SS ''Princess'' was a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

that operated on

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg (french: Lac Winnipeg, oj, ᐑᓂᐸᑲᒥᐠᓴᑯ˙ᑯᐣ, italics=no, Weenipagamiksaguygun) is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Manitoba, Canada. I ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from 1881 until 1906. The vessel was built in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

by the Jarvis & Burridge shipyard, and it was regarded as the pride of Lake Winnipeg and as the finest lake steamer west from the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

and east from the Rocky Mountains. The vessel has a total of 40 spacious passenger cabins, and outwardly it resembled many of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

s. The vessel had a top speed of approximately 25 knots. In 1885, together with , ''Princess'' moved the thousand men that had participated the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...

from

Grand Rapids, Manitoba Grand Rapids is a town in Manitoba, Canada, on the northwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg where the Saskatchewan River enters the lake. As the name implies, the river had a significant drop at this point (more than in less than ). In modern days, ...

to Winnipeg. Soon after 1885 the vessel faced downgrading. The passenger cabins were removed and she was downgraded to a cargo vessel. The

paddlewheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...

s and the original

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

were replaced with a new steam engine and a four-blade

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. During the work the hull was also lengthened to . Only six cabins, a

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a ...

and a small

dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...

were left. After the work the vessel was primarily used to carry bulky goods and

railroad tie A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper (Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer ...

s, and often she was towing a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

. Her career ended in an autumn storm in 1906. On 24 August ''Princess'' left from the

Spider Islands The Spider Islands are a small archipelago in the north basin of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. The archipelago is situated near the eastern shoreline of the lake, north of the mouth of the Belanger River. The archipelago consists of eight s ...

and headed towards

Little George Island Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

carrying 1,600 boxes of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

. The weather was fine until, at about 6:00pm, a strong north-eastern wind rose. After ''Princess'' had rounded the Little George Island, Captain Hawes turned her for the Berens Island. As the winds turned into a storm the crew urged the captain to seek shelter from

George Island George Island () is the second largest of the Speedwell Island Group in the Falkland Islands with a land area of . It lies south of Speedwell Island and south west of East Falkland, and is separated from Lafonia by Eagle Passage. The island is ...

. Finally, as the storm grew stronger Captain Hawes ordered to turn the vessel around and ordered "full speed ahead." This double order proved to be her fate. As the vessel turned, and had turned about half-way around the hull was torn asunder by the fury of waves, trapping three of crew below. The passengers and crew quickly moved into two small

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

s, but Captain Hawes, 17-year-old cabin servant Flora McDonald of Selkirk, and 19-year-old cook Johanna Palsdottir never made the last boat. Also lost were 19-year-old sailor Johann Jonsson, Loftur Gudmundsson of Gimli, and Charles Greyeyes, native Canadian. Both lifeboats survived the storm. The first one landed on Berens Island, and the other one made it the shore near the village of

Berens River The Berens River is a river in the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. It flows west from an unnamed lake in Kenora District, Ontario, and discharges its waters into Lake Winnipeg near the community and First Nation of Berens River, Manit ...

, where the survivors were picked up the next day by . Six people were lost in the accident, and only two bodies were ever found. One of the bodies was Captain Hawes, wearing nothing but the straps of the life preserver. Everything else was torn away.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Steamships of Canada Water transport in Manitoba Shipwrecks in Lake Winnipeg Maritime incidents in 1906 North-West Rebellion 1881 ships Ships built in Manitoba