Superior Straits

The Superior Straits wreck site is located just west of McKay Creek, in North Vancouver, British Columbia. The vessel is upright with the deck lying at 20 m, and the keel resting at 27 m. The main features of the site are the steel forecastle deck which retains its hawsepipes and naval pipe, fairleader, bitt, and a companionway below.

British Columbia's Heritage Conservation Act automatically protects all heritage wrecks, including the remains of all wrecked vessels and aircraft once two or more years have passed since the date of loss. It is illegal to damage, alter or remove a heritage object from a heritage wreck except under a permit issued by the Archaeology Branch.

Superior Straits has historic value as a naval vessel, being an example of the unique wartime style of "net laying" vessels, and for its naval career that took it from North Carolina to Okinawa where it participated in naval defense. It is also valued by the local diving community for its elusive history as a wreck site.

Originally constructed as a Bitterbush-class-net layer, it launched from North Carolina's Barbour Boat Works on August 19, 1943, under the name of Abele as part of the War Effort. Net laying ships were a type of naval auxiliary ship whose primary function was to lay and maintain steel anti submarine or anti torpedo nets. Abele was 174.5 feet long, 36.5 feet wide, and 19.3 feet deep and could displace 1175 tons and accommodate a crew of 46. It contained Twin Busch-Sulzer Bros. diesel engines, powered two generators which fed a single electric motor, and held a three-inch cannon and two 20-millimetre anti-aircraft guns.

The Abele participated in hostilities in the Pacific War during WWII at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, shooting down a Japanese plane on 11 June 1945.

After the War, the vessel was converted to a tugboat and later a wood-chip barge before being wrecked. A feature of the wreck site is three large holds which were added after its conversion to a barge. The vessel was named Superior Straits after first serving on the Great Lakes post-WWII. The Superior Straits sank in 1972 due to an unknown cause, but likely either sank after taking on water from neglect or was hit by a passing tugboat.

The wreck site caused some confusion in early days of B.C. diving as divers disagreed on where and what the vessel was, due to the fierce currents, heavy surface traffic, and 90-foot seabed that made the Superior Straits wreck site elusive and continue to be seldom visited.

The key elements that define the character of Superior Straits include:

- The remains of the wreck in situ

- The steel forecastle deck

- The hawsepipes and naval pipe, fairleader, bitt, and companionway