SS Kamloops

“I am the last one left alive, freezing and starving to death on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. I just want mom and dad to know my fate – Al, who is dead” message in a bottle from Alice Bettridge - crew of the SS Kamloops

the SS Kamloops, owned by Canada Steamship Lines, was commissioned for one last trip of the 1927 season to deliver mixed cargo from Montreal to Thunder Bay. by December 4th she completed the transit of the Soo locks that lifted the ship to the level of Lake Superior - before her lay the expanse of the largest and most dangerous of all Great Lakes. leaving behind the safety of the Saint Mary’s River, the crew was unaware of the approaching blizzard and by December 6th the Kamloops was caught in a furious winter gale. thick ice had formed on the exterior of the ship and heavy snow blinded her progress north. the last sighting of the Kamloops occurred that evening south of Isle Royale, a rugged length of ancient lava flow, isolated and forbidding. when she failed to reach port days later, a brief search was undertaken but was quickly halted due to severe ice conditions.

it wasn’t until spring of 1928 when a thorough search could take place. bodies and wreckage were discovered on the north shoreline of Isle Royale. several of the crew were found inland, leading to the assumption that some had survived the sinking and made their way ashore only to freeze to death on this remote wilderness island. it was here where the remains of Alice Bettridge was found. the ship itself would not be located until 1977 when divers positively identified the Kamloops lying on her side at the bottom of an underwater cliff, just meters from shore and 80m/260 ft deep.