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Vessels & Ships

Messages in Bottles Reveal Fate of the SS Pelican (a former Seater, White and Co. Steamer) SS Pelican

01/07/2018 Contributor George Duddy shares research he has undertaken on a vessel with links to his family. The The SS Pelican’s employment and history is of special significant to me as she was originally built for the Leith pioneering steamship firm of Seater, White and Co, founded by my great grandfather George Smith Seater in Scotland about 1870. Her story is told from my personal family prospective. She sank – and definite news about her fate was discovered. Amazingly, a note was found in a bottle on a beach on the Aleutian Peninsula near Kodiak Alaska signed by her chief officer indicating the vessel was sinking and the crew was taking to lifeboats.


The History and Rebuilding of the Aix / Nan LeaAix Nan Lea

The Aix was, in turn, a cannery tender, a tug boat, a fish boat and a yacht. She was lovingly rebuilt by Ron Drinkwater who enjoyed her for several years. She’s still afloat, in good condition, after more than a century of service.


The Fore and Aft Schooner Casco Schooner Casco

Of the thousands of vessels that have called British Columbia a home port the Casco had one of the most exotic backgrounds of any of them. Maritime heritage knows no boundaries and this story ties in themes from California, the South Seas, Alaska and Siberia. She was built c1878 in California as a yacht for Dr. Samuel Merritt of Oakland CA. She was opulently fitted out. In her time she was the yacht of Robert Louis Stevenson, a sealing vessel and a schooner trading into Siberia for furs.


The Search for British Columbia’s Oldest Floating Heritage Search for British Columbia's Oldest Floating Heritage

The search for the oldest vessel afloat in British Columbia is a difficult and complicated subject. The list is constantly shifting as vessels disappear and as the wrangle over defining terms such as afloat, or oldest vessel creates debate and disagreement. I would argue that just recently shifting an ancient vessel into BC waters does not create a new entry to the claimant list but that is only an opinion. Here is my attempt to establish the list of oldest vessels for consideration.


The Mission Vessels of the British Columbia and Northwest Territory CoastsMission Boats

All the major Christian religions have operated Mission Boats in British Columbia waters. Their spiritual, social and medical activities have made such a huge contribution to the quality of life of the people they served that their memory looms large in the minds of coastal residents. Here is an attempt to create a nominal list of the vessels that, at some time in their careers, functioned as mission boats.


Vessels of the British Columbia Forest Service Vessels of the British Columbia Forest Service

There has always been a great interest in the vessels which were once operated by the British Columbia Forest Service. Many of them were designed and constructed by staff, and have a distinctive look. Here is an attempt to catalog a complete list.


Vancouver’s Fleet of Former US Navy APc Vessels British Naval and Reserve Organizations

Contributor George Duddy has revised and updated his extensive list of Canadian vessels that were formerly serving in the US Navy. Following the war, the US Navy disposed of the small coastal transports. Eleven of these were eventually registered in Vancouver as Canadian vessels.


Western Canada’s Maritime War Dividend – The Military Vessels Converted for Civilian Use CN No. 2

Contributor George Duddy has substantially and extensively updated and re–written an earlier article by the late John Henderson on Converted Military Vessels. An influx of high quality military surplus vessels propelled the towing and transportation industry, and the forest and fishing industries and other commerce to a level that might not otherwise have been possible in British Columbia. Some of the vessels became private yachts. The vessels came mainly from the UK and USA with a few provided by the Canadian forces after the Second World War. Their purchase at low cost was indeed a small war dividend to the economy of a country that had contributed much in terms of lives and cost to war effort.


A Revised List of the Vessels Dismantled by Capital Iron and Metals Ltd.Capital Iron and Metals Ltd.

A revised detailed list of the ships dismantled or scrapped by Capital Iron and Metals Ltd. in Victoria BC.


Careening The North Star of Herschel IslandCareening the North Star

Captain Sven Johansson, well–known Arctic mariner, employed traditional sailing ship techniques to clean and repair the bottom of his three-masted sailing vessel North Star of Herschel Island.


British Columbia Nautical Fleet Lists


Alberta Nautical Fleet Lists


Saskatchewan Nautical Fleet Lists

  1. Vessels Built In or Operated In Saskatchewan Canada
  2. Ferries Operated In Saskatchewan Canada

Other Fleet Lists

  1. British Columbia Coast Pilot Boats
  2. Vessels Operated as Rum Runners on the Canadian Pacific Coast

Nauticapedia

Site News: April 25, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,359 vessel histories (with 15,634 images and 13,293 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).

In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!

My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into a semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.

Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.

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