Mystery revealed: The historic Jean-Richard, abandoned shipwreck in the Ottawa River

EXPLORING THE WRECK
In awe that there was a large shipwreck sitting in about 8 feet of water in a hidden inlet off the Ottawa River, I quickly changed into swim trunks, grabbed the camera and climbed aboard to record this amazing find. Obviously I was not the first one to know about this wreck, as a bike path is nearby and remnants of field parties were strewn about the area.

The wooden hull listed to one side in about 8 feet of water.

Approximately 100 feet long and using wooden timbers and what seemed like ship building techniques from the 1800’s, the shipwreck was miraculously well preserved sitting in the water.

Looking at the bow of the ship.

A sketch showing the hull shape and overall dimensions.

Interior of the shipwreck showing ribs, deck planks.

At almost 100 feet long, the wreck is an impressive sight in the water.

I sketched and measured the ship’s hull shape and filmed whatever I could to determine later what this shipwreck was and why it is just sitting here in the Ottawa River. As we took a break to eat our packed sandwiches, a muffled animal sound came from the woods and a starving, abandoned kitten appeared.

We fed the emaciated little kitten some sandwich cheese and packed up our gear; me with tons of photos and questions, my girlfriend with a new kitten.

WHAT IS THIS SHIPWRECK?
After scouring the internet, books, and libraries trying to find out what this shipwreck was, I contacted my good friend Glen over at OttawaStart about the shipwreck. Always one to help out and promote local history, Glen made sure to spread the word through his popular website in a bid to gather more information from readers who may know more about the wreck and why it’s sitting in the shallows of the Ottawa River. The Ottawa Citizen and CBC News caught wind of the wreck story and proceeded to do their own research, even calling in a representative from the Eastern Ontario Chapter of “Save Our Ships” which has an extensive catalogue of recorded shipwrecks. The story was deemed a dead end for the media, and the shipwreck remained a mystery. I contacted the Great Lakes Maritime Museum in Kingston, Ontario to see if they had information on our Ottawa shipwreck but received no response to my requests. The ship seemed doomed to remain a mystery….that is, until this week.

IT’S ALL IN THE NAME
Almost four months after the initial discovery of the shipwreck I received a Twitter message from Glen that included an old map he had found showing various shipwrecks in the Ottawa River. Composed by the Underwater Society Of Ottawa, the map shows many shipwrecks that lie at the bottom of the river, and miraculously, the shipwreck we had come across four months earlier was clearly marked.

THE JEAN RICHARD. We now had a name to our ship. The research into the Jean Richard could now begin…

THE JEAN RICHARD
It turns out this ship has quite an interesting past and that the Jean Richard has a special place in Canadian naval history.

At Petite-Rivière in Quebec on May 23, 1959, St. Lawrence sailors launched their last wooden schooner, the Jean Richard. It was built by Philippe Lavoie, carpenter, Paul-Émile Carré at Port-au-Persil.  Carré was the original owner and captain.

With most of the wooden ship building techniques giving way to the longer lasting and easier to maintain steel hulled ships, Petite-Rivière wooden ship builders knew their boat building techniques was coming to an end after almost 200 years. The National Film Board also knew this was a dying craft, and in 1959 sent a film crew to record the building of the regions’s last wooden schooner, The Jean Richard.

A small riverside village approximately 100kms upriver from Quebec City in the Charlevoix region, it was responsible for building the majority of the wooden schooners, freighters and other ships that travelled throughout the St. Lawrence river from the 1800’s to the early 1960s.

These wooden boats, known as “goélettes“, were an important part of the heritage and culture of the St. Laurence River, and only a couple of them still exist. There’s a series of roads in Charlevoix (north of Quebec City) that are named after these goélettes, including one called “Chemin de la Jean-Richard”.

THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD
Produced by Ottawa’s very own production company, Crawley Films, a film crew set off to document the centuries old construction process of building the region’s last wooden freight schooner. Known as a “goélette” in French, these wooden boats were being replaced by steel ships and the NFB wanted to record this important part of our Canadian heritage for future generations.

The NFB kindly couriered a copy of their film to me featuring our ship, the Jean Richard.

I quickly contacted the NFB head offices in Montreal to see if they had a copy of this film, and they courteously couriered the film to me which I immediately watched, studied and compared to the Ottawa shipwreck photos. It was indeed a match. The 96 foot long, 28 foot wide Jean Richard, shown in construction in this film was built with true old world techniques and pride of craftsmanship.

A still from the NFB film “Jean Richard” showing workers using adzes to shape the timbers for the ship’s hull.

An annual event where the fisherman in the village gather to build a ship, the Jean Richard is shown being built from its inception as logs chopped down in a hillside forest. Then, using axes, adzes and steam boxes to shape the timbers in the same way they built ships over a century ago. All the ship’s details observed on the wreck were clearly shown in the film.

Building the hull of the Jean Richard in the winter of 1959.

Inside the hull of the Jean Richard attaching hull planking.

The last wooden schooner made in Petite-Riviere, the Jean Richard was documented by the NFB in 1959, and released as short film in 1963.  Photo: Fonds Pierre-Perrault, Université Laval, via goelettesduquebec.ca

The last wooden schooner made in Petite-Riviere, the Jean Richard was documented by the NFB in 1959, and released as short film in 1963.

The 30 minute film ends with an all night party and the Jean Richard is launched at dawn into the St. Lawrence to serve the sailors who ply its waters carrying cargo, fish, and other supplies up Canada’s arterial waterway.

TO OTTAWA
After it was launched in 1959 the Jean Richard served for almost twenty years on the St. Lawrence then brought down the Ottawa River and converted into a cruise ship and renamed “Ville de Vanier”.

In this photo, the boat passes under the Pont de Quebec near Quebec City. (Photo by Claude Robillard, via Flickr)

The Jean Richard sailed to Ottawa and was re-named “Ville De Vanier” in 1976 when it became an Ottawa River cruise ship.

Operating out of Ottawa/Gatineau waters from 1976 onwards, the Jean Richard was then converted into a floating cottage. A fire is said to have scorched the wooden ship in 1987. Its charred, lifeless hulk was hauled off to rot in a concealed inlet off the Ottawa River, abandoned and left to decay into history where it now lies.

Once the cherished subject of an NFB film, the Jean Richard now lies in decay on the shores of the Ottawa River.

How did this historic boat end up abandoned in the Ottawa River, and remain there in plain sight of passers-by for over 25 years?  This once sturdy old ship was the last of its kind, worthy enough to be documented by the NFB 55 years ago, a vessel that is an example of old world Canadian ship building techniques that have since been lost in time. A wreck of great nautical importance now lies slowly decaying in 8 feet of water, half submerged in the Ottawa River only five minutes from downtown Ottawa. It needs to be saved, recognized and preserved for the sake of future generations much like the NFB did when they filmed it being built long ago.

OttawaStart readers with more information about the Jean-Richard / Ville de Vanier are encouraged to get in touch via feedback@ottawastart.com

–Andrew King


See also: Ottawa History Guide
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