The Victoria was no stranger to holiday crowds and on Victoria Day, May 24, 1881, many people had traveled between Springbank Park and the city of London Ontario up and down the Thames river. The river was notoriously shallow, enough that people would joke about boats traveling up and down it grounding on oyster cans, but a grounding was exactly what had happened to the Forest City, meaning that it was no longer available to carry passengers. The burden now fell on the remaining three steam riverboats to bring the holiday crowds back and forth.
Name: Victoria
Nationality: Canadian
Year Built: 1880
Tonnage: 50
Ship Type: Stern Wheel Wood Steam Riverboat
Year Sank: 1881
Location Sank: Thames River Ontario
Reason For Sinking: Overloaded
Lives Lost: Estimated to be around 200
Sources:
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/05/26/98557356.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/05/27/98557591.html?pageNumber=5
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/207513957?searchTerm=ontario%20victoria%20steamship
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107216940?searchTerm=ontario%20victoria%20steamship
https://lfpress.com/2015/05/21/my-london-sad-and-ugly-scenes-followed-the-thames-river-tragedy
https://dotydocs.theatreinlondon.ca/Archives/disasters/victoria.htm
https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/details.asp?ID=59596
https://newspaperarchive.com/richmond-hill-york-herald-jun-02-1881-p-3/
https://canadaehx.com/2020/07/04/the-victoria-steamship-disaster/
https://www.clintonnewsrecord.com/opinion/columnists/huron-county-and-the-victoria-day-disaster
