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Kings County (barque)
Encyclopedia
Kings County was a four masted barque
built in 1890 at Kingsport, Nova Scotia
on the Minas Basin
. She was named to commemorate Kings County, Nova Scotia
and represented the peak of the county's shipbuilding era. (A much smaller barque also named Kings County had been built in 1871.) Kings County was one of the largest wooden sailing vessels ever built in Canada and one of only two Canadian four-masted barques. (The other was the slightly smaller John M. Blaikie of Great Village, Nova Scotia
.) At first registered as a four masted full rigged ship
, she was quickly changed to a barque after her June 2 launch. More than three thousand people from Kings and Hants counties attended the launch. She survived a collision with an iceberg
on a 1893 voyage to Swansea, Wales. Like many of the large wooden merchant ships built in Atlantic Canada
, she spent most of her career far from home on trading voyages around the world. In 1909, she returned to the Minas Basin for a refit at Hantsport
and loaded a large cargo of lumber. In 1911 she became the largest wooden ship to enter Havana Harbour when she delivered a cargo of lumber and was briefly stranded. She was lost a few months later on a voyage to Montevideo
, Uruguay when she ran aground in the River Plate
. Too damaged to repair, she was scrapped in Montevideo where her massive timbers were visible for many years.
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
built in 1890 at Kingsport, Nova Scotia
Kingsport, Nova Scotia
Kingsport, is a small seaside village located in Kings County, Nova Scotia on the shores of the Minas Basin.-Geography:Kingsport is located just northeast of the mouth of the Habitant River, on the west side of Minas Basin, a few miles east of Canning at the eastern end of Route 221. It is bordered...
on the Minas Basin
Minas Basin
The Minas Basin is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides.- Geography :- Boundary :...
. She was named to commemorate Kings County, Nova Scotia
Kings County, Nova Scotia
Kings County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.Kings County is located in central Nova Scotia on the shore of the Bay of Fundy with its northeastern part also forming the western shore of the Minas Basin....
and represented the peak of the county's shipbuilding era. (A much smaller barque also named Kings County had been built in 1871.) Kings County was one of the largest wooden sailing vessels ever built in Canada and one of only two Canadian four-masted barques. (The other was the slightly smaller John M. Blaikie of Great Village, Nova Scotia
Great Village, Nova Scotia
Great Village is a community of approximately 500 people located along Trunk 2 and the north shore of Cobequid Bay in Colchester County Nova Scotia...
.) At first registered as a four masted full rigged ship
Full rigged ship
A full rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with three or more masts, all of them square rigged. A full rigged ship is said to have a ship rig....
, she was quickly changed to a barque after her June 2 launch. More than three thousand people from Kings and Hants counties attended the launch. She survived a collision with an iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
on a 1893 voyage to Swansea, Wales. Like many of the large wooden merchant ships built in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
, she spent most of her career far from home on trading voyages around the world. In 1909, she returned to the Minas Basin for a refit at Hantsport
Hantsport, Nova Scotia
Hantsport is a rural Canadian town and seaport located in the western part of Hants County, Nova Scotia. Hantsport is located just south of the county boundary with Kings County, and sits on the west bank of the Avon River in a tidal estuary.The town is most best known for its history of...
and loaded a large cargo of lumber. In 1911 she became the largest wooden ship to enter Havana Harbour when she delivered a cargo of lumber and was briefly stranded. She was lost a few months later on a voyage to Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay when she ran aground in the River Plate
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
. Too damaged to repair, she was scrapped in Montevideo where her massive timbers were visible for many years.