Speakers & Presentations
Jim Kennard
Jim Kennard has been diving and exploring the lakes in the northeast since 1970. He found over 200 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, NY Finger Lakes and in the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Using his background as an electrical engineer, he built the side scan sonar system that located many of these shipwrecks. The most significant discoveries include the 1780 British warship HMS Ontario, the sloop Washington lost in 1803, respectively the oldest and second oldest shipwrecks discovered in the Great Lakes, and in 1983 a unique horse powered ferryboat in Lake Champlain. All of these discoveries received worldwide attention in the news media.
Jim and his shipwreck teams’ discoveries have appeared in a number of publications including National Geographic, Sea Technology, Inland Seas, Wreck Diver, Skin Diver, and Rochester, NY area magazines. He has appeared on national TV including Discovery Channel, CBC, BBC, FOX News, and other major network affiliates. He was selected a Fellow member of The Explorers Club.
In 2015 he received the Joyce S. Hayward Award for Historic Interpretation from the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History for documenting the stories of Great Lakes shipwrecks discovered by his team and others on his website www.shipwreckworld.com
Jim’s team of shipwreck enthusiasts looks forward to bringing more history to the surface for all to enjoy through underwater imagery in 2018.
Lost Steamship Discoveries in Lake Ontario:
A look at four steamships lost off the southern shore of Lake Ontario between 1862 and 1926 discovered by our shipwreck exploration teams during the past 10 years.
The steamer Bay State built in 1852 and the oldest propeller driven steamer discovered in Lake Ontario.
The mid lake burning of the steamer Samuel Hodge (1896).
The Canadian steamer Roberval which foundered in 1916 when struck by a rogue wave.
The British steamship Nisbet Grammer (1926) the largest steel steamer to have foundered in Lake Ontario.
Web Site: www.shipwreckworld.com