Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Brookes Scrapbooks, January 1 to June 15, 1946, p. 5

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

FOR SALE BY TENDER SURPLUS VESSELS War Assets Corporation offers for sale by tender a number of Crown-owned vessels which have been declared surplus to Canadian Armed Forces' requirements. Their specifications and-locations are given below: 5 M.V. "Reo II" (At Shelburne, N.S.) ^ SPECIFICATIONS: Nova Scotia spruce and hardwood construction. Length 104'; Beam 17'5"; Depth 7'5". Gross tonnage 129. Single screw Fairbanks Morse Diesel engine, B.H.P. 210. Crew accommodation 10. This vessel is economical to operate and could be used as a "Scallop" boat or dragger. In excellent condition. JOB NEARLY FINISHED^**^ '*- Familiarly known as the Mother- ; ship of the North, Canada's largest icebreaker, the N. B. McLean, is nearing completion of a gigantic job of cutting a channel through St. Lawrence River ice from Three Rivers to Montreal. She is in her 15th year of service for the Department., of Transport, and most of her workhas been ice-breaking. New Cargo Vessel Of CP Line Docks The McLean also has made annual voyages to northern waters, aiding crews of distressed ships and carrying supplies, personnel and equipment for government stations. Last! summer she brought a three-year-old Eskimo boy from a point on Hudson Bay to Montreal for hospital treatment. BEST SHIPPING SEASON With 36 ships in port at Saint John, N.B., and more at Partridge Island anchorage, waiting to enter, the Canadian Pacific Railway is handling the peak traffic of Saint John's greatest shipping season. The CPR has 46 organized gangs of workmen who assist a small army of regulation longshoremen handle ships' cargoes. STARTS ABOUT APRIL 1 Blue^J^Q. officers have announced that on completion of dock facilities and dependent on ice conditions in St. Clair River, a ferry service between Sarnia and Port Huron will start about April 1. Brings Her First Overseas Load to Saint John Saint John, N.B., March 9—The United Kingdom and Canada were linked again by the famous "Beaver" Line of fast freighters yesterday as the Canadian Pacific's new cargo liner, Beaverdell, started discharging 5,000 tonsof^argo at this busy port. Official civic greetings were given to Capt. B. B. Grant by Mayor J. D. McKenna, soon after the Beaverdell had docked to the shrill welcome of scores of ship and factory whistles. Carrying less than half her normal cargo capacity, the trim new turbo electric fast freighter made her first crossing of the North Atlantic from Mersey in seven days, ten hours and 54 minutes. During the summer the Beaverdell and three sister "Beavers" which will follow her into the service, will'dock in Montreal. The "Dell" is the first of four turbo electric vessels being built in the United Kingdom for the Canadian Pacific Steamships to replace four ships lost during the war. CANAL-TYPE SHIP ID ON WAY OUT FROM LAKE RUNS Ottawa, March 7.—Canada's lake fleet has dwindled during the war years and there is a strong section of opinion among shipping men that canal-type ships, which make up a large part of the fleet, will never be as numerous as they were in pre-war years. Last year ships of more than 500 tons operating on the lakes numbered about. 210, compared with 260 in 1939. Most of. that, reduction has been in canalers, shallow draught ships that went to war in foreign waters and will never return tp the lakes. Prospects Dim Shipping experts say the prospect of replacement of these ships with new canal-type craft is dim. One factor is the cost. Almost all ships operating on the lakes are at least 15 years old. The majority were built shortly after the First Great War when labour costs were low and there was a plentiful supply of surplus materials. Costs then went in some cases as low as 30 per cent, of the present $600,000' cost of a canaler. Another factor is possibility of the St. Lawrence deep waterway development which, when completed, would give deep draught ships access to ports now served by shallow draught vessels. It might take 25 years to complete the program, including the deepening of ports, but few ship owners are likely to gamble on business for purely lake ships with that project in view. More Suitable Type One possibility is that Canadian owners will turn more to a different type ship, one suitable for both lake and coastal service and some' what along the lines of some Scandinavian ships which have operated in Canadian inland waters—vessels which have almost double the speed of lake canalers. Behind this change in Canadian shipping is a war story of adventure and tragedy. Shipping tonnage was at a premium and from lake waters ships went to sea. They carried bauxite from British Guiana, cryolite from Greenland, and took supplies to isolated and secret northern air bases. Slow-moving, they sailed without convoy protection and, despite the fact their shallow draught offered a comparatively small target, they were fairly easy picking for submarines. When the ships went down they took with them sailors from inland waters, men who despite their short service on salt water had done a vital war job. Early this summer a tablet will be unveiled in Fort William to some of these men, sailors of the Paterson Steamship Line.

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy