RUSSEL BROTHERS Ltd. Steelcraft winch boat and warping tug builders from Owen Sound, Ontario.

Russel Brothers Limited OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO Steelcraft Boat Builders

L.O. 2

Canadian List of Shipping 1945: L.0. 2 [C.173228] registered at Montreal. Built at Owen Sound in 1940. The Canadian International Paper Co., Ltd., Montreal. Canadian List of Shipping 1956: L.O. 2 [C.173228] registered at Montreal. Built at Owen Sound in 1940. 25' x 7'.5 x 2' 9; 4 g.t.; 2 n.t.; 20 hp. Owned by The Canadian International Paper Co., Ltd., Montreal, Canadian List of Shipping 1970: Steel tug L.O. 2 [C.173228] registered at Montreal. Built at Owen Sound in 1940. 25'; 4 g.t. Transport Canada List 2003: Owned by William Anderson, Ottawa. Transport Canada List 2006: This vessel is suspended from registry in Canada. Date of suspension: March 10, 2003. L.O. 2 was sunk in over 100 feet of water in the Ottawa River near the Rideau Canal entrance.

DIVING ATTRACTION: In 1979 a group of divers called "The Santa Maria Society" lead by Frank T. Martin, recovered WINCH BOAT L.O. 2 from the mouth of the Rideau Canal and moved her to Morrison’s Quarry near Wakefield, QC to be used as a dive site attraction. A week later after the recovery, she was painted, unofficially renamed “Santa Maria” and sunk to her final resting site in 60’ of water where she remains. The boat was sunk in "Operation Santa Maria" in 1979.
The popularity of the Morrison quarry with divers is largely due to the early efforts of the Santa Maria Society in the early 1980s and the contribution of its President, Mr. Frank T. Martin. In the spring of 1980, the company first recovered an aircraft from the Petawawa Military Base which was deposited at the bottom of the water at 26 'located west of the body of water. (Project Florence). Some parts of the aircraft such as seats, windows, propellers and the like were removed before being sunk. In the fall of 1979, the L.O. 2 winch boat in the Rideau Canal was refloated in front of Parliament in Ottawa. It was transported to the Morrison quarry to sink it (Project Santa Maria). The boat was originally sunk at a depth of 107 feet, and after some time, to facilitate access, the boat was reassembled and placed in a more accessible location for all levels of divers. (Source: http://dangingras.ca/localdiving/). Video source: http://neptune.iro.umontreal.ca/ca/qc/videos/morrison-boat.avi PLAY VIDEO

While I have not been able to find much history on the L.O. 2 boat or why and when it sank, I did find 59 slides from Project Santa Maria that cover the whole salvage and repositioning: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-MXZDG/. Click to enlarge to 2716 pixels.

L.O. 2 Winch Boat in Morrison's Quarry, April 2, 2011. Note the ice cover on top! Gilles Bourbonnais Collection. https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-q8fsH/. Click to enlarge to 2658 pixels.