Gananoque (ship)

She made four voyages to New Zealand in the 1860s under contract to the provincial governments.[7] The ship was first chartered by Willis, Gann & Company for a voyage from London to New Zealand in 1860 and then for three more by Shaw, Savill and Company. The first three carried government immigrants; the fourth voyage was solely with cargo:

• 9 February 1860 departing London, arriving Lyttelton on 9 May 1860.[8]
• 7 July 1861 departing London, arriving Auckland on 18 October 1861.[9]
• 7 December 1862 departing London, arriving Port Chalmers, Otago on 12 March 1863.[10]
• 16 May 1864 departing London, arriving Port of Bluff on 5 September 1864.[11]

In 1867 Gananoque was sold to William Johnson of Newcastle upon Tyne. On 11 July 1874, on a voyage from Quebec to Newcastle, she struck an iceberg off Cape Race. Crew abandoned ship and all but one were rescued.[12][13] However, the ship did not sink, was found abandoned and taken derelict to St John's, Newfoundland,[13][14]

She was subsequently repaired, re-sheathed and re-rigged as a barque, and was offered for sale in 1876.[15]

Gananoque again collided with an iceberg on 10 May 1881 four miles off Bird Rocks, Magdalen Islands on a voyage from Belfast to Miramichi and sank quickly.[13][16] The crew landed on Bird Rocks, and were picked up from there on 12 May.[13]