The HMS Ontario is one of the most famous shipwrecks and was discovered by two Rochester engineers Jim Kennard, 64, who has spent more than half his life pursuing The HMS Ontario, along with Dan Scoville, 35, a shipwreck diver. They discovered The HMS Ontario deep off the southern shore of Lake Ontario when side-scanning sonar system that Mr. Kennard, a retired Kodak engineer, designed and built himself, showed a picture of something deep in Lake Ontario. The location of the shipwreck had been unknown for 228 years.Experienced shipwreck divers Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville have discovered seven of Lake Ontario"s estimated 500 shipwrecks in the last six years alone. Jim Kennard also designed a microwave-sized remote submersible that they deployed to go down and take the shipwreck"s video. The shipwreck is quite deep in Lake Ontario, so the remote machine with video was very useful."Right away we saw the quarter gallery, the windows in the stem, the cannons," said Jim Kennard. "There was no mistaking. That"s when we started getting excited." The discovery of the ship wreck was confirmed by the HMS Ontario expert Canadian Arthur Britton Smith, who authored the definitive book on the HMS Ontario.The loss of the HMS Ontario, is one of the worst-ever disasters recorded on Lake Ontario. In her time the HMS Ontario was the most-feared ship on the Great Lakes. It was 1780 and the Yankees were threatening to storm across Lake Ontario and seize Montreal from the British. But the intimidating 226-ton Ontario--22 cannons, two 80-foot masts, a beamy hull with cargo space for 1000 barrels, was intimidating. On Oct. 31, 1780, she sailed into a storm with around 120 passengers on board and was never seen again. The British tried to keep the news of the ship wreck hush.The HMS Ontario appears to be in perfect shape and the HMS Ontario has aged remarkably well though zebra mussels cover much of the woodwork. Leaning on a 45-degree angle, her masts still jut straight up from her decks where several guns lie upside-down and a brass bell, brass cleats and the stem lantern are perfectly visible. The Seven windows across her stem still have glass. Shipwrecks in cold freshwater are well preserved, that is why great lakes shipwrecks are prized. At 500 feet deep, where the HMS Ontario lies, there is no light and no oxygen to speed up the decomposition, and little marine life to feed on the wood.There was no evidence of the roughly 113 Canadian men, women, children and American prisoners who went down with the ship—the passengers—mostly Canadian soldiers from the 34th regiment—were never found. Nobody knows for sure how many passengers perished on the Ontario; the British kept their prisoner counts secret.Out of worries over looting, Mr. Jim Kennard and Mr. Dan Scoville are not revealing the HMS Ontario"s location. The vessel sits in water up to 500 feet deep and cannot be reached by anyone other than experienced divers. It is not believed to have any shipwreck treasure on it as was reported other than a few shipwreck coins that belonged to the passengers.Kennard said he and his partner have gathered enough ship wreck video of the ship that it will not be necessary to return to the site. He added that they hope to make a documentary about the discovery with the video of the shipwreck.The Great Lakes host many shipwreck locations and there are an estimated 4,700 shipwrecks in total, of which 500 are in Lake Ontario. Freshwater shipwrecks are famous for their preservation of the vessels and make popular diving spots. The HMS Ontario was most probably a ______.

A. cruise liner
B. fishing boat
C. war ship
D. cargo ship