SS Keewatin - last Edwardian passenger steamer

[JKC27]

Some Great Lakes related news that might be of interest to everyone on here......

 

SS Keewatin is a passenger steamer that used to haul people and cargo across Lake Superior from Fort William (current day Thunder Bay) and a small port town in Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, called Port McNicoll.  This route lasted until the mid 1960s once the Trans Canada Highway was completed, essentially eliminating the need for this service, and also basically killing the town as most ship jobs left, as well as not needing the rail jobs that at one time terminated here to be transferred to ship.

 

Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding in Govan, Scotland - launched July 6, 1907 - maiden voyage Sept 14, 1907 - in service Oct 7, 1908 until Nov 29, 1965

Original owner - Canadian Pacific Steamship Company

Port of Registry - Montreal

 

Length: 336'7" (102.6m)

Beam: 43'8" (13.3m)

Draught: 23'7" (7.2m)

Tonnage: 3856 GRT

Installed power: 3000 hp

Propulsion: Quadruple expansion steam engine - 4 coil fired boilers - single screw prop - max speed 16 knots

Capacity: 288 passengers

Crew: 86

 

Keewatin ran until 1965 and then bounced around different owners serving as a museum on Lake Michigan, and then finally going back to it's home port of Port McNicoll in 2012.  It was to be used as a museum and even centre.  In it's time back at Port McNicoll it was even used as a set for maritime related movies, documentaries including Titanic, and Lusitania and others.  Late 2020 saw plans for the owners to donate SS Keewatin to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, ON, and this was made official this winter (2022-23).

 

The tow to Kingston started this week, and sailed by not for from my house yesterday afternoon.

 

Here is a link to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes page on SS Keewatin: https://marmuseum.ca/ss-keewatin

 

Pics I got yesterday to come....the park I took these from is 3 blocks from my house, so as you can gather from my interest area and other posts, the ships that ply the Great Lakes (from all over the world) as been a part of my life.

Edited April 27, 2023 by JKC27
Adding build information - and paticulars

[JKC27]

From what I have read on this ship, it is possibly the last remaining Edwardian era passenger steamer left in the world?

[Paul Le Wol]

We stopped by to see SS Keewatin just after her arrival at Port McNicoll. She looked so sad and tired. I didn’t realize that they had done so much work on her. This is great news. Thanks for posting this.

[JKC27]

Here are some pics and a short video I got just before sunset. There were a few people there taking pics as well. Got to love apps like marinetraffic.

 

 

[JKC27]

LOL - apologies on the blurry pics....apparently I am still getting used to the camera on my phone....... sorry about the rotated and blurry images.

Edited April 27, 2023 by JKC27

[ccoyle]

Interesting! My wife's family is from Keewatin.

[JKC27]

31 minutes ago, Paul Le Wol said:

We stopped by to see SS Keewatin just after her arrival at Port McNicoll. She looked so sad and tired. I didn’t realize that they had done so much work on her. This is great news. Thanks for posting this.

I subscribe to the Kingston marine museum's newsletter and heard about it late last year, plus I visit boatnerd.com daily to keep up on the latest freighter news, and they also are very good at updating other related news stories around the lakes.  I was hoping the timing would work out to be able to get down to the waterfront after work, and it worked out good - plus the weather was nice too.  Seems like my luck usually has something like this happening and the ship goes by at 3AM. 

[Paul Le Wol]

Lucky for all of us that the timing was so good 

[Roger Pellett]

Good news!  For many years, small cities around the Lakes have wanted these old ships as tourist attractions to stimulate economic activity.  Once they get them like any other “boat owner” they find that a boat is a hole in the water to put money in.  Sadly, they don’t attract the type of tourists willing to spend lots of money so most are a losing proposition, falling into disrepair.

 

To be successful, the Maritime Museum Business seems to require a Critical Mass;  a variety of displays and activities that keep visitors coming back to see what’s new. Mystic Seaport and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum are examples of this.

 

The museum at Kingston appears to be a well established successful operation.  Hopefully, Keewatin will be a great addition to their collection.

 

Roger

 

 

[realworkingsailor]

1 hour ago, Roger Pellett said:

Good news!  For many years, small cities around the Lakes have wanted these old ships as tourist attractions to stimulate economic activity.  Once they get them like any other “boat owner” they find that a boat is a hole in the water to put money in.  Sadly, they don’t attract the type of tourists willing to spend lots of money so most are a losing proposition, falling into disrepair.

 

To be successful, the Maritime Museum Business seems to require a Critical Mass;  a variety of displays and activities that keep visitors coming back to see what’s new. Mystic Seaport and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum are examples of this.

 

The museum at Kingston appears to be a well established successful operation.  Hopefully, Keewatin will be a great addition to their collection.

 

Roger

 

 

I think there are a few good advantages to relocating to Kingston. Primarily the location. The town is right on Hwy 401 (the main road between Toronto and Montreal), so it’s much easier to access for a lot more people.
The Keewatin will be part of an actual museum (which, I think, has a couple of other vessels in its collection), rather than a random artifact at a small port few outside the area have ever heard of (although to be fair, Port McNicoll is closely tied to the ship’s history). There are also a large number of other museums and places of interest in the immediate area, so people not necessarily drawn to maritime history might be interested in visiting (“Hey, there’s this other museum just down the road, let’s check it out”). And, for what it’s worth, there is easier access to dry dock facilities in either Hamilton or Port Weller, when necessary. Although the ship should be good for a while, given that I’m led to understand she will be dry docked in Port Weller prior to being put on display, (attention people in the Niagara/Welland/St Catharines area(s), there will be photo opportunities!).

 

Andy

Edited April 27, 2023 by realworkingsailor

[Roger Pellett]

Andy- My thought’s exactly!