She was built as the lake freighter Frank A. Augsbury for the George Hall Coal Company by Fraser, Brace, Ltd., of Trois-Rivières, Quebec and launched on 21 October 1922.

[8] Federal Explorer was sold for the final time, to the Ithaka Shipping Company in 1960, and was registered in Nassau, Bahamas by her owner, a Greek named J.

[5][8] She was chartered to the Clarke Steamship Company to deliver nickel concentrate from the works at Rankin Inlet, and sailed from Churchill on 10 September 1960 to collect her cargo, carrying supplies for the settlement.

[8][9] She had delivered her first shipment of 3,000 short tons (2,700 tonnes) of ore to Churchill, and had loaded a small amount of mining equipment and a building supplies, for a return trip, but she encountered a storm with 80-mile-per-hour (130-kilometre-per-hour) winds.

Completely out of control the vessel was driven into Bird Cove, 12 or 15 kilometres (7.5 or 9.3 mi) from Churchill, Manitoba, running onto a shallow gravel-bank 750 metres (820 yd) off shore.

[11] The shallow water she grounded in meant that people could walk to the wreck at low tide, and her navigating instruments and much of her cargo, consisting of two generators and some plywood panels, as well as mission supplies, were salvaged.