Ships and Memories: Merchant Seafarers in Canada's Age of Steam

192 Pages·1993·18.263 MB·English

by  Eric Sager

SHIPS AND MEMORIES
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ERIC W. SAGER
S H I PS A ND M E M O R I ES
M E R C H A NT S E A F A R E RS
IN CANADA'S AGE OF STEAM
UBC PRESS / VANCOUVER
©UBC Press 1993
All rights reserved
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper °o
ISBN 0-7748-0443-2
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Sager, Eric W, 1946-
Ships and memories
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7748-0443-2
1. Merchant marine — Canada — History — 20th century. 2. Merchant
seamen — Canada. 3. Steam-navigation — Canada — History. I. Title.
HE769.S33 1993 387.5'0971'0904 C93-091229-2
This book has been published with the help of a grant from
the Social Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Publication of this book was also made possible by ongoing support from
the Canada Council, the Province of British Columbia Cultural Services Branch, and
the Department of Communications of the Government of Canada.
UBC Press
University of British Columbia
6344 Memorial Rd
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
[phone]
Fax: [phone]
CONTENTS
Illustrations / vii
Acknowledgments / ix
Introduction / 3
1 Yarns / 15
2 Going to Sea / 29
3 Work / 41
4 Officers and Masters / 71
5 Class / 85
6 Family 797
7 Masculinity / 106
8 Hazards / 118
9 War / 126
10 Union/139
11 Canada/ 150
Notes/ 157
Glossary/ 167
Sources and Collaborators / 171
Suggestions for Further Reading / 173
Index/ 177
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ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTION 1940. Courtesy City of Vancouver
5 Canadian Inventor in Victoria in July 1925. Archives, no. 374-259
Courtesy Vancouver Maritime Museum, 50 Engine-room crew working on the
no. 5437 steam cargo winch. Courtesy
6 Canadian Winner leaving Vancouver in Vancouver Maritime Museum, no.
1927. Courtesy Vancouver Maritime 11348
Museum, no. 5434 50 Apprentices cool off before going
below. Courtesy VR. Covington
YARNS 54 Crew painting the sides of the SS
25 Crew of the Guy C. Goss in Auckland, Granville in Vancouver harbour. Courtesy
1926. Courtesy Bent G. Sivertz Vancouver Maritime Museum, no. 9815
26 The ocean liner, Empress of Canada. 54 Painting the funnel. Courtesy G.H.
Courtesy Vancouver Maritime Museum, Anderson
no. 5836 55 Deck boys or apprentices swabbing the
decks. Courtesy VR. Covington
GOING TO SEA 56 Galley boy peeling spuds on deck.
33 Captain Molly Kool of Alma, New Courtesy Vancouver Maritime
Brunswick, 1939. Courtesy National Museum, no. 11406
Library of Canada, no. NI.18168 57 New paint being applied to the deck.
34 Niels Jannasch using palm and needle. Courtesy VR. Covington
Courtesy Niels Jannasch 57 The crew's pet 'Sancho' demonstrates
his skills. Courtesy G.H. Anderson
WORK 58 White-leading the stays. Courtesy G.H.
45 Stoker or fireman in a coal-burner. Anderson
Courtesy Denis Stonham 58 Loading short-length logs in Vancouver,
46 R. Whitelaw, second engineer, and 1939. Courtesy Vancouver Maritime
George Marr, third engineer, in the Museum, no. 3054
Union Steamship's ss Capilono, circa 62 Pastry chefs of the Empress of Japan.
I L L U S T R A T I O NS
Courtesy Mrs. B. Haines WAR
63 Stewards and orchestra on duty in the 128 Princess Mary leaving Vancouver for
first-class lounge of the Empress of Britain. England in February 1915. Courtesy
Courtesy Provincial Archives of British City of Victoria Archives, Commercial
Columbia, no. HP170 CPR, no. 20
64 Two stewards on duty at the Olympian 128 A Park ship heading for Antwerp in
Pool on the Empress of Britain. Courtesy 1944. Courtesy Frank W Howard
Provincial Archives of British 129 The SS Princess Marguerite under attack,
Columbia, no. HP 183 1942. Courtesy Provincial Archives of
64 Beauty parlour aboard the Empress of British Columbia, no. HP22745
Canada. Courtesy City of Vancouver 129 Merchant seafarers link the defence of
Archives, no. 99-4303 family wage to war-time service.
65 CPR purser on duty, circa 1905. Courtesy National Archives of Canada,
Courtesy City of Victoria Archives, no. no. PA1786S7
98303-07-284
66 'Sandy,' ship's cat on the Princess Kathleen UNION
in the 1940s. Courtesy City of Victoria 141 Crowd of csu supporters in Halifax,
Archives, no. 98603-04-1836 1949. Courtesy National Archives of
Canada, no. PAl28759
OFFICERS AND MASTERS 141 CSU ship tied up during the 1949
75 Captain Crawford on the bridge of the strike. Courtesy National Archives of
SS Aorangi in 1925. Courtesy Vancouver Canada, no. PAl51043
Public Library, no. 3187 142 csu members in Montreal at the end of
76 Officers' mess in an unidentified CGMM the 1946 Great Lakes strike. Courtesy
ship in 1921. Courtesy National National Archives of Canada, no.
Archives of Canada, no. PA44188 PAl15221
76 An officer and passenger in the SS 142 csu pickets at Terminal Dock,
Princess Norah, late 1940s. Courtesy Vancouver, 1949. Courtesy National
Provincial Archives of British Archives of Canada, no. PAl 78660
Columbia, no. HP63S07
77 Union Steamship Company's SS Cutch in
Skagway, date unknown. Courtesy City
of Vancouver Archives, BOP335, no. 411
HAZARDS
120 Great Lakes ore carrier with decks
awash. Courtesy National Archives of
Canada, no. C30794
121 Crew of the Union Steamship's SS
Chasina. Courtesy Vancouver Maritime
Museum, no. 3623
123 A Park ship carrying lumber across the
Atlantic in 1946. Courtesy Frank W.
Howard
123 Canadian Importer in Vancouver, 1926.
Courtesy Vancouver Maritime Museum,
no. 5435
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is the result of a collaboration with those listed in the section 'Sources
and Collaborators.' I am particularly indebted to Jim Green, Niels Jannasch,
Kenneth S. Mackenzie, and Bent G. Sivertz. Andy Dubitz of Vancouver and MJ.
Partington of Victoria, Be, helped with the research. Members of the Company
of Master Mariners of Canada and of the Canadian Nautical Research Society
helped introduce me to many of those who provided information. For permis-
sion to use photographs, and for assistance in finding them, I am indebted to
G.H. Anderson, VR. Covington, the BC Archives and Records Service, the BC
Maritime Museum, the City of Victoria Archives, Bea Haines, Frank Howard,
Niels Jannasch, Len McCann, the National Archives of Canada, the National
Maritime Museum (Greenwich), Bent G. Sivertz, Denis Stonham, Robert D.
Turner, the Vancouver City Archives, the Vancouver Maritime Museum, and the
Vancouver Public Library.
Needless to say, I am fully responsible for any errors or omissions and for the
selection and organization of quotations. I am fully responsible for my own in-
terpretation and commentary; those named as 'collaborators' may hold different
views on many aspects of this subject and should not be held responsible for my
errors of fact or interpretation.
Any royalties will be donated to the Maritime Awards Society of Canada (Box
5328, Station B, Victoria, BC, V8R 6S4) which provides scholarship and awards to
students in Canadian maritime studies.