CGS Aberdeen was a Canadian Government Ship launched in 1894, which served as a Lighthouse supply and buoy vessel

Buoy tender

A buoy tender is a type of vessel used to maintain and replace navigational buoys. The name is also used for someone who works on such a vessel and maintains buoys....

. Originally flush-decked and able to set fore and aft

Fore-and-aft rig

A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing rig consisting mainly of sails that are set along the line of the keel rather than perpendicular to it. Such sails are described as fore-and-aft rigged....

 sail, she was later rebuilt with a high foc'sle and a heavy derrick forward. After serving in the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence

Gulf of Saint Lawrence

The Gulf of Saint Lawrence , the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean...

, and the Saint Lawrence River

Saint Lawrence River

The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...

, she was wrecked off Seal Island, Nova Scotia

Seal Island, Nova Scotia

Seal Island is an island on the outermost extreme of Southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, and is the southernmost point of land of Nova Scotia. It is located in Municipalité Argyle Municipality in Yarmouth County. It is approximately 2.7 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. It is the biggest of a group of...

 in October 1923.

Loss

On Saturday, October 13, 1923, the Aberdeen sailed from Yarmouth

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

Yarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may...

 in thick fog on an inspection tour. She carried a crew of forty-five men under the command of Captain Loran B. Kinney, along with the Marine Agent J. C. Chesley, Engineer P. F. Morrison, and John Kelley, the Superintendent of Lighthouses, aboard.

At about 13:00 Aberdeen was approaching the Black Ledge, about one and a quarter miles from Seal Island

Seal Island, Nova Scotia

Seal Island is an island on the outermost extreme of Southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, and is the southernmost point of land of Nova Scotia. It is located in Municipalité Argyle Municipality in Yarmouth County. It is approximately 2.7 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. It is the biggest of a group of...

, when she struck the wreck of the trawler Snipe, which had sunk the previous June. The collision ripped a 25 feet (7.6 m) hole in her side. The ship filled and settled on the ledge within 15 minutes. Aberdeen sent a mayday

Mayday (distress signal)

Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me"....

 signal by radio, and her sister ship Laurentian sailed from Saint John immediately, along with the Acadia at Halifax, and the Arleux from Briar Island.

The ship had about 500 bags of cement

Cement

In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...

 destined for the Cape Sable Light aboard, and also drums of calcium carbide

Calcium carbide

thumb|right|Calcium carbide.Calcium carbide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of CaC2. The pure material is colorless, however pieces of technical grade calcium carbide are grey or brown and consist of only 80-85% of CaC2 . Because of presence of PH3, NH3, and H2S it has a...

, that caused much concern (as it reacts with water to form the flammable

Flammability

Flammability is defined as how easily something will burn or ignite, causing fire or combustion. The degree of difficulty required to cause the combustion of a substance is quantified through fire testing. Internationally, a variety of test protocols exist to quantify flammability...

 gas acetylene

Acetylene

Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...

). About 25 of the crew were sent to the Seal Island Light Station in the ship's boats, while the remainder stayed aboard to assist in salvaging as much of the wreck as they could.