Canadian Naval Technical History Association

Shipyards of the Canadian Naval Shipbuilding Program 1939-2017

Originally prepared by J. Douglas Hearnshaw
Updated by Tony Thatcher. Version 7: 26 June, 2017

Introduction

This statement has been prepared for the Canadian Naval Defence Industrial Base (CANDIB) Project, a group formed in 2001 under the guidance of the Canadian Naval Technical History Association (CNTHA). It is intended as background to the project’s primary aim of recording the effect of naval contracts on the Canadian defence industrial base. The document addresses primarily the shipyard sector of the naval industrial base, and lists the Canadian shipyards that have been awarded Canadian naval shipbuilding contracts over the period 1939 to 2016. Commercial work by the listed shipyards is not necessarily identified in this document. It provides some facts about each shipyard’s foundation, history, location, changing corporate structure, the naval contracts they received and the personnel on staff at the time of the contracts, together with the present-day status of each yard. The document is not meant to be an official history record.

It is intended that these facts may stimulate memories, and reminiscences in the reader or researcher, and by their added contributions, eventually lead to a more detailed accounting of the naval shipbuilding process and particularly of the effects, beneficial and otherwise, that these ontracts may have had on this element of the industry.

The Shipyards

Allied Shipbuilders Ltd.

Founded in 1948 by T.A. McLaren (1919 - 1999), Allied Shipbuilders have built 259 vessels during its sixty plus years of continuous operation [15]. It is located at the mouth of the Seymour River in North Vancouver, BC.

In the 1950s the yard built several utility work boats and a Bilge Vacuum barge for the Canadian Navy. In 1973 the yard built 2 supply vessels later (1988) to become HMCShips Anticosti and Moresby, minesweeping auxiliary vessels.

Burrard Dry Dock Company Ltd.

The facility is located in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and was established in the 1890’s [13].

The shipyard was involved in the Second World War Canadian Shipbuilding program, and between 1940 and 1943 produced 12 vessels for the Navy. After 1946 it came under common ownership with Yarrows Ltd. It also contributed to the Navy with the production of 5 vessels in the period 1951-1962. These consisted of one vessel of the St. Laurent Class of Destroyer Escorts, HMCS Skeena, that was launched on 19 August 1952 and commissioned on 30 March 1957; one vessel of the Improved Restigouche Class, that resulted in the delivery of HMCS Kootenay on 7 March 1959, and one of the Restigouche Class, HMCS Columbia, that was commissioned on 7 November 1959. This contract was followed by another from the navy to supply a destroyer of the MacKenzie Class and resulted in the launch of HMCS Yukon on 27 July, 1961 followed by her commissioning on 25 May 1963.

The company became officially amalgamated with Yarrows Limited in 1979, to be henceforward known as Burrard Yarrows Corporation, and later as Versatile Pacific Shipyards Inc., Vancouver Division. Under the Destroyer Life Extension Program (DELEX) the joint company undertook modernization of the four vessels of the MacKenzie Class, HMCShips MacKenzie, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Qu’Appelle, at a cost of $12 million per ship. The program extended from 1982 to 1985.

Seaspan acquired many of the assets of the former Versatile Pacific Shipyards in 1992 in two separate transactions. First, Seaspan and Allied Shipbuilders formed a partnership and, with assistance from both Federal and Provincial governments, created Vancouver Drydock Company to acquire the floating drydocks and some onshore facilities in North Vancouver from the defunct firm. Seaspan later acquired Allied’s interest in the company.

Canadian Vickers Limited.

Many events and circumstances provided the preconditions for the establishment of Canadian Vickers. With the creation of the Royal Canadian Navy in 1910 went several tenders of vessels to British shipyards. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim (renamed Vickers Limited in 1911) bid successfully on several of these contracts and for the first time focused their attention on the Canadian Marine situation, since a requirement of the contract was that the vessels be built in Canada. Also at about the same time they gained their first introduction to the Canadian government contracting process with the construction in England of a government icebreaker, the Earl Grey. The British company carefully reconnoitered the old Maisonneuve district of Montreal in 1910 as a possible building site. An offer from the Montreal Harbour Commission for a fifty year lease on fifty acres of land in this area was made to the company together with an agreement to cooperate in reclaiming the site and supervising the civil engineering work. A further offer to forgive payment of land taxes for a period of 20 years was made by the municipality of Maisonneuve on condition that the company would encourage its employees to live there, It so happened that there had been a Government Drydock Subsidy established in the previous year, and this provided the final impetus to Vickers to establish a presence in Montreal. The company became incorporated in June of 1911. In the following year a large floating dock, the Duke of Connaught Dry Dock, built in the Vickers shipyard at Barrow under the terms of the Canadian Dry Dock Act, was delivered to the new Montreal shipyard.

Early Beginnings and the World War I era

The year 1912 marked the official beginning of Vickers in Canada and plans for shops, drawing offices, and the company’s distinctive enclosed building berths were developed. 1913 was spent in site construction and by 1914 Vickers was ready for production, following the arrival of a floating dry dock from Britain. The first construction was a government icebreaker, the John D. Hazen, which became an onsite schoolroom for the inexperienced Canadian workforce. There was little time for consolidation however, as August 1914 brought the outbreak of worldwide conflict. Immediately the labour force was expanded to 1500. All the construction facilities were directed to wartime production and a munitions plant was opened on the property, producing over 500,000 projectiles. The new company’s building capacity was tremendous by Canadian standards and its output was unrivalled. Twenty-four submarines were rapidly produced for the British, Italians, and Americans. The developing U-boat threat set the further priorities for production and the company directed its energy to the construction of two hundred fourteen sub chasers, seventeen armed trawlers, and twenty-six drifters to combat this underwater menace. Yet Vickers had the capacity to simultaneously build nine 7000 ton cargo vessels for vital merchant marine service: altogether an impressive output for the newly formed company.

Following the First World War Vickers was fortunate in deflecting the post-war depression that hit so many Canadian industries, as a result of acquiring government contracts for Canadian merchant marine vessels.

The 1920’s and the Depression Era

The 1920s marked several important initiatives by Vickers in exploiting all of its production facilities. First there was the opening in 1923 of an aircraft division; then the establishment of an industrial wing producing boilers, pulp digesters and mining equipment; and finally there was the purchase and integration of a structural steel mill. Meanwhile shipbuilding capacity was expanded with the outright purchase and amalgamation of the rival Montreal Drydocks Ltd. Ironically it was at this time that the parent company in England decided to divest itself of its Canadian assets in order to raise capital and the Vickers facility was sold to Canadian interests in 1926. When the great depression finally struck however, Canadian Vickers was not immune. Major shipbuilding came to a virtual halt and layoffs trimmed the workforce to a low of 200 men. The industrial and aircraft divisions did their best to maintain the firm’s viability but shipyard activity was reduced to small-scale construction of tugs and dredges and ship repair work.

World War II era

With the renewed impact of war in 1939 all facilities were geared up and retooled for the conflict. Men were rehired and the workforce expanded to 2000. With a pool of well trained shipbuilders and the expanded facilities of the 1920s, efficiency and capacity far outstripped that of the First World War. In concert with the other Canadian shipyards, the new corvettes for the Navy were of first priority and under the 1940 building program a total of eight were built - all ahead of schedule. Exclusive to Vickers was the production of frigates, and a total of twenty-six were produced (fifteen in one year alone), along with ten vessels for the merchant marine.

At the end of 1943 the company became involved in the Canadian navy’s 1943-44 Revised Frigate building program which called for the construction of 29 vessels. Davie was awarded 12 of them and Canadian Vickers shared the balance with Yarrows. The aircraft division worked to capacity building Hampdens and amphibious PBY Cansos. Meanwhile the industrial wing continued to turn out steam-engines, boilers, and steam generators at an unprecedented rate. It was an unrivalled contribution to the Canadian war effort and a high point of the company’s fortunes.

Prosperous Years

After the Second World War, management and leasing difficulties led Vickers to dismantle its aircraft division. However the high rates of production established during the war in other divisions were translated into peacetime contracts. The post-war years saw a variety of vessels clear the ways including a dredger; motor coasters; canal ships; a mine sweeper; and an icebreaking ferry. This high rate of production earned for Vickers the reputation as Canada’s lead yard - the best in the country for price, efficiency, and quality.

The industrial arm of the firm continued building mining and industrial chemical equipment… From the end of the war to 1950, Vickers’s marine output consisted of: twenty ocean-going cargo ships; one lighthouse tender; one lightship; six coasters; and one canaller vessel.

The 1950’s

During the 1950s a slight decline in marine production coincided with a pronounced upsurge in labour militancy. A new and powerful union representing 350 shipyard men threatened production with a damaging ten week strike. But the company recovered and was determined to preserve its reputation as a reliable builder. Fortunately for the company, a new government contract for three destroyer escorts and one minesweeper buoyed the firm’s fortunes, and Vickers becoming the lead yard in the construction of the DDE vessels for the Canadian Navy. It also managed the Naval Central Drawing Office (NCDO) on behalf of the Government, where production drawings and purchase orders for all the materials required by the ship class were produced. This Naval building program led to the Launch of the first ship of the DDE class, HMCS St Laurent, on 29 April 1953, and her commissioning on 10 November 1956. Vickers also supplied a vessel of the Improved Restigouche Class, HMCS Restigouche, commissioning her on 7 June 1958.

In 1956 the Vickers Group in the UK, who had sold the company to Canadian interests in 1927, reacquired a controlling interest in the Canadian Company, retaining the Canadian personnel and directors. It was also at this point that the newly proposed Seaway began to affect shipbuilding, and contracts for large 26,000 ton bulk carriers began to develop with eight of these ships produced up to 1959. These vessels along with the naval contracts, and tugs, dredges, and icebreakers formed the bulk of the decade’s ship production. The Industrial Division obtained a contract to produce the lock gates for the newly approved Seaway development project.

In 1957 or 1958 a contract was awarded to Vickers for the construction of the first vessel in the “MacKenzie” Class of destroyers. Named HMCS MacKenzie, this vessel was launched on 26 May 1961 and commissioned on 6 October 1962.

The industrial wing, now once more prosperous, expanded into the nuclear energy field producing calandrias for Atomic Energy Canada, and ninety railroad cars were turned out in addition to mining and mill equipment. With fewer labour disputes, industrial production came to the forefront as the company’s most prosperous activity.

Troublesome Last Years

The 1960s opened on an optimistic note. The workforce was up to 1000 men. The Canadian Government Shipbuilding Regulation, a subsidy, and another government scheme called the “Angel Plan” which greatly facilitated the purchase of new ships, translated into new orders for vessels. However union demands threatened to undermine the contracts that ensued. A crippling strike in 1962 followed by continued labour unrest, along with a disastrously low bid to construct the icebreaker Louis St. Laurent led to a huge deficit by the latter part of the decade. Actually, a loss of 61/2 million dollars finally appeared on the balance sheet at the end of 1967, shortly before the delivery of the Government Icebreaker ‘Louis St. Laurent’. The overall shipbuilding output for the 1960s was one major icebreaker; and a ferry among other ships, altogether totaling twenty-one vessels.

The subsidiary company George T. Davie was eventually sold to Davie Shipbuilding Company in 1967, but the other subsidiary, Montreal Dry Docks continued to be managed by Bert Hastings with assistance from Harry Reynolds.

In 1978 the company was again acquired by Canadian interests and became known as Vickers Canada Ltd. More corporate changes took place when in 1981 the company was acquired by Versatile Corporation, a British Columbian conglomerate company that had established a near monopoly of shipbuilding on the west coast. Vickers’ Engineering subsidiary, Vickers Stanwick Systems Inc, (the former NCDO) was also acquired by Versatile, and company names were changed to Versatile Vickers Inc. and Versatile Systems Engineering Inc. respectively.

At the end of 1987, with shipyard personnel downsized to 500 men, the company
was forced to announce to the government in Ottawa that it could no longer operate the shipbuilding facility but would continue to repair ships and operate its Industrial Division.

The company was active in the naval refit program known as DELEX, which
involved the refitting and upgrading of a number of destroyer escort vessels, over the period 1978 to 1986. By 1987 however the company and changed hands again, this time to the MIL Group, with name changes to MIL Vickers Ltd., and MIL Engineering.

At some point the Repair Division began operating as a separate entity under management by a consortium of employees. William Rhodes became Vice President of this group, which is reported to have included Harry Reynolds of Montreal Dry Docks, Clint Atkins and three other employees.

The company finally discontinued ship repairing in January1988 and the
shipbuilding division was eventually completely shut down. Resources and energy and resources however continued to be directed into the more profitable industrial wing. A consortium was formed with Eldorado Nuclear to produce casks for spent fuel, mining equipment, subway cars, and mill machinery which continued to be the staple products.

Following an aborted attempt to sell the yard to private interests and the refusal of the MIL Vickers employees to accept far-reaching contract changes that might still have made the company competitive, MIL announced that its Vickers yard was to be shut down at the end of 1989, and the facilities were razed to the ground shortly thereafter. The dry docks and some other materials were transferred to MIL Davie.

Corporate Structure and Management (Partial listing)
Personnel, Presidents and Management Teams (Era 1950s to 1980s):

• 194?-1951 President: T. R. McLagan.
• 1951-1966 President: Richardson, Col. Orm Barratt, Vice Presidents: Tom Abell, J.A.S. Peck
• 1966 (Aug) to at least 1972, President: Eric Harrington, Vice Presidents: Richard Lowery, W. Agar, General Manager: Russ. Thoman.
• Secretary Jim Hatcher,
• Naval Architects: James Gilmore, W. German, Richard Lowery, J.A.S. Peck, J. D. Hearnshaw, A. Barker.
• Production Managers: Syd. Bloomfield, Chris West, Bill Brough
• Repair Managers: Bill Rhodes, Albert Redman, James Fraser, Ian McKenzie, Dave McKechnie.
• Project/Ship Managers: Percy Trout.
• Trade Foremen: Bill Mateer (Joinery), Vic Seaman (Electrical), John McBeth (Shipwright)
• NCDO team: Thomas Campbell, James Clark, Charles Brassington, Ed Cairns, Jack Patience.
  PNO Staff: Frank Freeborn, Keith Farrell, G. Bridgeman, Mathwin Davis, Ken Salmon, Tom Maxwell, Alec Arnott, Graham Wagland, Don Wilson, David Cutler, John Dibben.

Chantier Maritime de St. Laurent Limitée

Situated on the Isle of Orleans, this Quebec yard built 4 minesweepers, a gate vessel for Halifax Harbour, and a tug, HMCS Listowel for the RCN during the Second World War. The yard closed in 1967.

Collingwood Ship

An active participant in Canadian Naval building programs during the war years 1940-1944, producing a total of 18 vessels. The first vessel of the program of corvette building in 1940 that was to be retained by the Canadian Navy, and not sent for Royal Naval service, was built at Collingwood and appropriately named HMCS Collingwood. She was commissioned on November 9, 1940. The yard closed in 1986.

Davie Shipbuilding and Shiprepairing Co. Ltd.

Located at Lauzon, Quebec and began shipbuilding operations in 1825 by Captain Alison Davie [16]. Since its inception, Davie has built over 700 vessels, from steamboats to diesel-electric oilfield services vessels with advanced dynamic positioning systems and naval vessels with complex combat systems.

On Jan 2, 1920 the Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Company was taken over
by Canada Steamship Lines, and was formally acquired by a newly structured CSL in 1925. Reference 6 makes refers briefly to the building of ‘submarine chasers’ by the company on land that was later acquired in 1927 by George D. Davie and his brother Allison, who started their own shipyard, calling it George T. Davie and Sons. George D’s son Charles became the manager of this new shipyard. In 1933 the two yards became separate entities.

The first Canadian Naval shipbuilding program of the Second World War called for the construction of 106 vessels and in January 1940 Davie was awarded a contract for 10 corvettes under this program, with a design based on the form of whaling vessels developed by Smith’s Dock Company in England. The first four of these vessels were earmarked for the Royal Navy and were completed within ten months of contract signing. This program was followed by the building of 6 Bangor Type minesweepers, and later by a series of Park and Fort class merchant vessels that required plant facilities in the yard to be upgraded to handle these large ships.

By 1943-44 the Canadian Navy had developed a ‘Revised Frigate’ building program consisting of 29 vessels, and Davie was awarded a contract for 12 of them. The rest were built by Yarrows and Canadian Vickers. They were all delivered in 1944. In summary, Davie’s wartime naval shipbuilding production amounted to ten corvettes, 6 minesweepers and 12 frigates.

In 1951 Rodgie Mclagan and Richard Lowery joined the company and in 1953
the company was reportedly building a destroyer escort vessel and 3 minesweepers. HMCS Fundy was the lead ship of the Bay Class minesweepers and was delivered in 1956. This vessel had survived the fire that occurred at Davie in 1955. By 1955 a Destroyer Escort vessel of the ‘Improved Restigouche’ Class, HMCS Gatineau, was under construction, and was delivered on 17 February 1959.

A contract to supply a vessel of the Mackenzie Class destroyers led to the launch of HMCS Qu’Appelle on 2 May 1962 and her subsequent commissioning on 14 September 1963. In 1960 the yard was awarded a contract valued at $15.7 million for the construction of the replenishment ship HMCS Provider for the Canadian Navy. This completed vessel was also commissioned in September 1963. Other Naval contracts included the conversion of HMCS Margaree to a DDH Destroyer and the major refit of the repair ship HMCS Cape Scott.

At the beginning of 1966 Davie was awarded the refitting contract for the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure which had been purchased by the Canadian Navy from the UK in 1957. Some interesting benefits to the shipyard resulting from this contract, as its reputation for producing high quality work was enhanced as a result of effectively utilizing the technologically advanced equipment acquired to complete this naval contract. A huge cost overrun however was experienced on this contract, but under the leadership of Takis Veliotis the company exonerated itself handsomely from any blame in subsequent investigations.

In 1968 the company received a contract to build 2 Destroyer Escort vessels (DDH) for the RCN, but the honour of being the lead yard for the program went to Marine Industries. The yard commenced building these vessels in 1969, delivering HMCS Athabaskan in 1972 and HMCS Algonquin in 1973.

In February 1976 Power Corporation, owners of CSL who held a controlling
interest in the Davie shipyard, chose to sell its shares in the yard to the holding company Societé de construction navale, (Soconav). This new holding company had been set up by four employees of Marine Industries Ltd, Tracy (MIL); namely Louis Rochette, William H, White, Maurice Provencher and Marcel Lafrance, and the Quebec Government’s Societé générale de financement (SGF) was the major shareholder. More corporate changes occurred in1981 when the company was sold to Dome Petroleum for $38.6 million, and again when the company was subsequently acquired by Versatile Corporation in 1985. At this time Davie’s management successfully argued against a name change to ‘Versatile Quebec’, and was given the new name of Versatile Davie Inc. In 1987 MIL made an offer to Versatile for the Davie yard as well as Versatile Vickers and Versatile Systems Engineering, and the acquisition was completed on January 16, 1987.

The new Versatile Corporation was involved in the aborted Canadian Naval nuclear submarine program, announced by the Government in 1987, spending a great deal of time and money in developing a bid in conjunction with other contractors who formed the Canadian Submarine Consortium. Another aborted Federal Government project was the Polar 8 super icebreaker. MIL’s Director of Engineering was the technical representative for Canadian Shipyards on this committee.

Greater success came later however when the shipyard participated in the
Canadian Patrol Frigate program, to the extent of building three of these vessels. The contract had originally been awarded to MIL and Vickers, but the latter yard closed down and MIL, which owned Davie, decided the best division of labour was for MIL to build modules of the stern sections for the ships and then transfer them to Lauzon for complete ship assembly and delivery. The keel of the first frigate was laid in December of 1988. In September of 1993 the first of three Frigates, HMCS Ville de Québec, was delivered to the Navy. The second vessel, HMCS Regina, left on trials in November of 1993 and the third, HMCS Calgary, in June of 1994. Unfortunately the contract led to legal action with Saint John Shipbuilding Limited, lead yard for the program, which however was ultimately resolved.

Davie also undertook the shipyard work of the RCN Tribal Class Update and Modernization Program (TRUMP), involving four vessels of the DDH 280 Class. This contract, was worth $650 million, and was undertaken initially under contract to Litton Systems Canada Ltd. The initial contract for the first two vessels ran far from smoothly however, and legal actions arose between Litton, Her Majesty, and MIL et al. and eventually led to an omnibus government settlement. The contract for the second two vessels proceeded smoothly to completion. The fourth vessel of the TRUMP program, HMCS Huron, was delivered back to the Navy in December 1994.

On January 15, 1996 the Davie shipyard was sold to the Cedar Group, or
Dominion Bridge Corporation as it was known and the company name changed to Davie Industries Inc. After the bankruptcy of Dominion Bridge in 1998 the yard was bought and sold several times until November 2012 when it was purchased by a partnership between Zafiro Marine (later known as Inocea) of the UK and the Norwegian operator Cecon ASA. The name was changed to Chantier Davie Canada Inc.

In August 2015 Davie signed a contract to convert the container ship MS Asterix
to provide temporary At-Sea Support Services for the Royal Canadian Navy The vessel was built in 2010 in Germany and is to be converted for use by the RCN until the two Joint Support Ships (JSS) are ready.

Some shipyard Personnel: Takis Veliotis, Don Challinor, William H, White,
Michael Ayre, Richard Bertrand, Tom Gibson, Bill Farrish, Mike Donnison.

Dufferin Ship

The first ship building company on this site in Toronto was John Doty Company opened in 1890 [17]. Various shipyard companies came and went over the years and the yards lay empty for two decades, but was re-activated in 1941 to build 6 minesweepers for the Royal Canadian Navy under the contractor Dufferin Shipbuilding Company Limited and then by federally owned Toronto Shipbuilding Company Limited. From 1943, a new owner, Redfern Construction Company Limited, built minesweepers for the Royal Navy. The last ship was completed in 1945 with the remainder orders cancelled and the shipbuilding industry came to a close in the area for good.

East Isle Shipyard

Originally known as Georgetown Shipyard, East Isle Shipyard was started in 1965, when Bathurst Marine moved its operations to PEI from Bathurst NB. It has had its ups and downs but, after 1991, with strong support from the provincial government and its parent company, Irving Shipbuilding, it developed a very strong position as a builder of tugs, with many export orders to its credit. In 19776/77 the shipyard built three Glen Class harbour tugs for the Royal Canadian Navy. During the Canadian Patrol Frigate (1992-1994) and MCDV (1996-1998) programs, the shipyard built hull modules for the Saint John and Halifax shipyards. The yard constructed bow modules for 9 of the 12 Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels. The yard closed in 2010.

George T. Davie & Sons

The yard was set up in 1929 primarily for repair work, by George D. Davie, a manager of the larger Davie organization, (which was owned at that time by CSL), George D. Davie was assisted in this venture by his brother Allison Cufaude Davie, and the company they formed was created for Charlie, the son of one and the nephew of the other. In 1934-35 Charlie (Charles Gordon Davie) expanded from repair work into building new vessels.

The yard participated in the Navy’s 1940 building program, producing corvettes, and again under the Navy’s 1942 program, produced two twin screw corvettes. In 1943-43 the company secured a naval contract to build 2 frigates, one of them, the long-lived HMCS Victoriaville, was commissioned in June of 1944, eventually becoming a Prestonian class escort vessel, then a diving tender and eventually being sold for scrap in 1974. During the war years employment rose from fewer than 100 workers to 2000.

When Charlie Davie died his role as president was assumed by Andre Delagrave, brother-in-law to Charlie. Shortly after taking office, he hired John Stubbs, a naval architect from Glasgow, Scotland in 1950. Eventually (in 1951) the yard was sold to Canadian Vickers Ltd and André Delagrave was kept on as president, with Maurice Paquet as Treasurer, and J. Edouard Labelle QC becoming Chairman of the Board. By 1953 the yard was building two minesweepers for the Navy together with a Type J loop layer and a Norton class tug. In 1957 André Delagrave died of a heart attack at the age of 47. Ken Wood was general manager in the 60’s.

The shipyard was sold back to Davie Shipbuilding in 1967 and finally shut down. Some personnel: John Stubbs, Ken Wood, Wilbrod Berher, Duncan Maxwell

Halifax Shipyards Ltd.

The yard is located adjacent to RCN’s Fleet Maintenance Facility (Dockyard) within the City of Halifax. Halifax Shipyard was started in 1889 as the Halifax Graving Dock Company: it became Halifax Shipyard in 1918 and Halifax Dartmouth Industries in 1979. It has been part of the Irving Group since 1994 [25].

During World War I, the yard was badly damaged by the December 6, 1917 Halifax Explosion, which occurred 300 m (980 ft) north of the graving dock.

The original Tribal Class Destroyers were built by this company between the years 1942-48. They were later converted to destroyer escort vessels between the years 1952-54. A contract from the Navy to supply two vessels of the ‘St. Laurent’ Class destroyer escort vessels led to the launch of HMCS Saguenay on 30 July 1953 and her commissioning on 15 December 1958. The second vessel, HMCS Margaree was launched on 29 March 1956 and delivered on 5 October 1957. These contracts were followed by one for the supply of another destroyer escort vessel, this time of the ‘Restigouche’ class and resulted in the delivery of HMCS Chaudière on 14 November 1959.

This yard was awarded a contract to build HMCS Annapolis the lead vessel of the ‘Annapolis’ Class of destroyers. HMCS Annapolis was launched on 27 April 1963 and commissioned on 19 December 1964.

Halifax Shipyards was successful in securing a subcontract from SNC-Lavalin (Fenco Engineers) to build 12 Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels for the RCN in 1992.

In 2011, the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) was undertaken by the Canadian Government, seeking to identify two shipbuilding Centres of Excellence for the country for the next 30 years (Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver, BC and Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, NS). Halifax Shipyard was selected to build the Royal Canadian Navy’s six Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships starting in 2015 and subsequently 15 surface combatants to replace for the Halifax Class frigates.

Some personnel involved in the naval builds: Andy McArthur, Chris West, ‘Dusty’
Miller, Brent Holden.

Kingston Shipyard Ltd.

The dry-dock in Kingston was built by the federal government in 1890 and the yard was a repair facility until it was leased to Kingston Shipbuilding in 1910 [20]. Kingston Shipbuilding operated it until 1968. It is now part of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes. The facility was actively engaged in Canadian Naval shipbuilding programs during the first World War and built two minesweepers for the RCN and 6 minesweepers for the Royal Navy. During the second World War between 1940-44 it produced 11 vessels.

Bill Sutton was Yard Manager between 1953 and 1968, before his leaving for Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co.

Marine Industries Ltd.

Marine Industries Ltd was located in Tracy, Quebec. The company was founded by Joseph Simard in 1937, growing out of a smaller Manseau Shipyard that existed in the 1920’s. Joseph Simard, with his brothers Ludger and J. Edouard had been operating the Chantiers Manseau at Sorel/Tracy since the mid 1920’s during which time they also built dredges, tugs, two small ferries and even the local grain elevator.

In its first year (1937) they built the first all-welded tanker for Imperial Oil (MV Beeceelite), on the naval side, they also built two boilers for a minesweeper. After 3 diesel tugs and another Imperial Oil tanker (MV Petrolite) they built machinery for the icebreaker SS Ernest Lapointe. In 1940-1, they were awarded contracts to build 11 Corvettes for the Canadian Navy of 190 ft as well as four diesel minesweepers. The Corvettes were christened: HMCS Arrowhead, Fennel, Bittersweet, Sherbrooke, Dunvegan, Sorel, Camrose, Calgary, Fredericton, Regina, LaMalbaie and the Minesweepers were HMCShips Trois-Rivières, Brockville, Transcona and Esquimalt. During 1942-1944, to carry supplies for the war effort, they were contracted to build thirty 10,000 ton cargo vessels in addition to converting six barges for the same task. During that period, up to 8000 were employed at the Tracy shipyard and they completed 13 ships in one 12 month period. When the war effort tapered off, they received a contract in 1944 for three more oil tankers for Imperial Oil.

The first major icebreaking vessel was the MV Abegweit a relatively complex diesel-electric ferry for PEI in 1945. In 1946-1947 MIL received a contract for six small (2600t) cargo vessels as well as 15 trawlers for France, beginning a list of more commercial vessels for export than any other Canadian shipyard.

In 1948, they undertook the construction of the naval auxiliary icebreaking vessel HMCS Labrador, which was commissioned on 8 July 1954. She became the first to transit the Northwest Passage later that year, and was transferred to the Ministry of Transport on 1 April 1958. Meanwhile in 1950, they were contracted to build the first all-welded aluminum boats in Canada - two Patrol Vessels for Venezuela designed by Lindsay Lord and later featured in his book on Planing Hulls.

Three frigate conversions were also awarded in 1952 for the HMCS Lanark, Victoriaville and Lauzon, as well as two minesweeper conversions (HMCS Kenora and Mahome) and one new minesweeper (type MCB-164) HMCS Chaleur in 1953.

The company also participated in the St Laurent Class program by launching HMCS Assiniboine on 12 February 1954 and her commissioning on 16 August 1956. In the same year, they won a contract to refit the HMCS Outremont.

A further naval contract for a vessel of the ‘Restigouche’ Class resulted in the launch of HMCS St Croix on 17 November 1957 and her commissioning on 4 October 1958. The same year, they won a contract to build a Supply, Rescue, Buoy vessel for service in ice conditions (Tupper) and also undertook a refit of the HMCS Nootka in 1959-60.

In 1961, MIL was awarded the contract to develop and build the 250t floating crane ‘Hercules’ that still (in 2016) operates to service the gates of the St Lawrence Seaway.

In 1959 the company was awarded a contract to supply a frigate of the ‘Annapolis’ class, with a refit of the earlier HMCS Iroquois in 1960. HMCS Nipigon was launched on 10 December 1961 and commissioned on 30 May 1964.

As for most shipyards MIL undertook significant commercial work that involved a significantly greater number of ships and workers, and this was essential to maintaining in-yard capabilities for naval projects when they came along [10]. Experience gained also paid off when naval contracts were awarded. For example, when De Haviland executives visited MIL to seek a major sub-contractor to build the hull of the hydrofoil HMCS Bras D’Or two items helped the bid: 1) MIL had more experience in welding aluminum than other yards dating back to 1950 and 2) MIL had already developed a rotating ring system to build all-welded fishing vessels out in the Gaspe using welders mostly limited to downhand welding …, so a similar, but larger system was designed and built for building the Bras D’Or and assured high quality assembly for the all welded hull.

The naval hydrofoil vessel HMCS Bras d’Or, was commissioned in 1968. This innovative craft was designed by de Haviland Aircraft Company of Toronto and driven in the foil mode by a Pratt and Whitney gas turbine and in displacement mode by a Paxman diesel engine. She attained a speed well exceeding 60 knots on her trials in 1968 and entered in the Guinness Book of Records as ‘the fastest warship in the world’.

In 1968 the shipyard was awarded a contract by the Navy to act as lead yard for the construction of two of the four planned DD 280 Class vessels. HMCS Iroquois was launched at the Tracy yard in November of 1970 and HMCS Huron one year later. Both vessels were built over the period 1969-1972. Two other vessels of the same class were contracted to Davie Shipbuilding in Quebec.

From 1962, MIL ran a shipyard in Paspebiac, sending ‘kits and modules’ to the Gaspe to build approx. 30 steel trawlers in the 78 to 100ft range, with an additional 14 larger trawlers being built in Tracy, many from designs developed in-house under then naval architect Michael Waters, starting back in 1963. This later included a series of cargo vessels and tankers, ranging in size from 200 ft to 600 ft, as the Design and Engineering department grew to around 100. These became known as the MARINDUS ships and in all, these included 2 coasters, 5 tankers and 25 cargo liners, most being for export to France, Cuba, Indonesia, Greece and Poland – making MIL the Canadian shipyard that exported more ships than all others combined. (A total of 57 post-war). Marine Industrie Limitée became part of the MIL Group in 1987 and subsequently, all shipbuilding was transferred to Davie’s in Lauzon. After 51 years, the shipyard was finally closed down in 1988; the shipyard buildings were levelled and the 6000 ton marine railway stripped out and filled in.

MIL Management [10]
Presidents: Louis Simard, xxxxxxxx?, Louis Rochette, J-R Brisson (MIL ran 4 groups, Shipbuilding, Hydro-Electric, Railcar and Industrial with a VP heading each)
Shipbuilding VP’s: Arthur Simard, yyyyyyy?, Bill White, Dave Moriera, Mark DeRoche, Guy Veronneau
Directors of Engineering: Fernand Paul’hus, Michael J. Waters Eng,
Naval Architects: Peter Turcke, Michael Waters, Andre Taschereau (Asst. NA)
Key technical personnel: Tom Williams, R-M Boucher, Marcel Goulet, Marc Lavellee
Production Managers: Leon Tougas, Andre Rochon, P-E Daneau, J-P Lepage, Marcel Lafrance, Michel Gagnon
Senior Ship Manager: Maurice Gendron
Ship Repair Manager: Ian MacGregor, Adrien Paradis
Ship Trials & After Sales: Claude Bourdon.

Naval Overseeing staff at Shipyard (DDH-280): Alec Arnott, Don Wilson (eventually EO of Huron), Bob McNeilly, Bob McLaren, Clarke Gudgeon, Dave Cutler, Bob Passmore, Terry Lyons, Doug Wilkie (eventually MPO in Huron), Wally Turner, civilian Bill Bonsor.

Naval Headquarters Project Manager and Project Systems Engineering Staff: Bill Christie, Jock Allan, Larry Wilkins.
DSS: Larry Sellick.

Midland Shipyards Ltd

The shipyard in Midland, on Georgian Bay, was started in 1910 by James Playfair, a shipbuilder from Scotland [18]. It had an uneven existence, was sold to Canada Steamship Lines in 1926 and finally closed in 1954. The yard was actively involved in naval contracts in 1940-1944, resulting in the delivery of 9 corvettes and 2 minesweepers for the RCN and 2 corvettes and 3 minesweepers for the Royal Navy.

Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Company

This facility was located on the St Charles River in Quebec City Lower Town. Employment peaked at 2700 men during the First World War, but the yard did not fare well after the ending of hostilities. It is reported that the company leased a machine shop that was located adjacent to the Lorne Dry Dock to Davie Shipbuilding. In 1937 the Canadian Navy placed orders for the first naval vessels to be built in Canada since the First World War. These were 4 minesweepers in the order, 2 of which were awarded to Morton Engineering.

The company was later actively engaged in constructing corvettes for the Royal Canadian Navy under the Navy’s 1940 building program, and under the 1942-1943 building program, delivering 9 twin screw corvettes. In total the yard’s wartime production comprised 21 corvettes, eight frigates, four cargo vessels and five coasters. Employment had peaked at 2700 men during the war years.

In the Fall of 1945 three employees, Bob W. McGilvray, a marine engineering draughtsman, Jean-Paul Zizka and Gustave Goselin left the company to join Davie. The yard was sold to Herve Baribeau in 1946, becoming the St. Laurence Metal and Marine Works Ltd. It built its last ship in 1949.

Pictou Shipard

This shipyard in Pictou was originally called Pictou Iron Foundry & Machine Shop and dated from the establishment of a marine railway at this site in 1851 [28]. A World War II emergency shipyard was initially started under their management, but Foundation Maritime took over almost immediately and operated the yard until the end of the war. This allowed Pictou to concentrate on urgent repair work. Pictou Foundry took over the yard at the end of the war and continued shipbuilding, starting a new hull list at #101. The firm was renamed Ferguson Industries Ltd in 1952, Pictou Industries Ltd in 1986 and continued to operate until 1993. It was acquired by Aecon in 2008 and reactivated, with considerable capital investment, as Aecon Atlantic Industrial, Inc.

During WWII it built 3 patrol vessels for the RCN and in 1962/3 it built two Dive Tenders (YDT 11/12). Among other things it has conducted at least one refit of an MCDV since it was reactivated.

Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company

In 1910 local capitalist James Whalen determined to build a shipyard in Thunder Bay to augment his salvage, towing and lumber business. Subsequently he approached the American Shipbuilding Company of Cleveland to direct an engineer to Port Arthur to layout and complete a shipyard including a drydock. This individual did a first class job: layout of the shipyard was so efficient that very little has had to be changed in the intervening years. This was the establishment of the Western Drydock Company.

Early contracts

Under the management of Mr. Whalen a few tugs and barges were built, then the firm got the order to build the largest and most palatial passenger ship on the Great Lakes. She was duly launched in 1913. The machinery was installed. Trials were run and the vessel proceeded to Cleveland to receive the finishing touches. While there it was noted that her stability was poor; she lay over against the wharf in an alarming fashion. The ship had been designed by the American Shipbuilding Company and she was put in their drydock. At the waterline, the hull was enlarged with battleship type blisters which corrected the persistent stability problem. The ship performed very well over a lifespan that extended to September 1949; that month while on a cruise of the lower lakes she caught fire at the dock in Toronto and was completely destroyed with the loss of 119 people. She was the Noronic.

World War I

During World War I the Western Drydock Company directed by Mr. Paige, built one large upper laker bulk carrier, and several seagoing freighters for both the Canadian Government Merchant Marine and the British Admiralty. These were followed by a series of armed naval trawlers for both the above owners. Toward the end of the war, the shipyard was engaged in building more seagoing merchant ships for the Canadian Government Merchant Marine - this was part of the government’s efforts towards mitigating the effects of the post-war depression and the work continued until 1923.

Depression Period

In 1924 the shipyard built a further upper lakes bulk carrier for the Matthews Steamship Company of Toronto. But they found in common with the other Great Lakes shipyards at this time, that business was drying up; at the conclusion of this contract, all new construction ceased until 1940. During this long difficult period which spanned the Depression the shipyard remained viable with ship repair work. Fortunately at this time an expansion of the paper mills of northwestern Ontario took place and the shipyard set up a very successful general engineering division to manufacture paper mill machinery, flumes, hoppers, and other related mill machinery. This became so active that the management of the shipyard became oriented toward this work rather than shipbuilding

World War II (1940 to 1945)

During this period shipbuilding once again came to the fore. In 1940 the Canadian Government and British Admiralty as in the previous war, were looking for naval vessels to be built in Canada. Consequently the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company received contracts for the first of many corvettes. This shipyard with its modern and very active machine shop and boiler shops was able to produce the engines and boilers for these ships as well as the hulls. This machinery was rated by both governments as the best of its kind produced in Canada. Ships produced in the Flower Class Corvettes series in 1940 and 1941 were HMCS Cobalt, Kenogami, Algoma, Rosthern, Morden, Kamsack, Oakville and Weyburn, and in 1942, HMCS Port Arthur. This program was followed by six Bangor Class minesweepers built between Aug 1942 and June 1943. Halfway through the war period the shipyard was ordered to construct a fleet of minesweepers of the Algerine class. The work on these went just as well as that of the corvettes and the shipyard proved a very able producer. This series of ships included 12 vessels for Canada and 8 for the British Navy, all delivered in 1943 to 1945, and included HMCS Kenora, Fort William, Milltown, Kentville, Mulgrave, Blairmore, Sault St. Marie, Winnipeg, St Boniface, Portage, Wallaceburg, Border Cities, 16 others and Styx. Three of these contracts were transferred to Collingwood. The St Boniface was delivered 15 September 1943. At the conclusion of hostilities, the Canadian government, in assisting France to recover, asked Port Arthur to construct a fleet of twelve self-propelled garbage scows for the French government.

The Prosperous Years

In 1953 the yard received orders from the Algoma Central Railway to build a turbine driven upper laker. This ship was followed by an identical one for Patterson Steamships. At the same time they built two upper lakers for Canada Steamship Lines. Under the direction of manager Gordon Macdougall (1936-64) the yard became involved in building hydraulic suction dredges in the mid 1950’s for use at the Steeprock Lake mine for dewatering the last of the water and finally 300 feet of sludge and mud from the lake bottom. When this work was completed the dredges were sitting on a floor of pure iron ore.

It is reported that this company built at least 3 Bay Class Minesweepers -152 feet long and constructed a wooden hull on aluminum frames, for the RCN. The ‘Chaleur’ was launched on 21 June 1952. HMCS Thunder, No. 161, was launched on 27 October 1956. After delivery on 3 October 1957, Thunder was used on the West and East coast as a training ship.

In 1987 the shipyard became a division of Canadian Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd., Thunder Bay, Ontario. The yard was subsequently renamed Pascol Engineering Co., and was subsequently closed on June 30, 1993.

Don Page was an official, also Bob Sutton.
Steve Allan: General Manager, Pascol Engineering.

Port Weller Dry Dock

Port Weller Drydocks was a shipbuilder located on the Welland Canal at the Lake Ontario entrance near St. Catherines, Ontario on a site which had originally been developed in the 1930s, as a dry dock for the Canal’s equipment [26]. Founded in 1946, the two drydocks were located on the east side of the canal. In 1987 it became a division of Canadian Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. It was sold to Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. but later became insolvent. Seaway Marine & Industrial Incorporated renamed the facility Seaway Marine and Industrial Limited, but the firm went bankrupt in 2013 resulting in the closure of the shipyard.

The company refitted the destroyers ‘HMCShips Terra Nova and Nipigon in 1993 (Ref. 4, page 17) HMCS Haida (museum vessel now located in Hamilton) and later HMCS Athabaskan (1997) and Halifax (2003).

Prince Rupert Dry Dock

Prince Rupert Dry Dock was primarily a maintenance and repair facility for its owner, initially the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad, later Canadian National Railway [27]. The shipyard was completed in 1915 when a 20,000-ton floating dock was assembled at the site. The yard was located in British Columbia, and was involved in the production of two Flower Class Corvettes and two Bangor Class minesweepers for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War, over the period 1940-1942.

After the Second War the shipyard slowly faded away, the dry-dock finally being sold in 1955 and moved to Seattle.

Saint John Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. Ltd

Located in Saint John, New Brunswick, the company first opened in 1923, and was acquired by Irving interests in 1959.

This yard produced the naval replenishment vessels HMCS Protecteur and Preserver for the Royal Canadian Navy in 1967-1971 for a contract price of $47.5 million. The company shared the building of the first 6 Canadian Patrol Frigates with Marine Industries/Davie Shipbuilding Co, and build HMCShips Halifax, Vancouver, and Toronto. The contract was signed on 18 August 1983 with a price for the 6 ships of $3.02 billion. St John was to be assisted by Paramax Electronics Inc. of Montreal, a company set up by Sperry (US) to produce the Command and Control system. This contract represented the first occasion in which the prime contractor was given total systems responsibility, as an incentive to the industry to maximize benefits. The yard went on to build all the second six follow-on vessels of the class, HMCShips Montreal, Fredericton, Winnipeg, Charlottetown, St. John’s and Ottawa, over the period 1987-1996.

Irving acquired ownership of Halifax-Dartmouth Industries Ltd (subsequently becoming Halifax Shipyards) not long after that facility had been contracted by SNC-Lavalin (Fenco Engineers) to construct 12 Kingston class vessels for the Canadian Navy in 1992.

The shipyard closed down in 2003.
Personnel: J.K. Irving, Andy MacArthur, John Shepherd, Arthur Nightingale

Shelburne Shipbuilders, Ltd

Shelburne Shipbuilders, Ltd., was started in 1916 by Albert Bruce, but the driving force as both designer and builder, from Day 1 until his retirement in 1947, was James H. Harding [23]. The company was acquired in the 1950s by the neighboring yard, Harley S. Cox & Sons, but continued to operate as Shelburne Shipbuilders until it closed in 1985.

During WWII the shipyard built five minesweepers for the Royal Navy and two Diving Tenders for the Royal Canadian Navy. Between 1955 and 1959 it built four patrol vessels for the RCMP which were later transferred to the RCN.

Shelburne Ship Repair

HCMS Shelburne was opened on July 17, 1940 as one of the largest naval refit bases in the British Empire [24]. If one counts coastal defence, RCAF, boom defence and Shelburne ship facility workers, approximately 7,000 people were stationed at the Shelburne facility. Irving Shipbuilding operated the shipyard for 13 years under lease from the Nova Scotia government. In January 2010, ownership of the yard was transferred to Irving Shipbuilding who conducted a major upgrade of the facilities and reopened the yard in September 2011. For many years it has been conducting refits of Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels and various naval auxiliary vessels.

Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd.

The company is located in North Vancouver, BC, and was initially incorporated in 1902 and later known as North Vancouver Shipyard [10]. Primarily a builder of small fishing and pleasure boats, the company built two minesweepers for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War.[5] It was acquired by Vancouver Tug in 1954. In 1968[5] or 1969,[4] both Vancouver Tug and Vancouver Shipyards were acquired by Dillingham Corporation and moved to their present site at the foot of Pemberton Avenue in North Vancouver, where a larger shipyard was established. In 1978 the company built two fire tugs for the Canadian Navy. In 1987 it became a division of Seaspan International Ltd.

In 2011 Vancouver Shipyards [14] was been selected under the Government of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy to be the West Coast Centre of Excellence and long-term partner for the building of Non-Combat vessels for the Canadian Navy including two Joint Support Ships, a replenishment vessel class. It is expected that construction will begin in 2016-17.

Victoria Machinery Depot Co. Ltd.

VMD [19] was originally known as Albion Iron Works, which opened for business in about 1882 as an engine & boiler builder: the name was changed to VMD in 1900. The original yard was in the Inner Harbour, but during WWI, VMD operated a yard on the Songhees Indian reservation, using the name Harbour Marine Company, and during WWII it operated a yard at Ogden Point, to build Forts and Parks, and continued there after the war. When the company stopped building ships, in 1967, it sold the Ogden Point yard to the Canadian Coast Guard and continued at the Inner Harbour site as an industrial fabricator until the mid-1990s.

During WWII the yard built 5 corvettes for the RCN. During the 1950s it built 3 minesweepers, 4 Bird Class patrol vessels, one gate vessel, and one lighter for the RCN.

In 1959 the company built HMCS Terra Nova, a vessel of the ‘Improved Restigouche Class’, following a keel laying on 14 November 1952 and launching on 21 June1955. The company was subsequently awarded a contract by the Navy to deliver HMCS Saskatchewan of the ‘Mackenzie’ Class destroyers. The launch of this vessel at VMD took place on 1 February 1961, and subsequent outfitting work was carried out by Yarrows Ltd., resulting in HMCS Saskatchewan being commissioned on 14 September 1963.

Victoria Shipyards

In 1994 Vancouver Shipyards (Esquimalt) Ltd. (now Victoria Shipyards and part of Seaspan) was created at the Esquimalt Graving Dock to fill the void left when the Yarrows shipyard in Esquimalt went bankrupt [29]. Since then, Victoria Shipyards has become prominent in refitting and repair of cruise ships and vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy, including life-extension servicing of the five Halifax class frigates based at CFB Esquimalt and the four Victoria Class submarines. It built the Orca class patrol/training vessel fleet for the Royal Canadian Navy, constructed over two dozen search and rescue lifeboats for the Canadian Coast Guard, and assembled and launched the newest Seabus, the Burrard Pacific Breeze.

Yarrows Ltd.

Located at Esquimalt, British Columbia, the facility was established in the 1890’s and in 1913, the yard, then known as Bullard shipyard, was acquired by the Clyde Shipbuilder Yarrows at a cost of $300,000 [11]. The prospect of building vessels for the Canadian Navy was evident at the time. It was jointly owned with Burrard Dry Dock since 1947.

The company participated in the building program for the St Laurent Class of DDE vessels, commissioning HMCS Fraser on 28 June 1957 following her launch at Burrard on 19 February 1953.

The company was involved with Burrard Dry Dock Ltd of North Vancouver in the building of two specialized research ships, CFAV Endeavour and CFAV Quest, which entered service in 1965 and 1969 respectively.

Both Yarrows and Burrard Dry Dock were finally amalgamated in 1979, to become known as Burrard Yarrows Corporation. The shipyards later became known as Versatile Pacific Shipyards Inc, and referred to as the Victoria Division and Vancouver Division. The Vancouver Burrard-Yarrows Shipyard closed in 1991 and the Esquimalt operation was renamed as Yarrows Ltd. The cancellation of the $650 million Polar 8 Icebreaker project in 1990 had a major financial impact to the company and the assets were liquidated shortly after that.

CONTACTS and REFERENCES

1. Kingston Museum Curator/ Historian: Susan Korbett. Web site: www.marmuseum.ca

2. Peter Cairns, President, The Shipbuilding Association of Canada. 222, Sparks St. Ottawa. Tel: 232-7127

3. David A. Benedet. Author of book Port Arthur Built (1994).

4. CSSRA Directory 8th. Edition 1987

5. Tall Ships and Tankers. Eileen Reid Marcil. Ottawa Library Reference no.338.7623830971459 M319

6. The History of Canadian Vickers Ltd. An unpublished article by John D. King and available through Kingston Museum Archives. VM301 C38 K46.

7. Warship Build Programs prepared for the CANDIB project by Jim Williams.

8. Jane’s Fighting Ships.

9. A History of Marine Technology. SNAME publication, 1995. Technical paper, Post War Canadian Naval Vessels W. J. Broughton (233)

10. Michael Waters (former Director of Engineering at MIL) provided information on the naval ship contracts at the MIL shipyard (2004 and 2016).

11. Yarrows Ltd: http://www.nauticapedia.ca/Articles/Articles_Yarrows.php

12. Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaspan_ULC
    http://www.seaspan.com/seaspan-shipyards

13. Burrard Dry Dock Ltd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrard_Dry_Dock

14. Joint Support Ships: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queenston-class_auxiliary_vessel
    http://www.seaspan.com/seaspan-shipyards

15. Allied Shipbuilders: http://www.nauticapedia.ca/Articles/Vessel_Builders_Allied_Shipbuilders
    .php?input=Allied%20Shipbuilders&Page=9 http://www.alliedship.com/

16. Davie Shipbuilding: http://www.davie.ca/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davie_Shipbuilding

17. Dufferin Shipbuilding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathurst_Street_Wharf

18. Midland Shipyards Ltd: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/midland.htm

19. Victoria Machinery Depot: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/vmd.htm

20. Kingston Shipbuilding: ttp://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/kingston.htm

21. History of Canadian Shipyards: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipbuilderscanada.htm

22. East Isle Shipyard: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/eastisle.htm

23. Shelburne Shipbuilders Ltd: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/shelburne.htm

24. Shelburne Ship Repair: http://www.canadiansailings.ca/?p=6626

25. Halifax Shipyards:
    http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/halifax.htm
    http://www.irvingshipbuilding.com/irving-shipbuilding-about-us-our-history.aspx

26. Port Weller: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/portweller.htm

27. Prince Rupert: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/princerupert.htm

28. Pictou Shipyard: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canadayards/ferguson.htm

29. Victoria Shipyards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaspan_ULC
    http://www.seaspan.com/seaspan-shipyards

ACRONYMS

CANDIB Canadian Naval Defence Industrial Base Subcommittee – a subcommittee of the Canadian Naval Technical History Association (CNTHA)
CASAP Canadian Submarine Acquisition Project
CFAV Canadians Forces Auxiliary Vessel
CMC Canadian Maritime Commission. Founded 1947 to formulate a Canadian Shipping policy
CPF Canadian Patrol Frigate
CSSRA Canadian Shipbuilding And Ship Repairing Association
CVCAA Canadian Vessel Construction Assistance Act. ‘Hire purchase’ or ‘Angel’
plan). Effective 1 Jan. 1949.
DDH Destroyer Escort Vessel, Helicopter
DDE Destroyer Escort Vessel
DELEX Destroyer Life Extension
EO Engineer Officer
HMCS Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship
MCDV Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels
NCDO Naval Central Drawing Office
RCN Royal Canadian Navy
SIAP Shipbuilding Industry Assistance Program (formerly the Ship Construction Assistance Regulations). Started in 1966 and ended in 1986 and offered a 9% government subsidy.
SNAME Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
TRUMP Tribal Class Update and Modernization Program