Victoria Machinery Depot
Encyclopedia
Victoria Machinery Depot Ltd. was a ship builder located in Victoria, British Columbia
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...

, Canada.

This was a historic metalworks and shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. 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...

 in 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...

, Canada. From the late 1850s on, with the Fraser Canyon
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...

 and Cariboo Gold Rush
Cariboo Gold Rush
The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Although the first gold discovery was made in 1859 at Horsefly Creek, followed by more strikes at Keithley Creek and Antler Horns lake in 1860, the actual rush did not begin until 1861, when these discoveries were...

es British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 (BC) was dependent upon California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

n supplies and ships. To prevent United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 domination of the British Colony
Colony of British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...

, Governor James Douglas
James Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...

 passed laws restricting US shipping. To encourage BC shipping a yard and ironworks was established—the Albion Iron Works was started by Joseph Spratt on May 4, 1863.

The name derives from the latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 word Alba
Alba
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...

for white, itself a reference to the white cliffs of Dover
White cliffs of Dover
The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs which form part of the British coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation. The cliff face, which reaches up to , owes its striking façade to its composition of chalk accentuated by streaks of black flint...

 or, more often, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. British Columbia was known as New Albion for a time and hence the name of the iron works. The first yard sat on the south bank of Victoria's inner harbour
Victoria Harbour (British Columbia)
Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport located in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general...

 on Bay Street, just before the Bay Street bridge at Point Ellice. The yard turned out boilers, engines, and pipes for early steamers. The hulls were made of wood on slips in the yard. Later the yard turned out ships, like the sternwheeler SS Mount Royal
Mount Royal (sternwheeler)
The Mount Royal was a sternwheeler that worked on the Skeena River and Stikine Rivers in British Columbia, Canada, from 1902 until 1907. She was named after Lord Strathcona who was also known as Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal....

. Albion Iron Works went through several business changes and merged with Victoria Machinery Depot, taking the latter's name in 1888. It did essential war work in both world wars.

Later on the yard turned out several BC Ferries
BC Ferries
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia...

 vessels. In 1965-1967 it also made the oil drilling platform
Oil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...

 SEDCO 135-F for exploration by Shell Canada
Shell Canada
Shell Canada Limited is the subsidiary of Dutch-based Royal Dutch Shell and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a major part of its business, as well as the marketing of gasoline and related products through the company's...

 in Hecate Strait
Hecate Strait
Hecate Strait is a wide but shallow strait between the Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It merges with Queen Charlotte Sound to the south and Dixon Entrance to the north...

. At the time of its construction SEDCO 135-F was the largest semi-submersible
Semi-submersible
A semi-submersible is a specialised marine vessel with good stability and seakeeping characteristics. The semi-submersible vessel design is commonly used in a number of specific offshore roles such as for offshore drilling rigs, safety vessels, oil production platforms and heavy lift cranes.The...

 platform in the world and was the first platform constructed in British Columbia. The $10 million rig rose 50 metres above the water in the docks at VMD (before submersion). After the 1967 launch and 3 years of exploration off the BC coast it was towed and worked at oil fields in New Zealand, the North Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. On June 3, 1979 the rig was drilling for PEMEX
Pemex
Petróleos Mexicanos or Pemex is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. As of 2010, with a total asset worth of $415.75 billion, it is the second non-publicly listed largest company in the world by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009...

 at the Ixtoc I
Ixtoc I
Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well being drilled by the semi-submersible drilling rig Sedco 135-F in the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico, about northwest of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche in waters deep...

 site in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 and suffered a blowout that led to one of the
largest single source oil spills in history. By June 12 the oil slick measured 180 km by 80 km. The leak was not capped until March 23, 1980 after which an estimated 3.5 million barrels of oil had already spread over the gulf.
SEDCO 135-F was one of the last seagoing vessels built by VMD.

In business until the 1990s the company turned to pressure vessels and submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s, but the historic firm went under in the business contractions of the decade and was finally shut down in 1994.

The yards were one of several contractors to 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...

 for ship repair and maintenance.

Ships Built

Miscellaneous vessels
  • Hull
    Hull number
    Hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. A lower number implies an older vessel. The precise usage varies by country and type....

     6 SS Mount Royal
    Mount Royal (sternwheeler)
    The Mount Royal was a sternwheeler that worked on the Skeena River and Stikine Rivers in British Columbia, Canada, from 1902 until 1907. She was named after Lord Strathcona who was also known as Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal....

    - 1902, built for the Hudson's Bay Company
    Hudson's Bay Company
    The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

    .
  • Hull 136 SEDCO 135-F - 1967, at 8,676 gross tonnage
    Gross tonnage
    Gross tonnage is a unitless index related to a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage...

     it was one of the largest vessels built by VMD.


Warships
  • Hull 58 - 1959
  • Hull 87 - 1959–1961 moved to a shipyard in Yarrow
    Yarrow, British Columbia
    Yarrow is a small community located 90 kilometres east of Vancouver and 12 km southwest of downtown Chilliwack, in British Columbia, Canada. It is in the Fraser Valley at the foot of Vedder Mountain. The village was first settled by Mennonites in the late 1920s, following the draining of...

     for completion in September 1961.


Ferries
  • Hull 52 MV Loyd Jones - 1950, later known as the MV Vesuvius Queen. (see also Steamboats of Lake Okanagan
    Steamboats of Lake Okanagan
    Lake Okanagan, also called Okanagan Lake, is the largest lake in the Okanogan River drainage, which is tributary to the Columbia River basin, and is the core of the Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada. During its early days of settlement and development, lack of roads the region made the...

    )
  • Hull 79 MV Mill Bay
    MV Mill Bay
    MV Mill Bay is a Canadian ferry. At long, it is BC Ferries' second smallest ship. It holds 16 vehicles , 138 passengers and crew, and its maximum speed is...

     - 1956 built for Coast Ferries Ltd., purchased by BC Ferries
    BC Ferries
    British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia...

     in 1969.
  • Hull 85 MV Sidney - 1960, later MV Queen Of Sidney
    Sidney class ferry
    The Sidney Class consists of the original two ferries built for the British Columbia Ferry Corporation in 1960. The design for the ships was based on the MV Coho ferry with changes made to accommodate loading of vehicles through the bow of the vessel....

     - 1963.
  • Hull 94 MV City of Victoria - 1962, later Queen of Victoria 1963, Queen of Ocoa 2000, Aan 2005, scrapped 2006.
  • Hull 99 MV Queen of Saanich
    V class ferry
    The V Class Ferries, also known as Victoria Class, includes BC Ferries ships built between 1962 and 1963. These vessels were the backbone of service on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route prior to the arrival of the in 1993...

     - 1963
  • Hull 100 MV Queen of Esquimalt - 1963
  • Hull 104 MV Queen of Nanaimo
    MV Queen of Nanaimo
    The MV Queen of Nanaimo is a Burnaby class passenger vessel operated by BC Ferries.The ship was built in 1964 by Victoria Machinery Depot. In 1969 the ship was rebuilt and extended 25 meters in length. It currently operates on the Tsawwassen-Gulf Islands route web...

     - 1964
  • Hull 105 MV Queen of New Westminster
    MV Queen of New Westminster
    The MV Queen of New Westminster is a Canadian roll-on, roll-off passenger ferry operated by BC Ferries.The vessel was built as a V class ferry in 1964, and retains most of the characteristics of the other V class ferries, but is not considered a V class ferry because of its improved powerplants...

     - 1964
  • Hull 107 MV Comox Queen - 1964 built for the Ministry of Transportation
    British Columbia Ministry of Transportation
    The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is the British Columbia government ministry responsible for transport infrastructure and law in the Canadian province of British Columbia...

    , later the MV Tenaka
    T class ferry
    BC Ferries operates two T class ferries for use on small inter-island routes. They have raised bows, which make it easier for the ships to travel in the rough seas often found on BC's central coast* - 1964...

    .
  • Hull 125 MV Queen of Burnaby
    Burnaby class ferry
    There are two ferries in BC Ferries' fleet, built between 1964 and 1965, which fit into the Burnaby class. They are the Queen of Burnaby, and the Queen of Nanaimo....

     - 1965
  • Hull 129 MV Powell River Queen
    Powell River class ferry
    The Powell River Class ferry is a class of ships operated by BC Ferries The open deck vessels are mostly used on low-to-moderate volume routes.The Powell River Class consists of three vessels:MV Bowen QueenBuilt: Victoria, British Columbia, 1965...

     - 1965
  • Hull 130 MV Mayne Queen
    Powell River class ferry
    The Powell River Class ferry is a class of ships operated by BC Ferries The open deck vessels are mostly used on low-to-moderate volume routes.The Powell River Class consists of three vessels:MV Bowen QueenBuilt: Victoria, British Columbia, 1965...

     - 1965
  • Hull 131 MV Bowen Queen
    Powell River class ferry
    The Powell River Class ferry is a class of ships operated by BC Ferries The open deck vessels are mostly used on low-to-moderate volume routes.The Powell River Class consists of three vessels:MV Bowen QueenBuilt: Victoria, British Columbia, 1965...

     - 1965
  • Hull 124 MV Queen of Prince Rupert
    MV Queen of Prince Rupert
    M/V Queen of Prince Rupert was a RORO ferry operated by BC Ferries that provided the main surface transport link between the Queen Charlotte Islands and mainland British Columbia, connecting Skidegate with Prince Rupert across the Hecate Strait...

     - 1966
  • Hull 145 MV Doris Yorke - 1968, now Seaspan Doris (a truck and rail ferry
    Train ferry
    A train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as...

    ), was the last vessel constructed by VMD.

See also

  • List of oil spills
  • Transocean
    Transocean
    Transocean Ltd. is one of the world's largest offshore drilling contractors. The company rents floating mobile drill rigs, along with the equipment and personnel for operations, to oil and gas companies at an average daily rate of US$282,700...

    - recent company that owns part of the remnants of the former South East Drilling Company (SEDCO)
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