Wreck of the "SS City of Medicine Hat" (Saskatoon)

 shipwreck, draw only border

 Upload a photo

Site of the wrecked paddle steam ship "SS City of Medicine Hat". Designed by its captain, wealthy Scottish shipping magnate Horatio Hamilton Ross, the ship was built in 1907. In 1908, Ross sailed down the South Saskatchewan River with a group of family and friends, intending to go to Winnipeg. However, the ship's rudder became entangled in submerged telegraph lines under the original train bridge (where the Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge is today). Unable to steer, the ship drifted downsteam and crashed into the southmost pier of the newly-built Traffic Bridge. It turned over on its side and came to rest on the river's bottom. No one was hurt, but the ship was a total loss. The wreck was engulfed by a sandbar and disappeared from sight. The site was further buried when Rotary Park was constructed in 1960, using landfill to enlarge the riverbank.

In 2006, fire and protective services divers discovered the ship's anchor while on a training exercise. Several more artifacts were recovered in 2008 by search teams. The main wreck was discovered in 2012 by work crews doing load tests on the Traffic Bridge's piers. While drilling holes eight metres deep through the landfill and riverbed, the equipment uncovered hundreds of artifacts, including pieces of the ship's hull. Archeologists catalogued around 1000 pieces and were confident in announcing that the wrecked ship's remains had been found.