Bathurst Street Wharf

Last updated

Bathurst Street Wharf was a series of shipyards located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue along Lake Shore Boulevard West.

Contents

Early years

The first facility appeared in 1890 and the last closed at the end of World War II. In total 160 ships were built in the shipyards in the site. [1] Now filled inland, the area is now being developed into condos along the Gardiner Expressway.

The ship building area was located near Old Fort York (where smaller vessels were built for the garrison) and Queens Wharf.

Shipyards

It was not until the late 19th Century when a formal shipyard began emerging in the area. The first ship building company in the area was John Doty Company (John Doty and Sons) from 1890 to 1893. This company built 6 boats, paddle boat ferries and steamers.

Doty was acquired by Bertram Engineering Works Company in 1893 and built a large number of vessels of various sizes. Bertram sold the shipyard to Canadian Shipbuilding Company in 1905 and operated until 1908. From 1908 to 1913 shipbuilding proved to be financially challenging to the new owners Toronto Shipyards (1908–1910) and the yard was abandoned until 1913.

Thor Iron Works acquired the yards in 1913 and built only 9 ships, mainly warships and cargo ships, before being bought out in 1917 by Dominion Shipbuilding and Repair Company Limited. Prior to 1918, shipbuilding was done in wharfs and finally in a shipyard built by Dominion. However Dominion shared the same fate as Toronto Shipyards and closed in 1920 after a strike caused the shipbuilder to go bankrupt.

Decline and closing of shipyard

The yards lay empty for two decades before being re-activated by the Government of Canada in 1941 to build minesweepers for the Royal Canadian Navy under the contractor Dufferin Shipbuilding Company Limited and then by federally owned Toronto Shipbuilding Company Limited. From 1943, the new owner Redfern Construction Company Limited built minesweepers for the Royal Navy. [2] The last ship was completed in 1945 with the remainder orders cancelled. The shipbuilding industry came to a close in the area for good.

Post-shipyard use

Following World War II, the area remained industrial and served as docking facilities the nearby silos. Berths were filled in and in the 1980s industry was replaced with condos, a City of Toronto park (Toronto Music Garden) and a public marina by Harbourfront Corporation. Numerous marine uses exist at Spadina Quay today (2020) including Marina Quay West, numerous passenger vessels, a few active commercial tugs, a water taxi and Boatel on board B&B accommodation.

Related Research Articles

Shipyard

A shipyard is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.

Toronto Harbour

Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational boating, including personal vessels and pleasure boats providing scenic or party cruises. Ferries travel from docks on the mainland to the Islands, and cargo ships deliver aggregates and raw sugar to industries located in the harbour. Historically, the harbour has been used for military vessels, passenger traffic and cargo traffic. Waterfront uses include residential, recreational, cultural, commercial and industrial sites.

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company

The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side. Its main activity was shipbuilding, but it also diversified into civil engineering, marine engines, cranes, electrical engineering and motor cars.

Yarrow Shipbuilders Former shipbuilding firm based in Glasgow, Scotland

Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also operated the nearby Govan shipyard since 1999.

Toronto Drydock Company is a shipbuilding repair company in Canada and the name of two shipbuilders in the 19th and 20th centuries respectively.

Toronto Ferry Company

The Toronto Ferry Company was formed from the merger of the Doty Ferry Company with A.J. Tymon's Island Ferry Company, two of Toronto's early ferry operators to Toronto Islands in 1890. TFC was founded and headed by businessman Lol Solman. The company's ferry license and ships were later acquired by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1927. On March 17th, 2021 The Toronto Ferry Company Inc was registered under the Ontario Business Corporations Act to Michael A. McLaughlin

Cockatoo Island Dockyard Australian dockyard

The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role in sustaining the Royal Australian Navy. The dockyard was closed in 1991, and its remnants are heritage listed as the Cockatoo Island Industrial Conservation Area.

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire.

Naval Shipyards, York (Upper Canada)

Naval Shipyards, York was one of the shipyards of the Royal Navy on Lake Ontario.

The Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Company Ltd. was a British shipyard located in Blyth, Northumberland, England.

Burrard Dry Dock shipyard in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canda

Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. was a Canadian shipbuilding company headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Together with the neighbouring North Van Ship Repair yard and the Yarrows Ltd. yard in Esquimalt, which were eventually absorbed, Burrard built over 450 ships, including many warships built and refitted for the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy in the First and Second World Wars.

Davie Shipbuilding

Davie Shipbuilding is a historic shipbuilding company located in Lauzon, Quebec, Canada. The facility is now operating as Chantier Davie Canada Inc. and is the oldest continually operating shipbuilder in North America.

Black Sea Shipyard

The Black Sea Shipyard is a shipbuilding structure located in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1895 by Belgian interests and began building warships in 1901. At the beginning of World War I in 1914, it was one of the largest industrial facilities in the Russian Empire. The shipyard was moribund until the Soviets began building up the fleet in the 1930s and it began building surface warships as well as submarines. The yard was badly damaged during World War II and took several years to be rebuilt. Surface warship construction temporarily ended in the mid-1950s before being revived in the mid-1960s and submarines were last built in the yard in late 1950s. The Black Sea Shipyard built all of the aircraft carrying ships of the USSR and Russia and continues to build large commercial ships.

Halifax Shipyard

The Halifax Shipyard Limited is a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Polson Iron Works Limited

The Polson Iron Works was an Ontario based firm which built large steam engines, as well as ships, barges and dredges.

The Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company was a shipyard that operated at Port Arthur, Ontario, now part of Thunder Bay, on Lake Superior from 1911 to 1993. The shipyard was established in 1909 and renamed in 1916 as the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company. The yard closed in 1993. It reopened as a repair yard Lakehead Marine and Industrial, however that venture failed in 2014. As of 2016, the shipyard was purchased by Heddle Marine. It is operated by Heddle Marine in partnership with Fabmar Metals Inc, of Thunder Bay. The venture focuses on ship repair services and winter layup options.

Irving Shipbuilding Canadian shipbuilder

Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is a Canadian shipbuilder and in-service support provider. The company owns industrial fabricator Woodside Industries in Dartmouth, Halifax Shipyard as the largest facility and company head office. In addition, the Shelburne Ship Repair for serving small and medium-sized vessels and Halifax-based Fleetway Inc., an engineering and design, support and project management firm.

Collingwood Shipbuilding was a major Canadian shipbuilder of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The facility was located in the Great Lakes and saw its business peak during the Second World War. The shipyard primarily constructed lake freighters for service on the Great Lakes but also constructed warships during the Second World War and government ships postwar. The shipyard was closed permanently in 1986 and the land was redeveloped into a new housing community.

Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Company was a shipbuilding company from Quebec City, Quebec. It was located in the Lower Town area of the city, along the Saint-Charles River. Founded in 1858, the shipyard stayed in operation until 1949, when it constructed its last ship. It built ships for the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy during both world wars. In 1947, the company was renamed St. Lawrence Metal and Marine Works.

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2010-06-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Redfern Construction, John Doty & Sons, Bertram Engineering Works, Canadian Shipbuilding, Toronto Shipyards, Thor Iron Works, Dominion Shipbuilding & Repair, Dufferin Shipbuilding, Toronto Shipbuilding".