Ocean Wave
Ship stats
Vessel Type: Two-masted schooner
Length: 81 feet
Breadth: 20.1 feet
Gross Tonnage: 98
Cargo: Hemlock lumber, lath, and barrel parts
Built: 1868 by John Tait and William Redmond, Picton, Ontario
Owner at Loss: Capt. Thomas Brokenshire, Cobourg, Ontario and Capt. William Martin, Port Hope, Ontario
Date Lost: November 9, 1890
Cause of Loss: Capsized in gale
Loss of Life: 5 of 5
Historical Background
The wooden two-masted schooner Ocean Wave was built in 1868 by John Tait and William Redmond at Picton, Ontario. The schooner, small by contemporary standards, was only 81 feet long, 20.1 feet in breadth and had a 7.6 foot depth of hold, measuring 98 gross tons.
Ocean Wave was principally employed in the grain forwarding trade, carrying grain from Canadian ports on Lake Ontario’s north shore to Kingston on behalf of several Picton and Marysburg, Ontario entrepreneurs. In 1886, Ocean Wave was sold to Captain Thomas Brokenshire of Cobourg, Ontario and Captain William Martin of Port Hope, Ontario, both captains owning and operating the vessel as partners until its loss in 1890.
On the morning of November 7, 1890, Ocean Wave departed Belleville, Ontario for Oswego, laden with a cargo of 16,000 board feet of hemlock lumber, 233 bundles of lath, and 29,000 barrel heads for George H. McChesney of Syracuse and William McChesney of Oswego. Much of this was carried as a heavy deck load. Ocean Wave was delayed in making the crossing to Oswego by foul weather until sometime around the afternoon of November 8. On the morning of Sunday, November 9, a storm swept over the lake.
On the afternoon of November 11, the schooner Cornelia arrived in Oswego, and reported having sighted a capsized schooner adrift off Oswego, which they believed to be Ocean Wave. The Cornelias had seen nothing of Ocean Wave’s crew. Captain Charles W. Ferris of the tugboat Charley Ferris steamed out in search of the wreck. Near nightfall, Ferris came upon the wreck, approximately 15 miles north of Oswego. The schooner lay on its port side with only the starboard rail above the water, kept afloat by buoyant lumber within the forward part of the hold. Captain Ferris determined that towing the vessel into Oswego could not be accomplished in less than four or five hours and that he would return in daylight.
Returning to the wreck the following morning, Captain Ferris was afforded a clearer view of the schooner. Though the masts were submerged, Ferris noted that the foresail remained set and that the topmast was reportedly gone giving the appearance that the rig was wrecked in the gale. He found Ocean Wave’s stern had been washed away and that only a small part of the cargo remained within the hold, the rest being adrift. Ferris decided that the vessel was worthless in its present condition, and that so little of its cargo remained that it would not pay to tow the vessel in, and Ferris left the schooner adrift in the lake.
With Ocean Wave’s boat being reported missing from the wreck by Captains Ferris, telegrams were dispatched to all points where the crew might possibly have come ashore with no positive reports. Nothing was ever found of Ocean Wave’s crew of five, including its owners Thomas Brokenshire and WIlliam Martin.
Ocean Wave was first discovered by Mr. Tim Caza and Mr. Dennis Gerber in October 2024, who reported the wreck to NOAA. In May 2025, NOAA and its partners at the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute documented the site using a remotely operated vehicle, identifying the wreck as Ocean Wave.
Wreck Site
The wreck of Ocean Wave rests in deep water, beyond technical diving depths (330 feet/100 meters) north of Oswego, New York. The hull sits on an even keel and is exceptionally well preserved. The hull is largely intact apart from the deck, particularly on the portside, aft of the foremast and at the port and starboard quarters and cabin, quarterdeck and counter, all of which are missing. The bowsprit, jibboom and foremast remain standing.
