Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company facts for kids
The Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company was a big company that built ships in Port Arthur, Ontario, which is now part of Thunder Bay. This city is located on Lake Superior. The company started in October 1909 and then changed its name in November 1916 to the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company.
The company was likely connected to the American Ship Building Company, which was based in Cleveland. However, in 1916, a businessman named James Whalen took charge of the company. He was the president from 1909 to 1916.
The company's dry dock and workshops were built in 1910 at a place called Bare Point, right at the eastern end of the Thunder Bay harbour. A dry dock is like a special basin where ships can be built or repaired out of the water. The very first ship launched from their docks was on June 27, 1911. It was a scow, which is a type of flat-bottomed boat, built for the Great Lakes Dredging Company.
During the First World War, the company also helped with the war effort. They made things like shells and other supplies for the Imperial Munitions Board. In 1915, they even built large farm tractors called Big Bull tractors!
Ships Built by the Company
The Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company built several important ships during its time. Here are some of them:
- Hamiltonian (a steel package freighter, built in 1912)
- Calgarian (a package freighter, built in 1913)
- Noronic (a passenger steamer, built in 1913)
- Nasookin (a passenger steamer, built in 1913)
- Sicamous (a passenger steamer, built in 1914)
- W. Grant Morden (a large lake bulk carrier, built in 1914)
- Blaamyra (an ocean freighter, built in 1916)
- Thorjerd (an ocean freighter, built in 1916)
Images for kids
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W. Grant Morden, the first Canadian ship to be called "Queen of the Lakes" because it was the largest freighter on the Great Lakes.
