Wheelhouse Maritime Museum facts for kids

The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum (WMM) was a special place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was a maritime museum, which means it showed things related to ships and the sea. The museum officially opened on February 1, 1965. It was started by a group called the Underwater Society of Ottawa.

The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum welcomed visitors on Sunday afternoons. It was also open on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. From its opening in 1965 until it closed in 1976, the museum was located on the top floor of 218 Cumberland Street in Ottawa.

Museum History

In February 1963, the Underwater Society of Ottawa began an exciting project. They started searching for old shipwrecks in the Ottawa area. This project was part of Canada's 100th birthday celebration, known as the Canadian Centennial.

The Underwater Society of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission thought about having a special section at the Bytown Museum. This section would show items about boats and rivers in Ottawa. Andre Lamirande was in charge of a team of 18 divers for this work.

The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum was the Underwater Society's gift to the Canadian Centennial. The museum's collection came from the society's own discoveries. The museum was paid for by the society's members. It was free for everyone to visit from February 1, 1965, until 1976.

Andre Lamirande was the director of the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum. He and Jean Trudel were the curators, meaning they took care of the museum's collection. Andre Lamirande also helped start the Underwater Society of Ottawa with James Miller, Richard Desjardins, and five others.

Museum Goals

The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum had several important goals:

• To find, keep, and show items about boat history in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. This included shipping and building boats.
• To create a special area for different exhibitions.
• To encourage people to join in museum events and activities.
• To build a resource center with old papers, books, and other items about marine history.
• To let students, researchers, and historians study marine history at the museum.
• To create educational programs for visitors.

A group of professional historians and archaeologists helped guide the museum.

Underwater Society of Ottawa

The Underwater Society of Ottawa was very busy. From 1964 to 1976, they found and recorded 197 shipwrecks. These wrecks were in the waters of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. The society mostly looked for paddle-wheel boats and schooners that sank between 1809 and 1921. However, they found other types of ships too.

For example, they found a warship that the British burned during the War of 1812. This ship was discovered in Shanks Harbor in the United States. They also found items from the "Atlantic," a large ship that sank off the Marshead, Nova Scotia coast in April 1873. These items included a tile from the ship's stairs and a heavy "dead eye" used to hold ropes for the ship's mast.

The Underwater Society kept many books filled with details about the shipwrecks. These books had facts, reports, drawings, and photos. The wrecks were found in the St. Lawrence River, the Rideau Canal, and the Ottawa River. They also explored many smaller rivers and lakes.

Amazing Discoveries

The items they found were very interesting. They included:

• Old bottles with labels like "Old Power Scotch Whisky."
• Dinner plates with boat names on them.
• A 39-inch telescope.
• Many small clay pipes.
• A shoe with a strange cut-out area around the big toe.
• One-penny gold coins from Mayors Store in Ottawa.
• A bottle labeled "For teeth and breath."

From the S.S. Rothesay, found in the St. Lawrence River, they salvaged china, a spittoon, a ceramic jug, and an iron frying pan.

All the items found were carefully cleaned and preserved. Mr. Lamirande explained their process: "We never cut or tear anything from a wreck until we first draw a picture of the vessel. Once we know what it is, we clean it carefully. After removing rust, we coat it with a special plastic-like substance. This coating can be removed later for more study."

At the end of each diving season, a list of their findings was sent to the right authorities. Once the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum was officially recognized (1965–1976), it was allowed to keep all the items they found.

Museum Collection

At the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum, items were attached to pegboards. Small notes with their history were placed below them. Visitors could see chains, valves, gauges, axe heads, hinges, propellers, and steering wheels.

Items found from wrecks in the Ottawa River included china, bottles, and a pressure toilet made in 1859. Other exhibits from wrecks in the St Lawrence River included a pulley from the schooner "Marion," which sank in 1869.

One of the biggest items in the museum was part of the oak hull of the Lady Colborne. This boat was built in 1832 and later burned and sank in 1845. The museum also had pieces from the French ship l'Outaouais. This ship was sunk by the British in the 1760s.

Museum Connections

The museum worked with several other groups. These included the Canadian Museums Association, the Bytown Museum, and the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology.

In August 1982, an underwater diving park opened in Ottawa. It was for divers and researchers. The Santa Maria Society hoped to open it to the public later. In 1982, Frank Martin from the Santa Maria Society moved a 19th-century steamer called the Bruce to a special underwater spot. This spot was near the Ottawa Rowing Club. Seven vessels were planned for this park, including the William King, Ivy, Otter, Resolute, Maggie Bell, Mansfield, and the Bruce.

Museum's Legacy

The Wheelhouse Maritime Museum faced challenges with funding and space. They needed more room to store and show their large collection. Mr. Lamirande said, "Our biggest problem is not having enough money from outside help. Most of our members have average salaries, and it's getting harder to pay for everything."

Because of this lack of funding, the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum closed to the public in 1976. Its large 14-ton collection was then moved to the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology.

Even after closing, the Wheelhouse Maritime Museum continued to be involved in projects. They built small models of ships. In 1982, they published a book called 'A Foregone Fleet: A Pictorial History of Steam-Driven Paddleboats on the Ottawa River'. On June 12, 1983, the museum gave a presentation about boat travel in the Ottawa Valley at the Billings Estate Museum.

By 1990, a decision was made to move the collection again. It went from the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston. The Ottawa Chapter of Save Ontario Shipwrecks helped with this move. They documented and photographed hundreds of items. These items were carefully wrapped and stored before being sent to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes.

See also

• List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes
• List of shipwrecks of Canada