Salén's Ariel at pier 37 (right) with the Canadian Naval Auxiliary tug Riverton heading to sea with a gunnery target in tow, and the coaster Twillingate working cargo at pier 33.
[Ariel built by Eriksbergs in 1964, 7997 grt, 8230 dwt
[78: Ariel I, 81: Athos I, 84: Pathos, 84: Yukon Reefer, broken up Gadani Beach 1984]
Most of the CNR cargo went via North Sydney, but some went through Mulgrave and Halifax, particularly during the ice season (late December until sometimes as late as May), as did some of the seasonal cargoes.
After World War II steel hulled cargo ships began to displace the wooden schooners and general cargo ships, since they were limited in size to about 100 gross tons. Britain was the obvious source for steel ships, and dozens ended up in Canadian waters. No less than eight of them came from the General Steam Navigation Co.
The General Steam Navigation Co (GSN) was founded in 1821 and became part of P+O in 1920. Its main areas of trade were cross channel from London to France, Belgium, Holland and Germany but also operated excursion steamers on the Thames. Many of their ships were lost in World War II, but were quickly replaced and as freight patterns changed in Europe many of those war survivors or early post war replacements became available.
In no particular order, here are the ones that I remember seeing:
Clyde
Hirondelle was built in 1950 by Henry Robb, Limited of Leith, Scotland with a grt of 757 and 785 dwt. At 208'-6" x 36'-0" it was of an ideal size for getting in to outports. In 1966 Lake Shipping Co Ltd bought the ship and renamed it Clyde for company founder Harold Bertram Clyde Lake (1884-1965), founder of H.B.Clyde Lake Ltd. The company was Newfoundland''s largest salt fish processor and was also involved in various fishing and marine related businesses, originally in Fortune Bay, in what became the Lake Group and eventually Fisheries Products Ltd.
I include this poor photo because it shows the ship, essentially unchanged from its GSN days. Note the masts mounted in tabernacles. These allowed the ship to lower its masts to reach inland ports in Europe, but were probably never used in Canada. In this photo it is working CN cargo at Pier 9B.
In addition to working for CNR, the ship carried company cargoes and worked as far south as South America and to Montreal. The (Federal) Minister of Transport hired the Clyde for northern supply work (I have record of it doing this work in 1969).
Loading general cargo at Pier 33.
The ship was eventually laid up in Sydney, NS and sat idle there for many years until 1984 when the City of Sydney advertised for its removal as a derelict. It arrived in Halifax late in 1985 and was used as a naval gunnery target until it failed to return to port after one exercise in April 1986.
Amid the ruins of the Sydney Engineering and Drydock Co, the Clyde was soon to be declared a hazard and unsightly by the City of Sydney.
Sarah
Another acquisition by Lake Shipping was the Gannet, built in 1956 by the Grangemouth Dockyard Co. but along the lines of a miniature general cargo ship. Measuring 923 grt, 955 dwt, it was 232'-5" long x 37'-1" wide it had some supplemental lifting capacity, with a 15 ton capacity "jumbo" boom forward and had some refrigerated holds.
Lake Shipping renamed the ship Sarah after Sarah Valetta Spencer (1883-1962), wife of H.B. Clyde Lake.
After a period laid up in Sydney it was sold in 1984 to Anguilla Marine Transportation, and the Canadian registry closed July 4, 1984. The ship was wrecked in Road Bay, Anguilla, November 7 of the same year.
Glencoe
D.Frampton and Company Ltd of St.John's acquired GSN's Teal in 1963. It was a 1148 grt ship built by Goole Shipbuilding in 1947. Renamed Glencoe it followed the usual pattern of trade for CNR and tramping.
It lasted with Frampton's until 1986 when it was sold to Haitian owners and renamed Jehovah Star. It ran aground in Miami in November 1987, was detained in port and forced into layup. In 1988 it became Etoile de Bethlehem under Honduran flag. In 1989 there was a report that it was to be renamed Ayatollah but this religious conversion was never registered and instead it was renamed Iron Maiden also under Honduran flag. Its story after that becomes murky and it was finally deleted by Lloyd's Register in 2012.
Loading potatoes in March 1970.
An article about GSN ships in Shipping Today and Yesterday in February 2004 describes the accommodations of the ship:
"In the bridge accommodation were the Master's quarters which included a dayroom and a separate toilet, and there was accommodation for two pilots. There was also the cabins for the Chief, Second and Third Officers and the wireless operator, and an officer's smokeroom amidships with sidelights in the bridge front.
"In the poop was the accommodation for the Chief, Second and Third Engineers, the Chief, Second and Third Stewards as well as the dining salon and the POs' and crew messrooms. The engineers', stewards', POs' and crew washplaces were also located in the poop.
"The POs' and crew rooms were situated on the main deck forward and abaft the engine casing.
"All the crew were accommodated in single berth cabins."
I make this a crew of about 18 to 20. These would be unheard of manning levels under Canadian operation. They likely operated with 12 or fewer.
Twillingate
GSN's Corncrake, another product of Henry Robb in Leith dated from 1946. At 640 grt and 797 dwt, and 192' x 33' it was built to the typical pattern of island bridge and engines aft. Its original Newbury engine was replaced in 1952 with a 6 cyl Masch. Kiel of 750 bhp.
H.W.C.Gwillett bought the ship in 1967 and named it Twillingate for the small Newfoundland port, which was his home. It sailed north for the Department of Transport in 1969 and was reported in Quebec City loading scrap in 1979.
The ship sailed for Gwillett until 1981 when it was sold and reflagged to Panama by GVN Corp, with the unlikely address of Lakeland Medical Corp, Lakeland Blvd in Euclid, OH. Nothing further is known of the ships and it was deleted from Lloyd's Register in 1999.
Ile de Saint Pierre
Although never a Canadian ship, the former GSN Sandpiper should be included in the list. Another hull from Henry Robb of Leith, it was an engines amidships type of 1324 grt, 802 dwt. In addition to the six 5 ton derricks it carried a 15 ton jumbo forward. As built it was classed as ice strengthened by Lloyd's.
The French Government (Territoires d'Outre Mer) acquired the sip in 1967, and renamed it Ile de Saint Pierre for work between Canadian ports, chiefly North Sydney, NS, and St-Pierre et Miquelon. When Sydney harbour was ice clogged, it ran from Halifax. In 1976 ownership was changed to Armement Paturel Frères of St-Pierre, but the ship carried on in the same trade until 1981 when it was replaced by the new ship Langlade.
It was then sold to Greek owners as Alinda, then under Panama flag to Greek owners as Katia K. in 1982. It was laid up in Saudi Arabia with UAE owners in March 1983 and arrived in Gadani Beach as Voyager II under Panama flag April 18, 1983, where it was broken up.
Dunure
GSN's Kingfisher was an engines aft coaster of 493 grt, 517 dwt. At 170' x 27'-1" it was a much smaller vessel than the others. Built by Henry Robb of Leith in 1944 to a pre-war design it originally had a British Polar engine.
Puddister and Bennett of St.John's bought the ship in 1966 and renamed it Dunure in honour of the Bowring company's last sailing vessel. They re-powered the ship in 1974 with an 850 bhp Cat engine. Owners were re-styled Puddister Shipping Ltd in 1976. After period of layup the ship was taken to sea and scuttled December 15, 1983.
Oriole
A near sister to Kingfisherwas Oriole, built by Henry Robb in 1939. It measured 489 grt 564 dwt and was 169'-1" overall x 27'-2" breadth. It was built with a 560 bhp, 6 cylinder British Auxiliary engine.
It was purchased from GSN in 1962 by Capt. Laurent Gagné of Matane, QC, and renamed l'Oriole. However Capt. Gagné had a change of heart and sold the ship soon after its delivery to North Sydney. The new owner, Euclide Bouchard of Petite-Rivière-St-François, QC kept the name until 1964 when he changed it to Cécilienne Marie. With the formation of Bouchard Navigation the name was shortened to Cécilienne in 1967. Although the ship was intended to work for CNR it did all kinds of other work on the St.Lawrence River, including carrying pulpwood and ran into the Great Lakes.
In St.John's with fleet mate Marine Caster, and in the left background, the laid up Glencoe.
The ship was laid up in its owner's home port during 1969 and 1970 while the company was liquidated. In 1970 Puddister Trading Co Ltd of St.John's acquired the ship from the receivers and renamed it Marine Trader. It served them for a few years but was eventually laid up in St.John's.
In 1983 it was sold to Inversiones Borman SA and renamed Mayan Trader under Panama flag. In 1987 it became Gonaives Trader under Honduran flag for Pierre A. Simbert of Haiti. Then in 1991 it was renamed Notre Dame de Lourdes by the same owner.
On December 31, 1990 the ship was lost off Cuba. Of the six crew only two were rescued and one of them subsequently died in Cuba.
These ex GSN ships served a useful purpose, but CNR morphed into CN Marine and eliminated break bulk cargo in favour of RoRo and independent container services were introduced to Newfoundland. Once the CN cargo dried up there was little work left for the ships, and they were eventually sold off.
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