Remarkable discovery

The winds of November came early for the HMS Onatrio on All Hallows Eve, October 31, 1780, when she went down with all hands on Lake Ontario. At the time she carried 60 British soldiers, a crew of 40 (mostly Canadians) and as many as 30 American war prisoners.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the "Holy Grail" shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water, explorers announced Friday.

Shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.

The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes, Scoville and Kennard said.

The photo of the ship as she lies at a depth of 500 feet in the cold, dark water off the New York shores shows a vessel that would probably be able to sail if brought to the surface today. But, in all likelihood, she will remain right where she has lain, well beyond the reach of the elements that sank her that windy night.