Patricia Lake, Jasper, Alberta

 As I said Patricia Lake was not one of stops on this trip; we only saw a little bit of it as we skirted by on the trail ride.  (The photo above is not mine; it is from the Alberta Underwater Council.)

So now you know there is an "underwater council" in Alberta. There is also a scuba shop(!), Jasper Dive Adventures, in Jasper. They primarily dive in Patricia Lake although one source we read mentions other "dive friendly" lakes near Jasper..

Why? Because Patricia Lake has a secret. In fact, Patricia Lake's secret was once Top Secret.

Patricia Lake is a popular recreation area with hiking/biking/horse trails to the town of Jasper, Pyramid Lake, and Pyramid Mountain (in the background above). The surface of of Patricia Lake (which by the way was named for Princess Patricia of Connaught, one of Queen Victoria's granddaughters) is at about 1200 meters (4,000 feet). The average depth is about 30 meters (99 feet). Despite the fact that it is cold, Patricia Lake is popular for swimming, kayaking, canoeing and fishing. And scuba diving. To find that Top Secret secret.

The beginning of this story goes back to the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. After that tragedy,
an international ice patrol attempted to destroy icebergs. They discovered glacial ice is almost indestructible.

Fast forward 30 years to 1942. German submarines were playing havoc with Allied shipping in the North Atlantic. One Mr. Geoffrey Pike, a science adviser to Lord Mountbatten, suggested making an unsinkable, nearly indestructible aircraft carrier out of -- ice. Well, ice and wood and tar and refrigeration pipes.

Code-named Habbakuk, the full-size carrier was to be 600 meters long (nearly 2,000 feet, more than 2-1/2 times the length of the Titanic) by 90 meters by 45 meters deep. Between January and April, 1943, working in absolute secrecy, a 1/50 scale model was built on Patricia Lake. It wasn't hard to keep the project a secret. Patricia Lake is a long way from anywhere, especially the North Atlantic.

By the end of 1943 convoy escort aircraft were with equipped with advanced anti-submarine technology and were able to fly longer missions form bases in Iceland. The tide of the North Atlantic war was turning. That, plus the high cost in dollars - more than $100,000,00 each - and manpower - it was estimated it would take 35,000 men to build each "bergship" - spelled the end of the Habbakuk. The project was cancelled. The Habbakuk model on Patricia lake slowly melted and sank to the bottom.

There it remained until a dive expedition found the remains in 1985. It lies on a steep slope between 26 and 43 meters (86 feet and 142 feet). There it is a "popular" dive destination.

You can see a video of a dive on the remains here. Information for this post came from the Alberta Underwater Council and Wikipedia. My thanks to both of those sources.