SS City of Ainsworth – a deep dive into history….2 minute read, 460 words
“Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk to you again”, the words from the Simon and Garfunkel song “Sounds of Silence” was going through my head as I dropped deeper down the line into the inky darkness onto the ship wreck of the SS City of Ainsworth – sitting upright at 110 meters (360 feet) below the surface of Kootenay Lake.
Built in 1892, at Ainsworth British Columbia, Canada by Brenner, Watson and Jervis, the 25.6 meter (84 ft) long paddle wheel vessel could carry up to 80 passengers and freight on its routes along Kootenay Lake and river.
On November 29, 1898, on her way from Nelson BC to Bonners Ferry Idaho, loaded down with 8 cords of firewood stacked on her bow and 3600 kg of furniture and supplies mostly for a new bar in Creston, the City of Ainsworth hit a gale force storm off of Rhinoceros Point and began to founder. During the ensuing life boat launch and getting the survivors to safety, six crew and three passengers were lost. The ship didn’t initially sink, but briefly washed up on the East shore of Kootenay lake before wind and waves pushed her back into the lake and onto the rocks near Cape Horn – in the mouth of Crawford Bay. A steam tug was dispatched from Nelson to pull the City of Ainsworth to safety, but she sunk on the spot, sliding down to her final resting place at the bottom of the bay.
In 1990, the Dambusters Scuba club with the help of the Underwater Archaeological Society of British Columbia and Can-Dive Services of Vancouver located the wreck using a side scan sonar and obtained video footage with a remote operated vehicle (ROV). Recognizing it’s historical significance, the wreck was declared an underwater heritage site later the same year.
In September 1997, several members of the Cambrian Foundation (a Florida based organization specializing in extreme dives on historical sites), were able to make two dives on the wreck of the City of Ainsworth. On deep explorations of this nature, divers encountering any issues at any time during the dive abort immediately and return to the surface. As a result , on both dives, only two divers were able to get onto the wreck…myself and videographer John Chulski. Remarkably, John was able to get enough video to subsequently edit a short feature presentation. John’s footage was also used in the Kootenay Lake segment of the Great Canadian Lakes series that aired on the History channel. It’s interesting to note that primarily due to its extreme depth there were no previous attempts to dive to the wreck, nor has there been any successful dives on the wreck since.
Sometimes you can find adventure close to home.
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