The single-masted sloop Washington, built in 1798 in Pennsylvania on Lake Erie, was used to ferry cargo and people around Lake Erie and Ontario a few years prior to the War of 1812. In 1802 it was sold to Canadian interests and apparently dragged overland from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
In early November 1803, the Washington left Kingston, at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, with a crew of five and cargo, bound for Niagara at the western end of the lake. Somewhere off Oswego, New York, the Washington encountered a severe storm and sank, with all hands and cargo.
The shipwreck, in an excellent state of preservation, was discovered by the wreck-diving team of Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski, and Roland Stevens, who have discovered or surveyed many of the wrecks in Lake Ontario, including the earliest known sailing vessel on Lake Ontario, the HMS Ontario, sunk in 1780.
Video courtesy of the wreck-diving team’s remotely piloted underwater camera.
The Editorial Times 