Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Scanner, v. 34, no. 1 (October 2001), p. 10

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Ship of the Month - cont'd. 10. 1961 clipping from the Ivan Brookes scrapbooks noted: "FORT HENRY First Ves­ sel Through Seaway. Montreal - The freighter FORT HENRY became the first ship to go through the entire St. Lawrence Seaway this year as it completed its eastbound trip by going through the St. Lambert Lock here at 9: 50 a. m. today. (Per Dan McCormick, she passed down at the Eisenhower Lock at 10: 30 a. m. on the 15th - author. ) The COVERDALE, a Canada Steamship Lines freigh­ ter transferred to Bermuda registry last week, was the first ship to com­ plete the westbound journey, clearing the Iroquois Lock at 11: 59 today. The COVERDALE was followed through the locks by the WHITEFISH BAY. " Another new upper lake package freighter, FORT CHAMBLY, was completed for C. S. L. and sailed from the shipyard at Collingwood on April 11 of 1961. Two more package freighters, FRENCH RIVER and ENGLISH RIVER, were launched at Collingwood for C. S. L. that year, but they were designed especially for the lower lake and river segment of the package freight service. In 1962, FORT HENRY was picking up loads at Windsor Salt and also newsprint at Red Rock. In 1962, she was on a regular through run from the Lakehead to Montreal, but there would be a major change of ports for C. S. L. next year. For years, Toronto had been a major port of call on all of the upper lake, the lower lake express, and the through package freight routes. However, after several years of simmering dispute with the Toronto Harbour Commission over the future of the company's Toronto wharves, C. S. L. in 1963 opened a brand new freight handling facility at Port Credit, and Toronto ceased to be a port of call. In the season of 1963, FRENCH RIVER and ENGLISH RIVER were shuttling freight through the Seaway, while FORT HENRY, FORT YORK, FORT CHAMBLY and the new FORT ST. LOUIS, built at Lauzon in 1963, ran the upper lakes route. Lest we forget, still in the package freight trade were the company's three tradi­ tional steamers COLLINGWOOD of 1907, MARTIAN (II) of 1901 and RENVOYLE of 1925, all of which ran into the 1967 season and were scrapped in the period 1968-1970. As well, in 1963, some of the canal-sized package freight steamers (such as WINNIPEG and SELKIRK) were still around and ran periodi­ cally as needed, although their era had ended with the opening of the Seaway in 1959. An unsourced December 8, 1964, Brookes clipping was headed "Lakehead Rush Is On". It noted: "Ice is reported to be 8" thick in the Port Arthur harbour and up to a foot thick at the mouths of the Fort William rivers. Tugs are keeping berths open. With luck three more (ships) will move from the Great Lakes Paper Co. dock before freezeup. Package freight is still moving. The freighters FORT HENRY and FORT CHAMBLY are expected today with general mer­ chandise cargoes. Iron ore is still moving out. The LEMOYNE is due Wednesday to take on cargo." FORT HENRY made 42 trips in 1965 carrying cargoes of newsprint, flour, feed, pitch and automobiles, as well as general cargo. On June 26, she was making a trip into Bay City when she hit a snag and damaged her propeller. She also spent November 13 to 15 at the Port Arthur shipyard. A new addition to the package freight service that year was the large and powerful FORT WILLIAM, built at Lauzon. FORT HENRY's external appearance was little changed over her career but one alteration did occur during the 1960s. To improve the draught in her funnel and to help keep her boat deck clean, extensions were added to her two ex­ haust uptakes. These two "stack pipes", similar to those also added to FORT YORK, may have been useful but they were unsightly and destroyed the clean lines of the "coffee-pot" smokestack originally designed to compliment FORT HENRY's modern appearance. The next few years were routine for FORT HENRY, but it is noteworthy that she laid up at Toronto on December 20, 1969, with a storage cargo of barley for the Canada Malting Company. In 1970, it was reported by "Marine News", the journal of the World Ship Society, that ownership of FORT HENRY was

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