Sunshine Coast Queen

BUILT: 1951 Great Lakes Engineering, River Rogue, Michigan.

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 262971(U.S.) 313942 (Canada) CALL SIGN:

NAME(S): a. Vacationland b. Jack Dalton c. Pere Nouvel d. Sunshine Coast Queen e. Gulf Kanayak

L/B/D: 384 x 77 x 18 GROSS/NET TONS: 3844/2614 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 725/175

PROPULSION: 4 Nordberg direct-drive diesel, 9440 HP SPEED: 15 knots

SBB No.108, Winter 1968: SUNSHINE COAST QUEEN (a VACATIONLAND b JACK DALTON c PERE NOUVEL) arrived in Vancouver in June 1967 from Quebec via the Panama Canal, and was placed in service a year later on the Horseshoe Bay-Langdale run.  With alterations including a mezzanine car deck, this double-ender is able to handle traffic formerly carried by LANGDALE QUEEN and SECHELT QUEEN.  LANGDALE QUEEN was in supplemental service this summer on this run.

SBB # 143 Fall of 1977: In June, despite the closing of tenders in March SUNSHINE COAST QUEEN was still at Deas Dock in the Fraser River.  B.C. Ferries are reported to have turned down Washington State Ferries bid for this ferry which was frequently mentioned as being wanted for their Anacortes-Sidney route.

SBB # 149 Spring 1979: BC Government announced a major ferry construction program that will see the building of two more QUEEN OF COQUITLAM class ferries for delivery before the summer of 1981.  It was also announced that SUNSHINE COAST QUEEN is being considered for conversion to a truck ferry at a cost estimated at $8 million.  Her deliver date would be by Spring of 1980.

From WIkipedia:

Vacationland was an automobile ferry that operated in Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace from 1952 to 1957, when the Mackinac Bridge was completed.

Vacationland was built in 1952 by Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan for the State of Michigan’s Department of Highways at a cost of $4,745,000. She was designed by Prof. L. A. Baier of the University of Michigan’s Marine Engineering Department, in conjunction with H. M. Varian, superintendent of Great Lakes Engineering Works. The vessel was powered by 4 Nordberg direct-drive diesel engines, each connected to a propeller through a Westinghouse electro-magnetic coupling, generating a total of nearly 10,000 horsepower. Christened in 1951 by 14-year-old Barbara Ziegler, the daughter of Michigan’s Highway Commissioner, Charles M. Ziegler, Vacationland was the last ship built for the Highway Department ferry operation. It was designed to carry 150 automobiles, to relieve heavy traffic congestion at the Straits during the summer season, and also to serve as an icebreaker during winter months to keep the route open all year.

Prior to Vacationland’s arrival, starting in 1923, the Highway Department operated a fleet of coal-fired steamers, several of which were former railroad ferries, purchased second hand from Lake Michigan operators. In winter months, to perform the icebreaking, the state had also chartered the railroad ferry, Sainte Marie (II), which had to land at separate docking facilities on each side of the Straits.

A “double-ender” capable of operating equally well in either forward or reverse, Vacationland was 360 feet (length between perpendiculars; 382 feet overall) (110 m) long, 75 feet (23 m) wide, and had room for 600 passengers in observation lounges at either end of her spar deck. The autos were carried below on a fully enclosed car deck. She operated with a crew of 47 men, who worked three shifts throughout the year. Her captain for most of her Michigan service was Frank U. Nelson.

After the opening of the Mackinac Bridge in 1957, Vacationland was mothballed for three years before being sold. She made the last official Michigan State Ferry crossing of the Straits of Mackinac on November 1, 1957, with a VIP cruise as part of the bridge opening ceremonies. She also made the very last crossing for Michigan State Ferries on November 2, 1957, when a single “deadhead” round-trip run was made to take supplies from Mackinaw City to the state warehouse in St. Ignace. She then was returned for layup in her slip in Mackinaw City. The deadhead run was commanded by her Second Mate, Gerald Cronan, of St. Ignace, as all her other officers had already left to take other employment.

In 1960 she was sold to the Detroit Atlantic Navigation Company of Detroit, and was renamed Jack Dalton. That operation, carrying truck trailers between Detroit and Cleveland, was short-lived, and Michigan took her back for non-payment.

She was sold next to Canadian operators, Compagnie de Navigation Nord-Sud, (North-South Navigation Company) on the St. Lawrence River, where she operated between Pointe-au-Père (Rimouski) and Baie-Comeau from 1961 to 1966 as the Père Nouvel. As such, she was modified to include a cafeteria and bar/lounge in one observation room. The service inaugurated the first crossing of the eastern St. Lawrence River and was very popular.

In 1967 she was sold again to BC Ferries, of Victoria, British Columbia. They sailed the ship through the Panama Canal to Victoria and renamed the ferry as the Sunshine Coast Queen. The Suzy Q, as she was affectionately called, was modified to better fit BC landings, and increase passenger and vehicle capacity. She was lengthened by 20 feet (6.1 m) on each end to fit into BC dock wing walls, most crew quarters on her spar deck were removed to expand passenger lounges, and mezzanine decks were installed over the car deck for more vehicle space. A full service cafeteria replaced the snack bar and lounge installed in Quebec. As modified, she was 400 feet (120 m) long, and carried 186 autos and 800 passengers. She was assigned to the Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver) to Langdale route across Howe Sound on the Sunshine Coast. She was BC Ferries first large double ended vessel.

Retired due to increasing traffic and high operating costs in 1977 after the first Arab oil embargo, she was again laid up. Sold to Canaarctic Ventures, the company planned to convert the ferry to an oil-drilling support ship on Alaska’s North Slope as the Gulf Kanayak. The oil embargo ended, however, and the ferry remained laid up until 1987. That year, she was sold to Chenco, Inc, and was sent to scrap in Nantong, China.

The ship did not make it; the Gulf Kanayak sank while under tow of the Hoshin #8, in a Pacific storm on December 3, 1987. Today the wreck lies in about 12,000 feet (3,700 m) of water, in the Pacific Ocean, nearly 100 miles (160 km) off the mouth of the Columbia River.

FINAL DISPOSITION: Retired, 1977. Sank while under tow to be scrapped, 3 December 1987 off the coast of Oregon.

Queen of Victoria

BUILT: 1962 by Victoria Machinery Depot, Victoria, 1962

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 5288047 CALL SIGN:

NAME(S): a. City of Victoria b. Queen of Victoria c. Queen of Ocoa

L/B/D: 426 x 78 x 13 GROSS/NET TONS: PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 1360/286 PROPULSION: Two MaK 9MU551AK, 9000 hp SPEED: 19 knots

HISTORY: From Wikipedia:

The Queen of Victoria was a ferry of the Canadian shipping company BC Ferries, which entered service as the City of Victoria in 1962 . The ship remained in service until 2001 and was scrapped in 2006 in India  after five years of laying unused in Santo Domingo under the name Queen of Ocoa.

The City of Victoria was built under construction number 94 at Victoria Machinery Depot Company in Victoria and was launched on October 24, 1961. After delivery to BC Ferries in February 1962, the ship began ferry operations from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen . After a year in service, it was named Queen of Victoria in 1963 .

In 1970 the Queen of Victoria was lengthened from 304 feet  to 423 feet. The tonnage increased from 3,541 to 4,903 GRT . In August of the same year she collided with the Soviet cargo ship Sergey Yesenin off Vancouver, killing three people.

After nearly forty years of service the Queen Victoria retired in January 2001 and was sold to Santo Domingo sold where she was renamed  Queen of Ocoa. The ship was never used, and was instead sold for scrap. She arrived at Alang, India on January 5, 2006 and was broken up.

Cy Peck

BUILT: 1913 by Crawford & Reid Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Tacoma, WA

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 21120 CALL SIGN:

NAME(S): a. Daily b. Island Princess c. Cy Peck

L/B/D: 116 x 30 x 10 GROSS/NET TONS: 171/116 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 300/24 PROPULSION: Fairbanks Morse 6 cylinder diesel engine, 280 hp SPEED: 9 knots

HISTORY: Sold in February of 1918 to Canadian Pacific Railway Co, renamed Island Princess. Sold to Gulf Island Ferry Co in August of 1930, renamed Cy Peck. Sold to gulf Island ferry Company in December 1950, then to B.C Ferries in September 1960. Sold 21 November 1966 to JH Todd Co Ltd. Sold several more times.

FINAL DISPOSITION: Retired 1966. Sank after grounding in Nanaimo Harbor. Remains dismantled at Nanaimo and hulk towed out to sea and scuttled in June of 1986.

BUILT: 1965 by Victoria Machinery Depot, Victoria

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 0322978 CALL SIGN:

NAME(S): a. Queen of Burnaby b. Royal Victorian c. Princess Marguerite III d. Queen of Burnaby

L/B/D: 423 x 75 x 17 GROSS/NET TONS: 4902/3346 PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 659/192 PROPULSION: two Mirrlees National KVSSM, V-16, 4 stroke-cycle, diesel engines, each producing 3,000 brake horsepower SPEED: 16.5 knots

HISTORY: From Wikipedia:

The Burnaby class is a ship class of ferries in the BC Ferries’ fleet, built between 1964 and 1965. There are two ships in this class: MV Queen of Burnaby and MV Queen of Nanaimo. Both are propelled by controllable-pitch propellers. Both were built with two Mirrlees National KVSSM, V-16, 4 stroke-cycle, diesel engines, each producing 3,000 brake horsepower (2,200 kW) at 320 revolutions per minute.

The two ships were originally part of a group of seven Victoria-class ships constructed between 1962 and 1965. These seven were soon modified to increase vehicle capacity. The first change was the installation of platform decks or ramps; the second modification saw the ships sliced in half vertically across the beam for the insertion of a 26-metre (85 ft) midsection, which dramatically increased the car carrying capacity of the seven ships. Later, five of the seven ships (excluding Queen of Burnaby and Queen of Nanaimo) were cut horizontally from bow to stern and lifted to have a new vehicle deck inserted. As a result, Burnaby and Nanaimo, which had not had the midsection addition, were removed from the Victoria-class designation to become Burnaby-class vessels.

In 1994, Queen of Burnaby was temporarily leased to another provincial crown corporation called Victoria Line. The vessel was renamed Royal Victorian, had a $4.7 million refit, and operated a once-daily summer service between Victoria and Seattle. After the demise of the Victoria Line, the vessel was purchased by Clipper Navigation, which operates the Victoria Clipper passenger-only service between Victoria and Seattle. The vessel was then renamed and repainted to become Princess Marguerite III, operating on the Victoria to Seattle route. In 2000, after Clipper Navigation also decided to end service on the route, the vessel was returned to the BC Ferries fleet under her original name, Queen of Burnaby.

FINAL DISPOSITION:

Queen of Burnaby was retired in May 2017, and the Queen of Nanaimo was retired in July 2017. They were replaced by three 145-car Salish-class ferries. The larger Queen of New Westminster, which had a major refit of her passenger areas completed in 2009, is expected to see another ten to fifteen years of service and will be the sole survivor of the original seven ships.  As of 2021 listed for sale for scrap only.