SS Prince Rupert
 The Grand Trunk Pacific Steamship Prince Rupert | |
| Career (Canada) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Prince Rupert |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter, Wallsend-on-Tyne |
| Launched: | December 13, 1909 |
| Acquired: | June 4, 1910 |
| Decommissioned: | 1956 |
| In service: | 1910-1956 |
| Honours and awards: | Atlantic 1944 |
| Fate: | Retired |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 307.6 ft (93.8 m) |
| Draft: | 8' 6" (2m 59cm) |
| Propulsion: | twin screw steamer |
| Speed: | 18 kn |
| Notes: | Displacement=3379 Tons |
The Grand Trunk Steamship Prince Rupert and her sister ship SS Prince George served the coast of British Columbia and Alaska.[1] Prince Rupert had a 46-year career serving northern ports from Vancouver, British Columbia, from 1910 to 1956.[2]:223
Originally, the two ships served on regular runs from Seattle, Washington, to Victoria, Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Stewart, British Columbia. Seattle and Victoria were dropped from the route after a few years and Skagway, Alaska, was added. Prince George served briefly as a Royal Canadian Navy hospital ship in 1914.[3] From 1925, ownership of both "Princes" was transferred along with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway system to the Government of Canada to be operated as part of the Canadian National Railway. [4]
On August 22, 1927, Prince Rupert was caught on Ripple Rock. Captain Andy Johnstone of the competing Union Steamship Company of British Columbia maneuvered his ship Cardena alongside and pulled Prince Rupert off the reef, saving her from almost certain disaster.[5]:109
Prince Rupert was sold for scrapping in 1956. A Japanese scrap company bought her, renamed her SS Prince Maru, and took her on her final voyage from Vancouver to Japan, where she was scrapped later in the year.
See also
- List of ships in British Columbia
- SS Cardena
References
- ↑ Grand Trunk Pacific Steamship "Prince Rupert", Library Of Congress
- ↑ Hacking, Norman R.; Lamb, W. Kay (1974), The Princess Story, A Century and a Half of West Coast Shipping (Second ed.), Vancouver: Mitchell Press, ISBN 0-88836-002-9
- ↑ CFB Esquimalt, Navy and Military Museum. "First Aid, Nurses in the RCN, WWI". Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ↑ Library and Archives Canada. "Grand Trunk Pacific Coast Steamship Company, Limited". Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ↑ Rushton, Gerald A. (1974). Whistle Up the Inlet, The Union Steamship Story. Vancouver: J.J. Doulas. ISBN 0-88894-057-2.
External links
- Canada Science and Technology Museum (CSTM). "Observation room of the SS Prince Rupert".
- CSTM. "Ferry SS Prince Rupert".
- CSTM. "Dining room of the SS Prince Rupert".
- CSTM. "The S.S. Prince Rupert sailing in Alaskan waters".
- CSTM. "S.S. Prince Rupert on a cruise near Taku Glacier, Alaska".
- CSTM. "S.S. Prince George mooring at the Grand Trunk Pacific Coast Steamship Company harbour facilities".
