 Port Nelson aground following a storm, c. 1925 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name | Port Nelson |
| Operator | Department of Railways and Canals |
| Ordered | 1913 |
| Builder | Polson Iron Works, Toronto |
| Completed | March 1914 |
| Fate | Wrecked during a storm, November 1924 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Suction dredger |
| Tonnage | 1,200 tonnes (1,200 long tons; 1,300 short tons) |
| Length | 180 feet (55 m) |
| Beam | 43 feet (13 m) |
| Draught | 6 feet (1.8 m) |
| Crew | 35 |
Port Nelson was a dredger that served from 1914 to 1924 at Port Nelson, Manitoba Canada.
In 1913 Canada's Department of Railways and Canals commissioned the Polson Ironworks, in Toronto, Ontario to build a large suction dredger to help construct what was to be the first port on North America's Arctic Ocean coast—to be named the Port Nelson. [1] She was completed in March, 1914, and towed to Hudson's Bay, arriving in September 1914, where she promptly ran aground. [2] A 1924 storm tossed her onto the artificial island she helped create, where her wreck remains today. [3]
She carried a crew of 35, and was 180 feet (55 m) long, had beam of 43 feet (13 m), a draft of 6 feet (1.8 m), and displaced 1200 tonnes. [2]
Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of 1,230,000 km2 (470,000 sq mi). It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast of Nunavut, but politically entirely part of Nunavut. It is an inland marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. The Hudson Strait provides a connection between the Labrador Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast, while the Foxe Channel connects Hudson Bay with the Arctic Ocean in the north. The Hudson Bay drainage basin drains a very large area, about 3,861,400 km2 (1,490,900 sq mi), that includes parts of southeastern Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, all of Manitoba, and parts of the U.S. states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. Hudson Bay's southern arm is called James Bay.
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The Nelson River Hydroelectric Project refers to the construction of a series of dams and hydroelectric power plants on the Nelson River in Northern Manitoba, Canada. The project began to take shape in the late 1950s, with the planning and construction of the Kelsey dam and hydroelectric power station, and later was expanded to include the diversion of the upper Churchill River into the Nelson River and the transformation of Lake Winnipeg, the world's 11th largest freshwater lake, into a hydroelectric reservoir. The project is owned and operated by Manitoba Hydro, the electrical utility in the province.
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The history of Manitoba covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. When European fur traders first travelled to the area present-day Manitoba, they developed trade networks with several First Nations. European fur traders in the area during the late-17th century, with the French under Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye set up several trading post forts. In 1670, Britain declared sovereignty over the watershed of Hudson's Bay, known as Rupert's Land; with the Hudson's Bay Company granted a commercial monopoly over the territory.
The Polson Iron Works was an Ontario-based firm which built large steam engines, as well as ships, barges and dredges.
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CGS Stanley has been described as Canada's first effective icebreaker. She was launched in 1888, and remained in service until 1935. Constructed in the United Kingdom, Stanley was deployed along the East Coast of Canada for use as a ferry and lighthouse and buoy supply vessel and was used for icebreaking during winter months.
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SS Emperor was a steel-hulled Canadian lake freighter in service between 1911 and 1947. She was built between 1910 and April 1911 by the Collingwood Shipbuilding Company in Collingwood, Ontario, for Inland Lines, Ltd., of Midland, Ontario. She entered service on May 3, 1911. Emperor was sold to Canada Steamship Lines of Montreal, Quebec. Under the ownership of Canada Steamship Lines, she carried a wide variety of cargoes, but most frequently iron ore to Point Edward, Ontario, where it would be transported to Hamilton, Ontario, by train. After the opening of the fourth Welland Canal, Emperor carried the ore directly to Hamilton. She was involved in several accidents throughout her career.
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She was thought to be the most powerful dredge in the world when she was towed into Port Nelson in September 1913.
The 180-foot harbour dredge Port Nelson lies abandoned on the artificial island, where it was deposited during a storm in late 1924.
57°02′19″N92°35′37″W / 57.0387°N 92.5937°W
