From Ellesmere Island to Pelee Island, from Tofino to St. John’s, we’ll show you where it all happened. You’ve read about all kinds of interesting people and events in Kayak. Get clicking to see where in Canada you’ll find them.

Watery Disasters

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Atlantic Ocean off St. John’s, N.L. Thought to be the safest semi-submersible oil drilling rig in the world, the Ocean Ranger toppled into the sea in February 1982 in a terrible storm, taking the lives of all on board.

Atlantic Ocean off the Avalon Peninsula, N.L. March of 1914 was a terrible time in the history of Newfoundland’s seal hunt. Many men died on the ice in a blizzard, while the Southern Cross sank here as it sailed home loaded down with seal pelts.

Aspy Bay, Nova Scotia Defeated French-Canadian army officers and their families were being sent to France — a country most never knew — aboard the Auguste when it sank here in November 1761.

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia In June 1963, the circus ship Fleurus caught fire in the harbour. Other than some zebras that couldn’t be saved, all the people and animals were rescued.

Gulf of St. Lawrence off P.E.I. When the rope to the tugboat towing it snapped, the Irving Whale sank in September 1970. There was no one on board, but 30 tonnes of oil made a nasty mess and harmed wildlife for kilometres.

Presqu’ile, Ontario The Speedy vanished in October 1804 en route from Toronto to Presqu’ile. Many on board were heading for a scandalous murder trial, but none ever turned up alive or dead.

London, Ontario More than 200 people died, many close to shore, when the Victoria, a paddle steamer overloaded for the holiday weekend, sank in May 1881.

Lockport, Manitoba The Alberta was a popular ship for people taking day trips on Winnipeg’s Red and Assiniboine rivers. It sank at the dock in April 1914 when the Red flooded.

Pacific Ocean off Cape Caution, B.C. A blinding storm sent the Geo. S. Wright to the depths in January 1873. Nobody knows exactly where it went down, but this is where the wreckage appeared. (No one knows quite where the ship went down, but the wreckage washed up in the area of Cape Caution.)

Arctic Ocean off King William Island, Nunavut Sometime after July 1845, disaster struck the Franklin expedition and the crew of its ships, the Erebus and the Terror. Crew members likely died of lead poisoning from their supplies of food.