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Plaque on the Yacht Delta

by John MacFarlane 2017

Delta Plaque

Commemorative Plaque on the Yacht Delta (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection. )

In 1989 the Province of British Columbia did a one–off commemoration of the oldest vessel then still afloat. That happened to be the ex–tug Delta by then a much restored yacht. Soon afterwards she was sold into US ownership and left BC waters. No further vessels were thus honoured by the BC Government.

Delta

The Delta (Photo from unknown source.)

In 1889 she was built as a tug in Victoria Bc by Turpel, William (Central Shipyard). 47.5’ x 9.5’ x 4.4’ wooden hull 15gt 10rt. She was pwoered by a 6.2nhp 2–cylinder Compound Steam engine by Albion Iron Works, Victoria BC.

In 1926 she was re–engined with a two–cylinder 40bhp diesel built by Seffle Motorserkstad, Sweden. She was re–engined with 6 cylinder 36bhp gasoline Studebaker Motor Corporation engine.

In 1889 she was owned by James A. Laidlaw at the Delta Canning Company on the Fraser River. In 1892–1901 she was owned by the Victoria Canning Co. Ltd., Victoria BC. In 1903 she was owned by the Packers Steamship Co. Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1905 she was owned by the Vancouver Canning & Packing Co. Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1905 she was owned by George H. Curran, Vancouver BC. In 1905 she was sold by the mortgage holder (Royal Bank of Canada). In 1905 she was owned by Thomas Mathews, Vancouver BC. In 1906 she was owned by James Emerson, Vancouver BC and re–registered in Vancouver BC. In 1908–1910 she was owned by Abernethy & Lougheed Ltd., Port Haney BC. In 1926–1932 she was owned by Jens Gunderson, New Westminster BC. In 1932 she was owned by Kristofer Renmen & Oskar Martinsen, New Westminster BC. In 1934–1937 she was owned by Oskar Martinsen, New Westminster BC. In 1938 she was owned by Emil Rene, Halfmoon Bay BC. In 1939 she was owned by William Spackman, Vancouver BC. In 1940 she was owned by Thomas Fraser, Vancouver BC. In 1942 she was owned by Gustav Hagglund, Nanaimo BC. In 1945–1958 she was owned by Edward D. Wise, Ladner BC. In 1967 she was owned by George Webb, Nanaimo BC. In 1973–1980 she was owned by William Merkley, Maple Ridge BC. In 1982 she was owned by Lulu Champion, Maple Ridge BC. In 1986–1990 as a fishboat she was owned by Lulu Champion, Port Coquitlam BC.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2017) Plaque on the Yacht Delta. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Monument_Delta.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.

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

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