Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2016 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= NOTICE TO USERS - These files are protected by the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Information contained herein is provided for research purposes and may be freely linked to. Copying for redistribution or presentation by any person, persons or organization is not allowed without the written permission of the author/submitter. Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: John B. King OTHER NAME(s): No. 36 (frequently seen only as J. B. King) OFFICIAL NO: (Can) 130255 DATE OF LOSS: 26 June, 1930 CAUSE OF LOSS: Explosion, lightning LOCATION: St. Lawrence River. Brockville narrows off Cockburn Isl. RIG TYPE: Drill scow HULL TYPE: Wooden BUILDER: ? OWNER(S): John B. King & Co., Construction MASTER: ? TONNAGE: 684 t DIMENSIONS: 140 x 50 x ? CASUALTIES: 30 of 41-43 (+ 1 dog) Had been leased by J. P. Porter & Sons of St. Catherines, Ont., to deepen and widen the Brockville narrows under a contract issued by the Department of Public Works. Charges of dynamite had already been placed in the shoal beneath and around the vessel when a thunderstorm rolled through the area. Lightning struck the KING and traveled down the drills and wires, detonating the dynamite charges below. Witnesses said they saw the lightning flash immediately followed by the explosion and then nothing remained but smoke rising from the water where the drill boat had been just moments before. Many of the survivors were taken aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutter "Succor" (CG 211) which had been 1/2 mile away making an inspection of the river. In 1930 the J. B. KING, having 12 drills, was the largest drilling barge in Canada. On the northwest corner of Cockburn Island stands a memorial monument erected by the Canada Department of Public Works in 1930. The plaque reads: THIS STONE WAS ERECTED A.D. 1930 BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, CANADA, AS A MEMORIAL TO THE FOLLOWING WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON THE DRILL BOAT J. B. KING WHICH WAS DESTROYED ON THIS SPOT BY AN EXPLOSION CAUSED BY LIGHTNING ON ------THE 26TH JUNE 1930------ Arnold, Reuben Johnson, Louis Marohnic, John Bonn, Alex Kruzick, John McRae, George Birkeland, Brynjuh Kruzick, Frank McDonald, John D. Candrlic, Andrej Kruzick, Joseph Polich, Stanko Charland, Charles Kucan, Bronko Polich, Marion Donald, John Kucan, Gregory Peterson, Christopher Gruber, John Kerr, Archie Tomasevic, Vinko Hartlin, William Kovach, George Vidas, John Hartlin, Merle Killarney, B. Watt, Oswald Hoy, Ivan Lake, Paul Wylie, John The plaque does not mention "Hero," the dog who earned his name during a previous incident by pulling John Wylie from icy waters and saving him from certain death. ======================================================================== Sources: Marine Review, Vol. 61, 1931 - p.43 (says 38 of 53 died) Niagara Falls Gazette - 28 June 1930 Toronto Globe, 27 June 1930 Brockville Recorder and Times, 28 June 1930 Cortland (N.Y.) Standard, 27 June 1930 Cortland (N.Y.) Standard, 1 July, 1930 Troy (N.Y.) Times, 27 June 1930 Buffalo Courier Express, 27 June 1930 Albany Evening News, 27 June 1930