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The Belen Quezada (a Rum Runner) In Vancouver BC
by John MacFarlane 2021
The Belen Quezada (Photo from unknown source (donated to Nauticapedia by Dwight R. LaRiviere.)
The Belen Quezada was built in 1884 at Aberdeen Scotland by Hall Russell & Co. as the Zafiro. 213.6’ x 31.75’ x 15.5’ She was owned by the China and Manila Steamship Co. In 1898 she was owned by the US government as a collier. In 1910 she was owned by J. W. Zeeve, Seattle WA USA. In 1910 she was owned by the Chicago Junk Co., Seattle WA USA. In 1910, she was owned by George Gibbs and A. Goldberg, Vancouver BC. In 1920 she was reported to have been sold to a Mexican company.
She was operated with the steamer Nanshan between Hong Kong and Manila. AS the Zafiro she was a derelict on Puget Sound for several years. During the Spanish American War, when Admiral Dewey outfitted his fleet for the Battle of Manila she served as collier to supply the fleet there. She was converted to a coal barge. She was sold after laying up in the Bremerton Navy Yard. She was renamed as the Bowler.
She was laid up in Burrard Inlet. In 1919 she was owned by Robertson, Godson & Co., Vancouver. In 1919 she was refurbished at Vancouver by C.A. Godson and sailed ‘south’. In 1919 she was owned by the Van Hamerlyck interests and then by the Belen Quezada Shipping Co., as the Belen Quezada. She flew a ‘flag of convenience’, to facilitate running alcohol between Canada and the United States during Prohibition.
She was the only steel ship sheathed in 3 inches of wood on her hull (by C.A. Godson) – alone as a Lloyd’s Register Classification. In 1921 she was seized as a prize of war by the Government of Costa Rica) during the war with Panama while owned by the Panama Shipping Co. of New York. The vessel was deleted from the Panamanian ship registry in 1931 and, presumably, scrapped shortly after.
To quote from this article please cite:
MacFarlane, John (2021) The Belen Quezada (a Rum Runner) In Vancouver BC. Nauticapedia.ca 2020. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Belen_Quezada.php
Site News: November 2, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,538 vessel histories (with 16,140 images and 13,887 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3989 images). Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 35,000 processed so far this year.
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.
Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who continues (almost every day) to proof read thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 14,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.