Site Navigation:
Searchable Databases
Articles Archive
Pacific Nautical Heritage...
- Gallery of Light and Buoy Images
- Gallery of Mariners
- Gallery of Ship Images
- Gallery of Ship Wrecks
- Gallery of Monuments and Statues
- Gallery of Nautical Images
- Gallery of Freshwater Images
- Gallery of New Books
Canadian Naval Topics…
- Nautical History Videos
- UNTD
- British Columbia Heritage
- Arctic and Northern Nautical Heritage
- Western Canada Boat and Ship Builders
- Gallery of Arctic Images
- Reflections on Nautical Heritage
- British Columbia Heritage
Site Search:
Looking for more? Search for Articles on the Nauticapedia Site.
The Fast Speedboat Speedaway
by John MacFarlane & Kristin Butler 2019
The Speedaway (Photo from the Kristin Butler collection.)
Contributor Kristin Butler found old family pictures which she is sharing. The come from an album once owned by Amos Becker who apparently owned the fast speedboat Speedaway
The Speedaway (Photo from the Kristin Butler collection.)
The Speedaway (Photo from the Kristin Butler collection.)
Built in 1944 in Vancouver BC the Speedaway was renamed in 1948 as Speedaway I and later in 1956 as Bob–Don. Relatively small at 21.0’ x 5.9’ x 3.1’ with a wooden hull 2gt/1rt.
The Speedaway (Photo from the Kristin Butler collection.)
In 1944–1945 she was owned by Amos Beckman, Vancouver BC. In 1946–1948 she was owned by Beckman Tugboats Ltd., Marpole BC. In 1948–1956 she was owned by James Towler & Mrs. Marguerite Towers, Vancouver BC. In 1956–1963 she was owned by Richmond Tug Boat Co. Ltd., Richmond BC. In 1964 she was owned by Delta Towing Co. Ltd., Brackendale BC. In 1966–1967 she was owned by Squamish Tug Boat Co. Ltd., Brackendale BC.
The Speedaway (Photo from the Kristin Butler collection.)
Rita Roberts Beckman in a small launch. (Photo from the Kristin Butler collection.)
Kristin Butler says "This is my great aunt Rita Roberts Beckman who was married to the tugboat owner Amos Beckman during the 1940s."
Vancouver tugboat owner Amos Beckman in a small launch. (Photo from the Kristin Butler collection.)
To quote from this article please cite:
MacFarlane, John and Kristin Butler (2019) The Fast Speedboat Speedaway. Nauticapedia.ca 2019. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Speedaway.php
Site News: May 07, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,798 vessel histories (with 15,646 images and 13,431 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.