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The Mission Boat Wm. H. Pierce
by John MacFarlane 2017
The mission boat Wm. H. Pierce (Photo from the Judd Gallagher collection.)
In 1940 the Wm. H. Pierce was built at Sea Island BC by Baba Bros. Boatworks. She was built as the Smithy; then Pierce; then Wm. H. Pierce 11.25m x 3.32m x 1.68m (36.9’ x 10.9’ x 5.5’) Wooden hull 18.73gt 16.66rt She was powered by a 60bhp diesel engine (1940).
Judd Gallagher shared two images of this vessel while she was operating as a mission boat.
The mission boat Wm. H. Pierce (Photo from the Judd Gallagher collection.)
In 1940–1942 she was owned by Joseph D. Smith, Vancouver BC. In 1943–1946 she was owned by Ira D. Stoddart, Vancouver BC. In 1947–1963 she was owned by the United Church of Canada, Toronto ON. In 1964–1967 she was owned by Knut L. Ostrom, Prince Rupert BC. In 1968–1975 she was owned by John Micholuk, Prince Rupert BC. In 1976–1993 she was owned by Gregor A. McLeod, Prince Rupert BC. In 1994–1997 she was owned by Gordon L. Cox, Prince Rupert BC. In 2004–2017 she was owned by Gordon L. & Linda Cox, Prince Rupert BC.
The W.H. Pierce was a cabin cruiser purchased by the United Church of Canada hospital at Bella Bella in 1947. It was used by Dr. George Darby in his medical missionary work.
To quote from this article please cite:
MacFarlane, John M. (2017) The Mission Boat Wm. H. Pierce. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/WH_Pierce.php
Site News: April 19, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,229 vessel histories (with 15,629 images and 13,195 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).
In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!
My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into a semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.
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