Park ship
Encyclopedia
Park Ships were merchant steamships constructed for Canada
’s Merchant Navy
during World War II
. Park ships were the Canadian equivalent of the American
Liberty Ship
s and the British Fort ships. All three shared a similar design by J.L. Thompson and Sons
of Sunderland, England.
attacks. The Park Steamship Company was created by the Canadian Government on April 8, 1942 to oversee construction of a merchant fleet to help replace the lost vessels and to administer the movement of materiel
. This was part of a coordinated Allied effort that saw the construction of British, American and Canadian merchant ships using a common class of vessel known as the North Sands class (named after a beach near the J. L Thompson yard on the River Wear
).
s and 20 tankers
that would all fly the Canadian flag
. Ships at 10,000 tons were known as Park Class; smaller vessels, at a nominal 4,700 tons, were called Grey Class. They were powered by coal driven steam engines. All but two vessels launched were named for federal, provincial or municipal parks in Canada. Some were armed with bow guns and anti-torpedo
nets. Two of the Park ships were lost to natural hazards and four were lost due to enemy action. One, the , built in Pictou, Nova Scotia
was one of two Allied ships destroyed by enemy action in the North Sea
in the last hour of the war in Europe
on May 7, 1945.
At the same time, Canada produced 90 additional vessels for the American government which were turned over to the British Merchant Navy under a lend-lease
agreement. Built to the same design but designed to burn oil instead of coal, these vessels were known as Fort ships, and they took their names from forts. Notable ships of this type included the Fort Cataraqui, Fort Rosalie
, and Fort Charlotte
. Like many of the Fort ships, the Fort Charlotte was launched as a Park.
, in Montreal
, Sorel
and Lauzon on the St. Lawrence River
, at Collingwood
on Georgian Bay
, and Victoria
, Vancouver
and Prince Rupert
on the Pacific Coast. Only the yards at Montreal, Saint John, Victoria and Collingwood had existed before the war. By 1945, there were 57,000 men and women employed in building or repairing merchant ships in Canada and several thousand more were employed building ships for the Royal Canadian Navy
.
The table shows the name of the shipyard and city, and the number of vessels launched by each yard. Eventually thousands of Canadians would serve aboard these Canadian Merchant Navy
ships.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
’s Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
Canada, like several other Commonwealth nations, created its own Merchant Navy in a large-scale effort during World War II. Within hours of Canada's declaration of war on September 10, 1939, the Canadian government passed laws to create the Canadian Merchant Navy setting out rules and controls to...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Park ships were the Canadian equivalent of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Liberty Ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
s and the British Fort ships. All three shared a similar design by J.L. Thompson and Sons
J.L. Thompson and Sons
J.L. Thompson and Sons was a shipyard on the River Wear, Sunderland, which produced ships from the mid-18th century until the 1980s. The world-famous Liberty Ship was among the designs to be created, produced and manufactured at the yard's base at North Sands....
of Sunderland, England.
Park Steamship Company
The Allied merchant fleet suffered significant losses in the early years of the Battle of the Atlantic as a result of U-boatU-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
attacks. The Park Steamship Company was created by the Canadian Government on April 8, 1942 to oversee construction of a merchant fleet to help replace the lost vessels and to administer the movement of materiel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
. This was part of a coordinated Allied effort that saw the construction of British, American and Canadian merchant ships using a common class of vessel known as the North Sands class (named after a beach near the J. L Thompson yard on the River Wear
River Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
).
Vessels
Over the next three years, the company ordered approximately 160 bulk cargo shipCargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
s and 20 tankers
Tank ship
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
that would all fly the Canadian flag
Flag of Canada
The national flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf, and , is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted in Canada to replace the Union Flag...
. Ships at 10,000 tons were known as Park Class; smaller vessels, at a nominal 4,700 tons, were called Grey Class. They were powered by coal driven steam engines. All but two vessels launched were named for federal, provincial or municipal parks in Canada. Some were armed with bow guns and anti-torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
nets. Two of the Park ships were lost to natural hazards and four were lost due to enemy action. One, the , built in Pictou, Nova Scotia
Pictou, Nova Scotia
Pictou is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km north of the larger town of New Glasgow....
was one of two Allied ships destroyed by enemy action in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
in the last hour of the war in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on May 7, 1945.
At the same time, Canada produced 90 additional vessels for the American government which were turned over to the British Merchant Navy under a lend-lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
agreement. Built to the same design but designed to burn oil instead of coal, these vessels were known as Fort ships, and they took their names from forts. Notable ships of this type included the Fort Cataraqui, Fort Rosalie
RFA Fort Rosalie (A186)
RFA Fort Rosalie was an armament stores carrier of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.She was built by United Shipyards, Montreal and initially completed as a stores ship but converted to an armament stores issuing ship at Portsmouth 1947/8. She served in the Pacific Fleet Train and remained in the Far...
, and Fort Charlotte
RFA Fort Charlotte (A236)
RFA Fort Charlotte was a stores issuing ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.Launched on 12 February 1944 as Buffalo Park, the ship was acquired by the Ministry of War Transport in 1945 and renamed Fort Charlotte. The ship was transferred to the RFA on 11 June 1948...
. Like many of the Fort ships, the Fort Charlotte was launched as a Park.
Shipyards
The shipbuilding program was not easy to implement as Canada had only four operational shipyards with nine berths in 1940. By 1943, there were six additional shipyards and a total of 38 berths. These were all private shipyards located across Canada - on the East Coast at Pictou and Saint JohnSaint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
, in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Sorel
Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
Sorel-Tracy is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Lake Champlain Valley at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre downstream and east of nearby Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006...
and Lauzon on the St. Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
, at Collingwood
Collingwood, Ontario
Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay.-History:...
on Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
, and Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...
on the Pacific Coast. Only the yards at Montreal, Saint John, Victoria and Collingwood had existed before the war. By 1945, there were 57,000 men and women employed in building or repairing merchant ships in Canada and several thousand more were employed building ships for the Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
.
The table shows the name of the shipyard and city, and the number of vessels launched by each yard. Eventually thousands of Canadians would serve aboard these Canadian Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
Canada, like several other Commonwealth nations, created its own Merchant Navy in a large-scale effort during World War II. Within hours of Canada's declaration of war on September 10, 1939, the Canadian government passed laws to create the Canadian Merchant Navy setting out rules and controls to...
ships.
| Shipyard | City | Vessels Launched |
|---|---|---|
| Burrard Dry Dock Burrard Dry Dock Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. was a Canadian shipbuilding company headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia . Together with the neighboring North Van Ship Repair yard and the Yarrows Ltd... Co. Ltd. |
North Vancouver BC | 24 |
| North Van Ship Repair North Van Ship Repair North Van Ship Repair, later known as Pacific Dry Dock was a shipyard in North Vancouver, British Columbia which built many of the Bangor class minesweepers and Victory ships for Britain and Canada during World War II. Located just west of Lonsdale Avenue adjoining the Burrard Dry Dock, it was... Ltd. |
North Vancouver BC | 18 |
| Prince Rupert Dry Dock & Shipyard | Prince Rupert BC | 6 |
| Victoria Machinery Depot Victoria Machinery Depot Victoria Machinery Depot Ltd. was a ship builder located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.This was a historic metalworks and shipyard in Victoria, Canada. From the late 1850s on, with the Fraser Canyon and Cariboo Gold Rushes British Columbia was dependent upon Californian supplies and ships... Co. Ltd. |
Victoria BC | 11 |
| West Coast Shipbuilders Ltd. | Vancouver BC | 24 |
| Canadian Vickers Ltd. | Montreal | 1 |
| Davie Shipbuilding & Repair Co Ltd. Davie Shipbuilding Davie Shipbuilding is a historic shipbuilding company located in Lauzon, Quebec. The facility has undergone restructuring and is currently operating as Davie Yards Incorporated.-History:... |
Lauzon, Quebec | 16 |
| Foundation Maritime Ltd. | Pictou NS | 24 |
| Marine Industries Limited Marine Industries Limited Marine Industries Limited was a Canadian ship building company, in Sorel, Quebec, with a shipyard located on the Richelieu river about 1 km from the St. Lawrence River. It employed up to 10,000 people during the post WWII boom.... |
Sorel, Quebec | 18 |
| Morton Engineering & Dry Dock Co. Ltd. | Quebec | 4 |
| Saint John Dry Dock Co. Ltd. Saint John Shipbuilding Saint John Shipbuilding was a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Saint John, New Brunswick. It operated from 1923-2003.-History:Numerous shipyards were located on the shores of Courtney Bay in the east end of Saint John Harbour where extensive mud flats dried at low tide.In 1918 it was... |
Saint John NB | 8 |
| United Shipyards Ltd. | Montreal | 25 |
| Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. | Collingwood ON | 3 |
Further reading
- Syd C. Heal, A Great Fleet of Ships: the Canadian forts & parks, Vanwell Publishing, 1999 ISBN 1551250233
External links
- Launch of the SS Victoria Park, Pictou, Nova Scotia (newsclipping)
- Launch of the SS Asby Park, Pictou, Nova Scotia (newsclipping)
