Outarde (ship, 1939)
The Outarde was one of the names of a lake freighter that worked the North American Great Lakes routes from 1924 to 1960.[1] She was built in the United Kingdom at shipyard in Hebburn-on-Tyne on July 31, 1924. She was originally built for the Montreal Forwarding Company, which called her the Brulin. She was built to the maximum dimensions of the canal locks that preceded the St Lawrence Seaway.
In 1925 the Brulin ran aground at the head of the Morrisburg Canal.[1] In 1926 she struck and sank the tugboat Emma L, off Windmill Point, killing two of her crew. In 1932 she ran aground on Seven Acre Shoals off Kingston Ontario.[2] In 1935 she found the tank barge Bruce Hudson adrift and abandoned on Lake Erie, and was able to collect a salvage fee.
She was renamed the Outarde in 1939 when she was sold to the Quebec and Ontario Transportation Company.[1] (In 1962, after her loss, the firm renamed another vessel the Outarde.[3])
In 1943 she ran aground near the St Pierre and Miquelon near the mouth of the St Lawrence estuary.[1] She was armed with a small cannon during World War 2.[1]
In November 1945 the a storm smashed the Outarde against the Consul-Hall Coal Dock at Clayton, New York.[1] A coffer-dam needed to be erected to salvage the vessel, and clear the approach to the dock. Salvage took over four months. She wasn't repaired enough to return to service until June 1946.
When the St Lawrence Seaway was completed, in late 1959, allowing larger vessels to access sail to and from the Great Lakes, the Outarde was scheduled to be scrapped.[1] She was, however, put back into service in 1960 as the James L. Buckler. She ran aground on June 13, 1960, on a sandbank off the mouth of the Saguenay River. The grounding left the vessel with a serious leak, and the decision was made to scrap her after all.
| length | 261 ft (79.55 m) |
| beam | 43.1 ft (13.14 m) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Skip Gillham. Shipwreck: Outarde, Mariners Weather Log, 2004-04. Retrieved on 2013-09-07. “In January 1943, while carrying news-print to St. John's, Newfoundland, the Outarde became stranded in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. When released the vessel then spent time carrying coal from Hampton Roads to Boston for the U.S. Maritime Commission and had a 12 lb cannon mounted on the afterhouse for protection.”
- ↑ Brulin 1924, Tyne built ships. Retrieved on 2013-09-09. “16/10/1932: Grounded & holed on Seven Acre Shoal, Lake Ontario. Subsequently refloated, after a cargo lightening operation and repaired.”
- ↑ OUTARDE Steel bulk freighter (U.S.202876) built in 1906 at Superior, Wisconsin by Superior Ship Building Company, Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Retrieved on 2013-09-07. “Quebec & Ontario Transportation Ltd. in 1962 remaned d.) OUTARDE (B.W.I. 316354). In 1965 she was registered Candian (C.316354). She was scrapped in Spain in 1974.”