The Sunken Gunships Frozen In The Great Lakes | Dive Detectives

In the depths of Canada’s Lake Ontario rest two of the best preserved wooden shipwrecks in the entire world. The Hamilton and the Scourge have been frozen in time for nearly two centuries.

The gunships vanished in a violent summer storm August 8, 1813. They were part of the American fleet, battling the British navy for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. The ships disappeared in just moments, taking most of their crews, more than 80 men, to the bottom. There is no record of a navy inquest, and the tragedy has never been fully investigated.

The Fletchers join forces with a team of archaeologists, scientists and marine engineers in an attempt to penetrate the wrecks for the first time since their sinking. Guided by the testimony of Ned Myers – a sailor who dictated the only surviving eyewitness account of the disaster - the team work to uncover the truth behind the sinking and why so many lives were lost.

You can find more from us on:

[MB-nnjw]

Perhaps 10 minute content stretched to 47 minutes with negligible interior shots and detail.

[justdoingitjim]

I was really enjoying this until the director decided there wasn't enough "drama!" "Okay guys, I want you to get your tethers tangled up and we'll do cut away shots to add to the drama. Let's make it look like it's LIFE OR DEATH if you don't get loose in THREE minutes!" So much for "reality" anymore!

[joek]

Great documentary. However when knocking a muscle off is more important then understanding what happen. You get my point. Leave that guy at the house next time, you'll learn more.

[robertschumann]

Zebra mussles.. Ugh. Wreck won't be whole much longer. Invasive species suck so bad!!

[spqr]

Always the same story... equipment don't work/damaged. Wreck in question never gets explored...go to a easier most visited wreck. Show the world that you can scuba...and get into great peril and drama (over the top drama) and the view realizes he just wasted his time viewing. All wreck dives is the same ole' damn thing.

[AbnEngrDan]

That ship is not going to collapse from a bump from am ROV. It has sat there in fresh cold water for 200 + years. Leave it to the Canadians...

[ShakesSphere]

As though of us who live right on the Great Lakes know, rogue storms can happen in a flash, and especially since it was a warm night. Cyclonic waterspouts would not be anything to get caught in, and you'd not know where it was coming from in the roaring dark, if that had happened... Each lake has its own ways of creating fatal difficulty. For instance, Lake Erie, where I am, can slosh from one end to the other, with winds alone..it's treachery lies in the fact that it is the most shallow..but we get storms rolling down from lake Ontario, just as much as diving down from L Huron. I'm always surprised, when someone sees the coast for the first time.. "wow, it's like the ocean!! I thought it was just a nice little lake!!" STAY SAFE, DIVERS!! ❤

[simon-oyum]

Stressing me out with all the un nessasary anxiety and blah blah 😮

[TheGorillafoot]

Was worried they might knick a zebra mussel off going through the windows. Wtf

[hedsy]

Buddy needs to grow a pair, dive down and push the bot through the window lol.

[Danielism]

Thay archeologist is a massive baby... he makes Ontarians look bad 🤦

[Firebirdsever]

They spent a massive amount of money to figure out that a storm caused the boats to fill with water and sink.

[digidosean]

Jonathan radiates insecurity and anxiety. Would hate to work with him.

[smithsmithy]

Tell that overly cautious baby to go home

[moocowdad]

the weird part of the history of these two ships was just after they were found the U.S.navy along with the army corps pf engineers offered at full cost to themselves to raise both ships give one to canada and keep one in buffalo to fully restore and every once in awhile swap ships or have visits(remember these are USA ships anyway) what a generous offer, Canada and the city of hamilton which owns the rights to these ships said no, hamilton fabricated a fake mast and put in fake headstones at confederation park with the names of the U.S. sailors along with a building at the local university named the hamilton and scourge where they were to be stored and renovated, of course nothing has happened the only fair thing is to get in touch with the U.S. navy and relinquish ownership to them, that is their only hope of surviving....if its not too late

[TC-bgup]

The overseer is way too -paranoid, that ship is not going to crumble if you bump it .

[joelsweetland]

There were survivors who gave written accounts of the sinking? What are you researching?

[DeadBaron]

Documentaries like this remind me why I don't miss cable TV lol. All the fake drama, the music, the moronic questions "how did these people drown in a terrible storm?! How was a tiny wooden boat so dangerous in rough seas?!"

[amc]

If a wreck is going to disintegrate over time then why not just get in there? No nobody will ever see inside now. And it's already a wreck. What a waste of time and money.

[bartsimpson]

How do you damage a "wreck"..?