On being informed of his decision, James Ruth, acting master of the Davie, and the other three crew members, G. Conaghan, L. Moore and H. Moore, immediately prepared the barge for departure. Shortly after eight o'clock in the morning the Pyke Salvage tug and her consort cleared the Oswego harbour breakwater and headed north for Kingston.

Built in 1898 at St. Joseph de Levis, Quebec by the Davie Shipbuilding Company, her dimensions were 177.5 feet long by 35 feet wide, with a hold of 12.5 feet deep, and a registered tonnage of 680. For the most part she had an uneventful career, usually serving in the grain and coal trade on Lake Ontario and on the St. Lawrence. Although originally registered at Quebec City, after being acquired from J. R. Booth by the Montreal Transportation Company, her registry was transferred to Montreal. While owned by this company, she sank in the St. Lawrence River near Alexandria Bay in June 1911. After being raised the following year and rebuilt, she went aground at the foot of Wolfe Island. In June 1920 Canada Steamship Lines purchased the Davie from the Montreal Transportation Company. The C.S.L. soon sold her to John E. Russell of Toronto, who in turn sold her to the Sowards Coal Co. in 1926. At this time her registry was transferred to Kingston, where she entered the Collingwood Shipbuilding Company's dry-dock that fall for a complete overhaul. In 1927 and 1928 she was being towed by the steamer Patdoris. By 1931 the Davie was employed by the Pyke Wrecking and Salvage Company, but it is not clear when ownership officially passed into their hands. Although she occasionally saw more glamorous service as a salvage lighter, her routine role in the coal-carrying trade continued until she disappeared from the surface on that cold April day in 1945.

Striking on her starboard side, she still lies with her decks heeled sharply in that direction. Upon impact the weight of the coal forced the hatch covers off, and most of the cargo spilled out over the lake bottom. The crane, lying amid the coal, was formerly on the Henry Daryaw, which sank in the St. Lawrence River near Brockville in November 1941. Fastened on the roof of the intact cabin is a fresh water tank, its shape distorted by the pressure. Windows and doors allow a good view of the tangled woodwork inside. The steam-assisted steering wheel sits proudly at the stern, and the rudder is hard to port, no doubt as a result of the helmsman's vain attempt to counteract that final sheer to starboard. The lifeboat rests near the side of the barge, not far from the crane's clam bucket. A wooden ladder leans against the starboard bow, while high on the port bow a large anchor hangs from the hawse pipe. Leading off onto the bottom, the tow cable heads north in the direction of home.

A mooring block was installed in September 2000 by Preserve Our Wrecks, Kingston; P.O.W. now maintains twenty-four moorings on twenty-two wrecks. The George T. Davie sits in one hundred feet of water, only one and a half nautical miles south of the paddlewheel steamer Comet, and one and a quarter miles south-east of the schooner George Marsh. In future, instead of a "Double Dip", (see "Diver" November 2000) divers may be asking for a "Hat Trick." For more information on local diving, charters, accommodations, etc., visit the P.O.W. web site at www.gtcs.org/pow.html, or the Kingston Tourist Information Office at www.kingstoncanada.com.