SS Whatshan

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SS Whatshan
S.S. Whatshan.jpg
SS Whatshan on the Arrow Lakes ca. 1915
History
Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg Canada
Name:Whatshan
Owner: Canadian Pacific Railway
Route: Lower Arrow Lakes
Builder: Nakusp shipyard
Launched: 1909
In service: 1909
Out of service: 1919
Fate: Dismantled
General characteristics
Class and type: Steam tug
Tonnage: 106 gross, 72 registered
Length: 90 feet (27 m)
Beam: 19 feet (5.8 m)
Depth: 8.1 feet (2.5 m)

SS Whatshan was a steam tug owned by Canadian Pacific Railway that operated on the Lower Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada from 1909 to 1919. [1] Although she was small, she proved to be the most suited to the Lower Arrow Lake run of all the tugs on the route from 1909 to 1961 because she had enough power to keep the channel open in bad weather when other ships became stranded in ice. [2]

Canadian Pacific Railway railway in Canada

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), also known formerly as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railroad incorporated in 1881. The railroad is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001.

Arrow Lakes lake

The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Beachland is fairly rare, and is interspersed with rocky headlands and steep cliffs. Mountain sides are heavily forested, and rise sharply to elevations around 2,600 metres.

British Columbia province of Canada

British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. With an estimated population of 5.016 million as of 2018, it is Canada's third-most populous province.

Contents

Service

Starting in 1909, Whatshan pushed barges up and down the Arrow Lakes. In June 1915, the car barge service between the cities Arrowhead and Nakusp, British Columbia ended and CPR put Whatsan on the Lower Arrow Lakes winter service. She replaced the tug Yale, which had been leased from the Yale Columbia Lumber Co. in 1909. [2] In 1913, her captain was J. Dougal and her chief engineer was D. Campbell. [3]

Arrowhead, British Columbia Place in British Columbia, Canada

Arrowhead is a former steamboat port and town at the head of Upper Arrow Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Though the initial site has been submerged beneath the waters of the lake, which is now part of the reservoir formed by Hugh Keenleyside Dam at Castlegar, the name continues in use as a reference for the locality, and is sometimes used to refer to the local region.

An additional passenger cabin was added to the stern and Whatshan began to run three times a week between Robson and Edgewood in the extreme conditions of January 1916. On the up-run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she brought mail to communities such as Deer Park, Renata, and Edgewood; on the down-run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, she took mail out. However, due to the ice jam below Burton in January, the channel between Edgewood and Needles closed until the end of March. Whatshan could no longer break the ice into the wharf at Robson and goods had to be unloaded midstream on the ice and packed to shore. A week later, her propeller broke 10 miles north of Robson and she was stranded for 24 hours.

Robson is an unincorporated settlement in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. It is immediately north across the Columbia River from the city of Castlegar, on the west bank of the mouth of Pass Creek. Across Pass Creek on the same side of the Columbia is Raspberry, which was founded as a Doukhobor colony. The two communities are grouped together for census purposes as a single designated place named as Robson/Raspberry.

Edgewood, British Columbia human settlement in Canada

Edgewood is a settlement in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the western shore of Arrow Lake.

Renata, British Columbia Place in British Columbia, Canada

Renata is a ghost town located on ferry, west side of Lower Arrow Lake, Kootenay Land District region of British Columbia. The town is near where Lower Arrow Lake and Renata Creek meet.

During the following years, Whatshan was employed for many purposes and enjoyed a varied career. She spent February transporting prisoners from the Edgewood Internment Camp until service resumed on March 29, when she succeeded in breaking through from Edgewood to Needles. In June 1916, she towed logs for the Glaspie Brothers from Eagle Bay to Nakusp for the construction of the Quance mill. She was also used for the temporary barge service between Nakusp and Arrowhead at this time. In 1917, she made regular trips from January to April, as well as special runs for the Mountain Chief mine in Renata. These included trips in 1918 for cordwood and ore from the mine. During this time, Whatshan was also relieving the steam tug Columbia, which was being refitted and repaired at the Nakusp shipyard. In 1919, Whatshan hauled railway ties to Robson and Nakusp, and was used when SS Minto was stuck in ice at Burton in December. However, this service was cut to twice a week and did not resume the regular three trips until January. This was Whatshan's last use.

Eagle Bay, British Columbia Designated place in British Columbia, Canada

Eagle Bay is a designated place located on the Shuswap Highland Peninsula on the southern shore of Shuswap Lake in British Columbia, Canada.

SS Columbia was a large screw-driven tugboat that operated on the Arrow Lakes and Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada.

<i>Minto</i> (sternwheeler)

Minto was a sternwheel steamboat that ran on the Arrow Lakes in British Columbia from 1898 to 1954. In those years of service, Minto had steamed over 3.2 million kilometers serving the small communities on Arrow Lakes. Minto and her sister Moyie were the last sternwheelers to run in regularly scheduled passenger service in the Pacific Northwest. The "Minto" class of sailing dinghies is named after this vessel.

Retirement

Whatshan was retired in 1919. In July 1920, she was put up on the Nakusp shipyard ways and her machinery and boiler were shipped to Okanagan Landing for reuse. In June 1921, her remains were towed to Arrowhead by the tug Yale. Her final resting place was near Deep Water Landing at Beaton. [2] Her engines were later used in a new tug built at Okanagan Landing, Kelowna. Whatshan was replaced by the second Columbia, built in 1920. [1]

Okanagan Landing Shipyard in British Columbia, Canada

Okanagan Landing was an unincorporated settlement and steamboat port at the north end of Okanagan Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. Located southwest of the city of Vernon, it was the terminus station for the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway and served as the port and shipyard for steamboats operating to the south, as well as a transfer barge slip.

Beaton, British Columbia Place in British Columbia, Canada

Beaton, formerly Thomson's Landing and also formerly known as Evansport, is a locality and former townsite and steamboat landing at the head of Beaton Arm at the head of Upper Arrow Lake in the Kootenay Country of British Columbia, Canada. There was 65 residents of Beaton in 1911. Ferry service was cancelled in 1964, with the post office being closed in 1969, although the locality remains partly inhabited today. Other towns in the vicinity included Comaplix, Camborne and Arrowhead, among others. Access today is from the Galena Bay ferry terminal north of Nakusp, which is the only remaining major town in the area, which had at one time been busy with galena mining prospects.

SS Columbia was a Canadian Pacific Railway passenger and freight steam tug built in 1920. She provided a winter service on Lower Arrow Lake in British Columbia, Canada from 1921 to 1948.

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Okanagan Lake lake

Okanagan Lake is a large, deep lake in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. The lake is 135 km (84 mi) long, between 4 and 5 km wide, and has a surface area of 348 km2.

<i>Bonnington</i> (sternwheeler)

Bonnington was a sternwheel steamboat that ran on the Arrow Lakes in British Columbia from 1911 to 1931. Bonnington and two sisterships were the largest sternwheelers ever built in British Columbia. Bonnington was partially dismantled in the 1950s, and later sank, making the vessel the largest freshwater wreck site in British Columbia.

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References

  1. 1 2 Turner, Robert D. (1998). Sternwheelers and Steam Tugs. Winlaw, British Columbia: Sono Nis Press.
  2. 1 2 3 Parent, Rosemarie. "SS Whatshan." Arrow Lakes Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Canadian Railway and Marine World, May 1913.
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