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The Forest Ranger II – ex–BC Forest Service Launch

by John MacFarlane 2017

The Forest Ranger II (Photo from the Peter McGuire collection. )

In 1953 she was built by the B.C. Forest Service Maintenance Depot at New Westminster BC. 44.1’ x 12.2’ x 6.5’ wooden hull 28.24gt 19.20rt She was powered by a 165hp GM6–71 engine by General Motors Corporation, Detroit MI USA (rebuilt in 1998).

The Forest Ranger II (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

In 1953–1961 she was owned by The Minister of Lands & Forests, Victoria BC. In 1963–1983 she was owned by The Minister of Lands, Forests & Water Resources, Victoria BC. In 1984–1992 she was owned by Harold & Joyce Campbell, Campbell River BC. In 1992–2016 she was owned by Doug S. Mitchell, Sidney BC.

The Forest Ranger II (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection. )

The Forest Ranger II (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection. )

Raked stem, mahogany–planked transom stern, carvel cedar planked hull above the waterline with fir planking below, with oak frames. Decks are one inch marine plywood. Foc'sle stateroom with two bunks. Engine room accessible from forward stateroom. Large panelled pilot house and aft panelled trunk cabin with heads, galley, wash place, dining area, double bed. Fuel tanks in lazarette. Major refit of aft cabin 1989, moving galley to port side forward. Dinette replaced with drop leaf removable table. New fridge, oil stove and propane stove added. Interior and exterior paneling of starboard side of trunk cabin replaced in 2010. Drop–back sofa replaced with built-in double bunk 2012. New wiring and electrical breaker panels in 2013. Original galvanized steel water tanks (2 x 100 gallons) replaced with stainless steel tanks 2015.

The Forest Ranger II (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2017) The Forest Ranger II – ex–BC Forest Service Launch. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Forest_Ranger.php

Site News: December 21, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,824 vessel histories (with 16,274 images and 13,929 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 45,000 processed so far this year (2024).

The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3996 images).

Thanks to Ray Warren who is beginning a long process of filling gaps in the photo record of vessel histories in the database. Ray has been documenting the ships of Vancouver Harbour for more than 60 years.

Thanks to contributor Mike Rydqvist McCammon for the hundreds of photos he has contributed to illustrate British Columbia’s floating heritage.

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

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