Sub-series consists of wreck reports, also referred to as shipping casualty forms. These are completed two-page forms which provide in as much detail as possible information pertaining to missing ships, collisions, strandings and founderings of both Canadian and foreign registered vessels in Canadian inland and coastal waters. The reports are arranged in chronological order by year, within each year by geographic location (i.e., Pacific Coast, Inland Waters, and Atlantic Coast), and within each geographic area, in alphabetical order by name of vessel. Wreck reports provide normally the essential information relating to each marine casualty reported on, and may include the following details: registration data for the vessel, name of master, number of crew, ownership, cargo, voyage details, and a brief account of the casualty.Volumes 3851-3853 consists of shipping casualty forms for mishaps in the inland waters of British Columbia, 1960-1971. Volume 3854 contains shipping casualty forms submitted to Marine Casualty Investigations, Transport Canada, for mishaps in the inland waters, on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and for casualties to Canadian vessels overseas, 1972-1974. The forms provide the basic details of each vessel and the location and nature of the casualty.
Researchers should expect to find a wreck report for each casualty within Canadian waters. For many years it has been incumbent upon masters of Canadian and foreign-registered ships to file official reports within twenty-four hours of an incident at the office of the nearest Shipping Master or Receiver of Wreck. Experience has shown, however, that for various reasons some wrecks were not the subject of official reports, especially during the years prior to 1936. Consequently, it should not be assumed that the absence of a wreck report categorically denies the possibility of a casualty occurrence or the existence of other documentation pertaining to that occurrence.
