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The Kitimat II in a Now Forgotten Incident

by Captain Alec Provan and John MacFarlane 2017

Kitimat II

The Kitimat II (Photo from the Captain Alec Provan collection. )

A helicopter assists in a rescue in a dramatic but now forgotten incident that occurred about 1980 the Kitimat II and an unidentified fishboat on the left on the shore. (We would love to hear from any reader who can provide details.)

This is a Labrador CH–113 or perhaps a Voyaguer CH–113A. The Voyageur was essentially the same aircraft acquired by the Air Force or Air Command from the Army after Unification in 1968. The Voyaguer was originally a dedicated Army support version of the same aircraft and was modified by the Air Command for the SAR role. After several upgrade cycles the two aircraft were more or less the same. There are small differences if you know what to look for.

Kitimat II

The Kitimat II (Photo from the Captain Alec Provan collection. )

The Kitimat II lays on her side hard aground on a reef. She must have been successfully salvaged after the activity in the pictures.

In 1974 she was built in Sidney BC by Philbrook’s Shipyards Ltd. as the Kitimat II. She was renamed as the 2015–02 at the time of her disposal from the Coast Guard. 19.2m x 5.2m x 2.6m Reinforced glass hull 57.32gt. 15.02. In 1974–1993 she was owned by Minister of Fisheries Ottawa ON. In 2004–2016 she was owned by The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Ottawa ON. In 2016–2017 she was owned by the Arctic Research Foundation, Toronto ON.

Kitimat II

The Kitimat II (Photo from the Captain Alec Provan collection. )

Kitimat II

The Kitimat II (Photo from the Captain Alec Provan collection. )

Kitimat II

The Kitimat II (Photo from the Captain Alec Provan collection. )

Editor’s Note: Subsequent to publication of the article a posting on The Nauticapedia Project Facebook Page was made by Trent Shields who stated " In 1983 I was a sea cadet assigned to the fisheries vessel Tanu. The Tanu was sent to Prince Rupert to tow the Kitimat II to Vancouver. I spent a few shifts manning the pump as we came through the Charlottes."

An anonymous source states "The Kitimat II had come to the aid of the fish boat to the left in the image (no name recalled) and subsequently drifted onto the reef while attempting to help. This was situated just outside Berry Inlet in Seaforth Channel."


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. and Captain Alec Provan (2017) The Kitimat II in a Now Forgotten Incident. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Kitimat_II.php

Nauticapedia

Site News: November 20, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,591 vessel histories (with 16,203 images and 13,900 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 40,000 processed so far this year.

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

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 for the last couple of years) 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.

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