Dive Kawartha Presents: 3 Dive Charter to Penetanguishene

Dive Penetanguishene Shipwrecks with Riverdiver and Dive Kawartha, in Georgian Bay on the Maple Dawn Shipwreck. An ideal trip for Junior Open Water and Open Water Divers.

The Maple Dawn, originally called Manola, was built in 1890 in Cleveland, Ohio. The vessel was believed to have been initially sold to participate in WWI. The Manola was cut in half for save transporting across the St. Lawrence and was to be reassembled upon arrival at its destination. A storm, however, caused the loss of its bow section near Quinte, (northern shore of Lake Ontario) and thus was not sold as originally planned. A new portion of the bow was installed and the Manola was reassembled, relaunched in 1920, and renamed the Maple Dawn.

The Maple Dawn was caught in a heavy snowstorm at Georgian Bay, just off Christian Island, on November 30th, 1924. Because of low visibility in the area, the ship had drifted into shallow shoals. Inevitably, she encountered a shoal that snapped off the propeller and a part of the propeller shaft, resulting in major engine room flooding. With virtually no time to respond, the engines were lost and the Maple Dawn quickly ran aground. Two men made it to shore, hiked across the island to a Native Reservation for help and all hands were saved. The ship is scattered in about 10-25 ft of water across a fairly lengthy area just off Christian Island’s west shore.