Fort Henry ceremony honours national significance of the War of 1812 shipwrecks

A special ceremony was held at Fort Henry Wednesday for the unveiling of a new historical marker commemorating the importance of the War of 1812 shipwrecks.

The plaque acknowledges three wrecks that were actually built just metres away at the Navy Dock Yard namely HMS Prince Regent, Princess Charlotte and the St. Lawrence.

Dr. Richard Alway is the Chair of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

“Our own history and how we remember our past is important because it does help define exactly how we think of ourselves as a society.”

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Parks Canada Senior Underwater Archeologist Jonathan Moore helped with the unveiling.  He’s very knowledgeable about all three 1812 shipwrecks.

“Two of these wrecks are in Dead Man’s Bay, there were dragged into that bay and abandoned around 1840. The wreck of the St. Lawrence, the largest of the ships was actually towed out of the dockyard in Navy Bay in 1833 and served as a dock at a local distillery and brewery just wets of what was Kingston at the time.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Two of these wrecks are in Dead Man's Bay, there were dragged into that bay and abandoned around 1840. The wreck of the St. Lawrence, the largest of the ships was actually towed out of the dockyard in Navy Bay in 1833 and served as a dock at a local distillery and brewery just wets of what was Kingston at the time."

A location for the plaque has yet to be determined.