Kincardine (Propeller), C, aground, fire, 2 Jun 1892

The Tug "KINCARDINE" of Goderich, stranded near Cabot's Head, Georgian Bay, 1892. Total loss.
      Steamboat Inspection Casualty Report, 1892
      Ontario Division. Dept. Marine & Fisheries

      . . . . .

      "The waters off Cabot Head have claimed at least two steamships. In November of 1892 the Goderich propeller KINCARDINE, built at Port Dalhousie in 1871, was wrecked at Cabot Head. The exact location and circumstances of the disaster remain unknown. Her engine was recovered in 1896 by the Collingwood tug SAUCY JIM."
      from "Shipwrecks of the Saugeen"
      by Patrick Folkes p. 59

      . . . . .

      Tobermory, June 3. - Steambarge KINCARDINE, laden with salt went ashore last night at Winfields Basin (sic), 20 miles from here. The weather was very foggy at the time with rain and brisk easterly wind. The steamer soon began to go to pieces, but the crew succeeded in reaching shore in safety.
      Buffalo Enquirer
      Thursday, June 3, 1892

      . . . . .

      Early in June of 1892, KINCARDINE was bound for Collingwood, laden with barrels of salt. She stranded on the rocky shore of Cabot Head, not far from Wingfield Basin, or about 20 miles east of Tobermory. With her bow on shore, her stern settled in fifteen feet of water. There was about seven feet of water in her hold. The only salvage effort made was that a tug was sent up from Collingwood, and the tug carried away about 200 barrels of salt.
      The fish tug CLUCAS departed Tobermory June 10th with the tug ADAM AINSLIE in tow. They were bound for the Owen Sound drydock, where the AINSLIE would receive some repairs to her machinery. As the passed the KINCARDINE wreck, the observed her to be on fire. The Owen Sound Times of Thursday, June 16th, reported: "The whole portion of the barge which was above water was consumed. There seems to be no doubt that the fire was of incendiary origan, as the boiler and engine were beneath water and no one was supposed to be on board. The KINCARDINE was slightly rebuilt here this spring, and has been ashore four or five times since she went out. She was owned, we understand, by Captain A. Thompson, Mr. Chas. Richardson and Mr. Christie, of the Michaels Bay Lumber Co. There was no marine insurance on her, but a fire insurance of $6,500."
      The last sentence of the press report certainly makes one appreciate the manner in which the fire aboard KINCARDINE might have occurred... In any event, what remained of KINCARDINE after the fire was left to the elements for four years. Early in October of 1896, the Collingwood tug SAUCY JIM was at work at the site of the wreck, recovering the engine.
      Today, hikers travelling along the Bruce Trail can see a large piece of rusting metal partially buried in the rocks and gravel of the Georgian Bay shoreline, just west of Wingfield Basin. This, undoubtedly, is part of KINCARDINE's boiler, and today it remains as the only physical trace of her existence, almost a century after the steamer's loss.
      Ronald F. Beaupre
      " SCANNER," 1991

      . . . . .

Steam screw KINCARDINE. oF 176 tons gross; 142 tons Reg. Built Port Dalhousie, Ont., 1871. Home port, Goderich, Ont. 107.0 x 20.0 x 8.9 Owned by Thomas Marks, of Port Arthur, Ont..
      List of Vessels on the Registry Books of the
      Dominion of Canada on December 31, 1886