Saint John Shipbuilding
Encyclopedia
Saint John Shipbuilding was a Canadian
shipbuilding
company located in Saint John
, New Brunswick
. It operated from 1923-2003.
In 1918 it was announced that the St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co. would be established as a subsidiary of the Canada Dredging Co., Ltd. of Midland
, Ontario
and would construct the largest drydock in the world.
The new shipyard with its massive drydock opened in 1923 at a location on the eastern shore of Courtney Bay. The first of its long list of vessels, the ferry MV Kipawo
, which still exists, was launched on December 5, 1924. After fit-up, it went into service in 1926.
The shipyard was sold in the 1950s to the industrialist K.C. Irving. The ensuing corporate restructuring saw the company renamed Saint John Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Ltd.. By the 1980s, it came to be known simply as Saint John Shipbuilding and was the flagship of a collection of eastern Canadian shipyards operated by Irving Shipbuilding
.
The shipyard was used to construct oil tankers for Irving Oil
and freighters and other cargo vessels for Kent Lines, a shipping company owned by K.C. Irving. The facility also received a contract from Canadian Pacific Railway
in 1969 to build a passenger-vehicle ferry for its Bay of Fundy
service from Saint John to Digby
. Similarly, the government-owned ferry operator CN Marine
placed an order in the early 1980s for a passenger-vehicle ferry for its Northumberland Strait
service to Prince Edward Island
.
's Halifax-class frigate
program, which saw 9 warships built at Saint John during the early 1990s. Flush with revenues during this contract, Irving Shipbuilding went on a buying spree of several bankrupt or failing shipyards in eastern Canada as part of a strategy to assist with spreading the work at its overcrowded shipyard in Saint John.
The East Isle Shipyard in Georgetown
, Prince Edward Island
was purchased from the provincial government and used to construct modules for the Halifax-class frigates. Similarly, Irving Shipbuilding purchased the Shelburne Ship Repair shipyard in Shelburne
and the Pictou Shipyard in Pictou
to support the Halifax-class project. Irving Shipbuilding also purchased Halifax Dartmouth Industries
after that shipyard was sub-contracted in 1992 to build the as part of the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project
by the winning consortium led by SNC Lavalin.
However, changing global economic conditions for Canada's shipbuilders during the late 1990s coupled with changes to federal government tariffs and tax policies for Canadian ship owners saw Saint John Shipbuilding left with little work after the Halifax-class frigates were completed. Kent Lines ordered several container ships and Irving Shipbuilding's shipyards in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were kept moderately busy with repair and small contract construction, but there were no large contracts on the horizon. The skilled workforce at Saint John Shipbuilding dwindled as welders and engineers and other trades and professionals left for work on other projects in Canada and abroad. The yard was mothballed in 2000 after it completed its last ship.
Finally on 27 June 2003, Irving Shipbuilding announced that it had signed an agreement with the federal government for $55 million in economic readjustment funding provided that Saint John Shipbuilding be closed permanently. The Irving Group of Companies announced the intention of permanently decommissioning Canada's largest shipyard and building a new wallboard manufacturing plant and other businesses on the site.
Research Vessels
Ferries
Ice Breakers
Fishing trawlers
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...
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
company located in Saint John
Saint 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...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. 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 announced that the St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co. would be established as a subsidiary of the Canada Dredging Co., Ltd. of Midland
Midland, Ontario
Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada.Situated at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, with a 125-bed hospital and a local airport. It is the main town of the southern Georgian Bay area...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and would construct the largest drydock in the world.
The new shipyard with its massive drydock opened in 1923 at a location on the eastern shore of Courtney Bay. The first of its long list of vessels, the ferry MV Kipawo
MV Kipawo
MV Kipawo is a historic Canadian passenger and freight ferry.Kipawo was launched on December 5, 1924, by the St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., the first ship ever built by that yard, for the Dominion Atlantic Railway and commissioned into service on April 1, 1926...
, which still exists, was launched on December 5, 1924. After fit-up, it went into service in 1926.
The shipyard was sold in the 1950s to the industrialist K.C. Irving. The ensuing corporate restructuring saw the company renamed Saint John Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Ltd.. By the 1980s, it came to be known simply as Saint John Shipbuilding and was the flagship of a collection of eastern Canadian shipyards operated by Irving Shipbuilding
Irving Shipbuilding
Irving Shipbuilding Incorporated is the largest shipbuilder in Canada. Headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian industrial conglomerate J.D. Irving Limited....
.
The shipyard was used to construct oil tankers for Irving Oil
Irving Oil
Irving Oil is a gasoline, oil, and natural gas producing and exporting company. It is also one of the few energy companies in Canada to publicly support the Kyoto Accord. Irving Oil operates one large oil refinery...
and freighters and other cargo vessels for Kent Lines, a shipping company owned by K.C. Irving. The facility also received a contract from Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
in 1969 to build a passenger-vehicle ferry for its Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
service from Saint John to Digby
Digby, Nova Scotia
Digby is a Canadian town in western Nova Scotia. It is the shiretown and largest population centre in Digby County.The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Basin near the entrance to the Digby Gut which connects the basin to the Bay of Fundy.Named after Admiral Robert Digby, RN,...
. Similarly, the government-owned ferry operator CN Marine
CN Marine
CN Marine was a Canadian ferry company headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick.-History:CN Marine was created by parent Canadian National Railway in 1977 as a means to group the company's ferry operations in eastern Canada into a separate operating division...
placed an order in the early 1980s for a passenger-vehicle ferry for its Northumberland Strait
Northumberland Strait
The Northumberland Strait is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada...
service to Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
.
Canadian Patrol Frigate Project
By far the largest contract placed with the shipyard, and the largest single shipbuilding order ever issued in Canadian history, was for the Royal Canadian NavyRoyal 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...
's Halifax-class frigate
Halifax class frigate
The Halifax-class frigate is a class of multi-role patrol frigates that have served the Royal Canadian Navy since 1992...
program, which saw 9 warships built at Saint John during the early 1990s. Flush with revenues during this contract, Irving Shipbuilding went on a buying spree of several bankrupt or failing shipyards in eastern Canada as part of a strategy to assist with spreading the work at its overcrowded shipyard in Saint John.
The East Isle Shipyard in Georgetown
Georgetown, Prince Edward Island
Georgetown is a Canadian town and the county seat of Kings County, Prince Edward Island. As of 2011, the population was 693.-Geography:Georgetown, Capital of Kings County, sits on an 8 kilometre long peninsula formed by the Cardigan and Brudenell Rivers, Along with Georgetown Harbour...
, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
was purchased from the provincial government and used to construct modules for the Halifax-class frigates. Similarly, Irving Shipbuilding purchased the Shelburne Ship Repair shipyard in Shelburne
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Shelburne County.-History:-Settlers:...
and the Pictou Shipyard in Pictou
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....
to support the Halifax-class project. Irving Shipbuilding also purchased Halifax Dartmouth Industries
Halifax Shipyard
The Halifax Shipyard Limited is a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Halifax, Nova Scotia.It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Irving Shipbuilding Inc...
after that shipyard was sub-contracted in 1992 to build the as part of the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project
Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project
The Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project was a procurement project undertaken by the Department of National Defence beginning in the mid-1980s to find a replacement for the , and minesweepers....
by the winning consortium led by SNC Lavalin.
However, changing global economic conditions for Canada's shipbuilders during the late 1990s coupled with changes to federal government tariffs and tax policies for Canadian ship owners saw Saint John Shipbuilding left with little work after the Halifax-class frigates were completed. Kent Lines ordered several container ships and Irving Shipbuilding's shipyards in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were kept moderately busy with repair and small contract construction, but there were no large contracts on the horizon. The skilled workforce at Saint John Shipbuilding dwindled as welders and engineers and other trades and professionals left for work on other projects in Canada and abroad. The yard was mothballed in 2000 after it completed its last ship.
Finally on 27 June 2003, Irving Shipbuilding announced that it had signed an agreement with the federal government for $55 million in economic readjustment funding provided that Saint John Shipbuilding be closed permanently. The Irving Group of Companies announced the intention of permanently decommissioning Canada's largest shipyard and building a new wallboard manufacturing plant and other businesses on the site.
Ships built
Warships- Flower classFlower class corvetteThe Flower-class corvette was a class of 267 corvettes used during World War II, specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic...
corvettes:- HMCS Amherst,
- HMCS MonctonHMCS Moncton (K139)HMCS Moncton was a that served in the Royal Canadian Navy.-Construction:She was ordered on 24 January 1940 from St. John Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Saint John and laid down on 17 December 1940. She was launched on 11 August 1941 and commissioned into the RCN on 24 April 1942...
, - HMCS SackvilleHMCS Sackville (K181)HMCS Sackville was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later served as a civilian research vessel. She is now a museum ship located in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the last surviving Flower-class corvette.-Wartime service:...
,
- Halifax classHalifax class frigateThe Halifax-class frigate is a class of multi-role patrol frigates that have served the Royal Canadian Navy since 1992...
frigates:- ,
- ,
- ,
- ,
- ,
- ,
- ,
- ,
- ,
- Protecteur classProtecteur class auxiliary vesselProtecteur-class auxiliary oiler replenishment ships are used by the Royal Canadian Navy to resupply ships at sea with food, munitions, fuel and spare parts. They have more sophisticated medical and dental facilities than smaller vessels...
auxiliary vessels:- ,
- ,
Research Vessels
-
- CCGS HudsonCCGS HudsonThe CCGS Hudson is an offshore oceanographic and hydrographic survey vessel operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.The Hudson is Canada's oldest operational ocean research vessel...
- CCGS Hudson
Ferries
- for Canadian National Railways
- MV Petite Forte
- for CN MarineCN MarineCN Marine was a Canadian ferry company headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick.-History:CN Marine was created by parent Canadian National Railway in 1977 as a means to group the company's ferry operations in eastern Canada into a separate operating division...
- MV AbegweitMV Abegweit (1982)The MV Abegweit was an icebreaking railway, vehicle, and passenger ferries which operated across the Abegweit Passage of Northumberland Strait, connecting Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island to Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick...
,
- MV Abegweit
- for Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
- MV KipawoMV KipawoMV Kipawo is a historic Canadian passenger and freight ferry.Kipawo was launched on December 5, 1924, by the St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., the first ship ever built by that yard, for the Dominion Atlantic Railway and commissioned into service on April 1, 1926...
- MV Princess of Acadia,
- MV Kipawo
Ice Breakers
-
- MV Kigoriak (for Canadian Marine Drilling a subsidiary of Dome Petroleum)
Fishing trawlers
-
- Marc GuylaineMarc GuylaineThe Marc Guylaine was a Canadian herring seiner built in 1966, along with its two sister ships, the Lady Dorianne and Lady Audette. After its two sister ships both mysteriously sank in the Acadian peninsula, drowning nine men, and the only two other ships built to the same specifications met...
, allegedly a "cursed" ship whose two sister ships sank
- Marc Guylaine