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Port Nelson dredge

Coordinates: 57°02′19″N 92°35′37″W / 57.0387°N 92.5937°W / 57.0387; -92.5937
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Port Nelson aground following a storm, c. 1925
History
Canada
NamePort Nelson
OperatorDepartment of Railways and Canals
Ordered1913
BuilderPolson Iron Works, Toronto
CompletedMarch 1914
FateWrecked during a storm, November 1924
General characteristics
TypeSuction dredger
Tonnage1,200 tonnes (1,200 long tons; 1,300 short tons)
Length180 feet (55 m)
Beam43 feet (13 m)
Draught6 feet (1.8 m)
Crew35

Port Nelson was a dredger that served from 1914 to 1924 in Manitoba, Canada.

History

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The Port Nelson at work.

In 1913 Canada's Department of Railways and Canals commissioned the Polson Ironworks, in Toronto, Ontario to build a large suction dredger to help construct what was to be the first port on North America's Arctic Ocean coast—to be named the Port Nelson.[1] She was completed in March, 1914, and towed to Hudson's Bay, arriving in September 1914, where she promptly ran aground.[2] A 1924 storm tossed her onto the artificial island she helped create, where her wreck remains today.[3]

She carried a crew of 35, and was 180 feet (55 m) long, had beam of 43 feet (13 m), a draft of 6 feet (1.8 m), and displaced 1200 tonnes.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Port Nelson dredge". Retrieved 2017-01-14. She was thought to be the most powerful dredge in the world when she was towed into Port Nelson in September 1913.
  2. ^ a b "Dredging harbors on the Hudson's Bay route". Popular Mechanics. 1914. p. 378. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  3. ^ "Historic Sites of Manitoba: Port Nelson Bridge and Island (Hudson Bay, Northern Manitoba)". Manitoba history. 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2017-01-17. The 180-foot harbour dredge Port Nelson lies abandoned on the artificial island, where it was deposited during a storm in late 1924.
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57°02′19″N 92°35′37″W / 57.0387°N 92.5937°W / 57.0387; -92.5937