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The Salvage Tug Boat Salvage Queen

by John MacFarlane 2017

The Salvage Queen (Photo from the Nauticapedia collection. )

In 1893 she was built for Union Steamship Co. Newcastle UK by Richardson & Duck at Stockton-on-Tees UK as the Tees (1893); then renamed as Salvage Queen (1925); then Warengo (1930); then Island Queen (1933); then Islander. In 1893 she was owned by Union Steamship Company. In 1897 she was merged with Pioneer Steamship Co. fleet when Canadian Pacific Navigation Co. was formed. In 1901 she was taken over by Canadian Pacific Railway Steamship Services. In 1918 she was chartered to Pacific Salvage Company. In 1925 she was sold to Pacific Salvage Co., Victoria BC. In 1930-1931 she was owned by Warren Engine Co. Ltd., Victoria BC. In 1933–1937 she was owned by Island Tug & Barge Co., Victoria BC.

The Salvage Queen at Bamfield BC. (Photo from the Nauticapedia collection.)

The Salvage Queen in Victoria Harbour. (Photo from the Nauticapedia collection. )

She had many skippers over the years including Captain Joe Gosse (1897); Captain Townsend (1918); and Captain Fred MacFarlane.

The crew of the Salvage Queen at leisure on the upper deck. (Photo from the Nauticapedia collection.)

She was fitted with the first steam siren on the Pacific coast. In February 1904 she was ashore on Trial Island BC. In 1936 she collided with her tow the Island Gatherer (ex-Walksure, ex-William Dollar). In 1937 she was broken up by Capital Iron & Metals Co., and burned for scrap at Albert Head BC.

The Master of the Salvage Queen, Captain Fred MacFarlane. (Photo from the Nauticapedia collection.)

The wheelhouse of the Salvage Queen with Captain Fred MacFarlane in command. (Photo from the Nauticapedia collection.)

The Salvage Queen towing a converted log barge. (Photo from the Nauticapedia collection.)

The Salvage Queen towing in Seymour Narrows (Photo from the Nauticapedia collection.)

To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2017) The Salvage Tug Boat Salvage Queen. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Salvage_Queen.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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