the St. Mary's River. She remained under British registry until 1926 when it was nominally purchased by new owners, Canada Steamship Lines, and re-registered in Canada.

December 1927

''Kamloops'' was dispatched up the lakes in late November 1927, carrying a mixed cargo of tar paper,

papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a speciali ...

machinery, coiled wire for farm fencing, piping, shoes and foodstuffs. On 1 December, the steamer called at

Courtright, Ontario Courtright is an unincorporated community in St. Clair Township, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the St. Clair River, south of Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 p ...

, to top off its cargo with some bagged salt. She then steamed up

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

, passed through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal on 4 December, and faced the challenge of Lake Superior. Unfortunately for ''Kamloops'' and other vessels assigned to Lake Superior runs, a massive storm began hammering the lake on 5 December. ''Kamloops'', heavily coated with ice, was last seen steaming towards the southeastern shore of Isle Royale at dusk on the following day, 6 December. The ship, and the twenty-two men and women aboard, were never seen alive again. A search for ''Kamloops'' began on 12 December, concentrating on the

Keweenaw Peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As o ...

and Isle Royale; the search continued until 22 December. When the 1928 navigation season opened in April, a further search was made for wreckage from ''Kamloops''. In May, fishermen discovered the remains of several crewmembers at Twelve O'Clock Point on Isle Royale (erroneously reported to be on the nearby Amygdaloid Island). In addition, wreckage from the ship was discovered ashore. In June, more bodies were discovered. A more comprehensive search for the wreck and crewmembers was undertaken, but nothing was found. Of the nine bodies recovered from ''Kamloops'', five were identified and the remains shipped to next of kin. Four remained unidentified and were buried at Thunder Bay. A collective memorial stone was placed over their gravesite in 2011.

Message in a bottle

In December 1928, a trapper working at the mouth of the

Agawa River The Agawa River is a river in Algoma District, Ontario, Algoma District, Ontario, Canada which empties into Agawa Bay on Lake Superior at the community of Agawa Bay, south of Wawa, Ontario. History The Agawa Rock rock painting, pictographs are l ...

found a bottled note from Alice Bettridge, a young assistant stewardess who initially survived the sinking of ''Kamloops'' and, before she herself perished, wrote, "I am the last one left alive, freezing and starving to death on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. I just want mom and dad to know my fate." Handwriting confirmed by parents.

''Kamloops'' today

For fifty years, ''Kamloops'' was one of the "Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes", having sunk without a trace. However, on 21 August 1977, her wreck was discovered northwest of Isle Royale, near what is now known as Kamloops Point, by a group of sport divers carrying out a systematic search for the ship. The ship, discovered sitting on the lake bottom under more than of water, is lying on its

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

side at the base of an underwater cliff. Its detached smokestack lies a short distance away, near the starboard aft cargo mast. Some cargo remains in the holds, while other cargo is strewn around the wreck site. There are still human remains aboard the ship, including the remains of a crew member lodged under a stairway in the engine room, nicknamed "Old Whitey". Approximately fifty dives were made to ''Kamloops'' out of 1,062 dives made to wrecks in the

Isle Royale National Park Isle Royale National Park is an American national park consisting of Isle Royale – known as Minong to the native Ojibwe – along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan. ...

in 2009. The exact cause of her sinking remains a mystery. ''Kamloops'' features prominently in the novel ''A Superior Death'' by

Nevada Barr Nevada Barr (born March 1, 1952) is an American author of mystery fiction. She is known for her Anna Pigeon series, which is primarily set in a series of national parks and other protected areas of the United States. Early life Although Barr w ...

. In the novel, the body of a fictional contemporary diver is found together with the historical human remains in the ship's engine room.

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