In 1963, the steamer Fleurus caught fire and was sinking with an entire circus menagerie on board, including their cast of dozens of circus animals. The more the fire department fought the flames, the more the ship rolled to its side. This was a race against time to save the animals on board, while also making sure to keep people safe from the deadly animals.

This is the story of one terribly unlucky band of performers, their clunky old ship, and the heroic action of the locals and fire department of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

The Kelly and Miller Brothers Circus had just purchased the SS Fleurus to transport that large circus of performers and wild animals around North America, planning to do an inaugural circuit around Nova Scotia, staging shows in Digby, Yarmouth, Shelbourne, and Liverpool, before moving on to Newfoundland. After the Yarmouth performance, a fire broke out aboard the vessel, jeopardizing the hundreds of animals on board.

Also discussed is the wreck of the Royal Tar in 1836.

This was a spur of the moment video put together while driving to film the construction site of the Mary Celeste back in December. I didn't think I'd ever use this footage, but then I found out the building was torn down only a few weeks afterward.

This is the old Broderick Hotel in Five Islands, Nova Scotia. When I was filming my Mary Celeste documentary in November, 2022, I saw it on the side of the road and had to pull over to film it. I expected I might never see the building again and I was right. It was torn down early 2023.

There’s not much I can find on the hotel aside from a few sparse details. The earliest reference I can find to the hotel is an 1883 travel guide book that highly recommends the place, but locals have told me it was there as early as 1850.

Cumberland County is a large section of land in Nova Scotia, Canada, jutting into the Bay of Fundy. Thickly forested, its history is made up primarily of logging, mining, and shipbuilding, with its southern shore producing famous ships, including the infamous Mary Celeste, previously explored on this channel.

But, on its north shore, once sat a thriving community now erased from most maps. We’re exploring the site of an old logging camp and mill and the small town that was built around it. There’s not much left here to actually see, but there are countless stories to uncover and tell. This is the town of Shulie, Nova Scotia.

Today, in the heat, humidity, and swarms of bugs, we’re exploring what little remains of this once thriving community alongside Fred Priest, who is a descendant of several residents of Shulie. He also happens to be my wife’s grandfather.

We also explore the story of the giant logging rafts sent out from near Joggins down to New York City in the 1880's.

For genealogical purposes, here's a list of family names discussed in this video: Priest, Patterson, Colbourne, Warren, Hoeg, Goldstein, Copp, and Greer.

The Halifax Ferry System is the oldest saltwater ferry service in the Western Hemisphere and second in the world after the Mersey Ferry in Liverpool. The Dartmouth, which served from 1888 until the 1930's was one of the longest serving ferries in the fleet. There's a mysterious, unidentified wreck sitting on a beach in Three Fathom Harbor... could that be the old, lost Dartmouth?

In the early hours of April 1st, 1873, the SS Atlantic was steaming toward Halifax in order to re-coal, after having diverted from its schedule route to Jersey City, USA. The ship is 12 miles off course and instead of sailing toward the harbor, Atlantic was heading straight for the rocky coast of Nova Scotia. The wreck of the Atlantic was the worst maritime disaster in the North Atlantic until 1898 and the worst disaster for the White Star Line until the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Around 550 were lost, including every woman and all but one or two children.

This video is meant to supplement my full documentary on the wreck of the Atlantic, so watch that if you have not already.

It's been a while since I posted a real-time sinking animation, but I've been sitting on a few in the past few months. Since working with Alex, these animations have really come to life and his work takes these projects to a new level.

April Fool's Day, 1873 - The grand steamer Atlantic of the White Star Line crashes hard onto the rocks of Lower Prospect, Nova Scotia (not too far from Halifax), with almost 1,000 people on board. The ship is rapidly tearing apart as the waves batter it against the rocky coastline. The lifeboats wreck before they can escape and the stern sinks rapidly. It seems hopeless for everyone aboard Atlantic, but rescue is on its way in the form of a small group of local fishermen.

At that time, the SS Atlantic was the worst disaster in the North Atlantic to date, and the worst disaster for the White Star Line until the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. April 1st, 2023 marks the 150th anniversary of the wreck, and even though it's a wreck I've covered thoroughly on my channel in the past, including with a detailed full length documentary, new research and a better understanding of the disaster make it worth revisiting this story.

The Mary Celeste is one of the most infamously legendary sailing vessels in history, having been found adrift after her crew vanished. In this video, we not only explore the story of their disappearance, but the full history of this vessel, starting with her construction in Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia under the name Amazon, through her early career, her adventures and misadventures, and the long road that eventually led to her intentional destruction on the reefs of Haiti in 1885.

Find out more about the Age of Sail Heritage Centre at: https://ageofsailmuseum.ca/

The story of the Mary Celeste is one that I've wanted to do for a while but had no plan to make any time soon. Last week, my wife and I were able to visit her family in Nova Scotia for the first time since before the pandemic, and since Nova Scotia is where the Mary Celeste was built, I figured I'd gather the footage I need and finish the video whenever convenient (probably late 2023).

I worked with the Age of Sail Museum and the local Titanic society (since they more so cover general local maritime history), and in discussing this video, we realized the 150th anniversary is now. She was found on December 4th, and returned to Gibraltar on December 13th. There was nothing prepared to commemorate the anniversary of one of their most famous vessels, so we decided to light a fire under this project.

The documentary you're seeing was researched, written, filmed, edited, and animated all within about a week. It wouldn't have been at all possible without the help of my friend Alex, who did these beautiful animations for the project.

Immediately after the wreck of the White Star Line's SS Atlantic, fundraisers were created for the survivors, and inquiries were held to investigate who might be at fault. Was it the Captain? The crew? The White Star Line? Or was it simply an unavoidable act of God?

On April 1, 1873, the steamship Atlantic was lost on the rocks near Halifax, Nova Scotia. This disaster is almost completely forgotten today, even by locals. A small museum stands near the site, but it does not get the attention it deserves.

This house was the home of the Norris Family for who knows how many generations and in the early hours of April 1st, 1873, it gave refuge to some of those rescued from the wreck of the White Star Line steamer SS Atlantic, but over the summer of 2020, the decrepit and abandoned house was torn down. Shot in 2018 before its destruction, we take a brief look inside the collapsing walls of this old fisherman's shack and shine light on its unique history, saving its memory before it's forgotten.

Sitting at the mass grave of some of the SS Atlantic's dead, I reflect on how forgotten the wreck is, and a mysterious grave that embodies the buried stories of this disaster.

Francis Rickards Dyke was only 20 years old when his ship, the cable ship Minia, was chartered to join the Mackay Bennett in recovering the bodies of Titanic's victims from the wreck site. His granddaughter shares Francis' story of this life-changing job of his, as well as a handful of artifacts connected to it including a personal letter to his mother and wreck wood from the First Class spaces of Titanic.

Special thanks to Pat Teasdale for her exceptional interview and the Dartmouth Heritage Museum Society for allowing us to film on their premises.

Applying the same techniques that went into cataloging the artifacts from the RMS Titanic, we document and photograph (and in some cases, we identify!) the artifacts from the wreck of the SS Atlantic, a White Star Liner that wrecked in Nova Scotia in 1873.

Historian and author Bob Chaulk takes us out on his boat through the islands of Lower Prospect and out to the wreck site of the steamship Atlantic.

The SS Atlantic wrecked on the rocks of Lower Prospect in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1873. The story is nearly forgotten. We do our best to tell the story of the sinking, the worst disaster on the North Atlantic in the 1800's, and the first disaster for the White Star Line.

This was made in cooperation with the SS Atlantic Heritage Park Society and the Titanic Society of Atlantic Canada.