Ship Details
Straits Photo Credit: RCN Official Photo

 

Registry #1	176875 (Canada)	Registry #2	W.32 (RCN)	Registry #3
IMO#		MMSI#		VRN#

 

Name 1	1944	Hartville (H.M.C.S.)	Name 6
Name 2	1946	Portovan	Name 7
Name 3	1948	Straits	Name 8
Name 4	1950	Davis Straits (III)	Name 9
Name 5	1958	Navvy Jack (II)	Name 10

 

Year Built	1944	Place	Owen Sound	Area	ON	Country	Canada

 

Designer	(nk)	Measurement (imp)	37.0' x 10.7' x 3.7'
Builder	Russel Bros. Ltd.	Measurement (metric)	11.28m x 3.26m x 1.13m
Hull	Steel	Displacement
Gross Tonnage	12.23	Type 1	Tug, Ville-class
Registered Tonnage	8.32	Type 2
Engine	1-135hp diesel engine (1944)	Engine Manufacture	Cummins Engine Co., Columbus IL USA
Repower		Propulsion	Screw
Rebuilds		Call Sign
Pendant  #	W.32	Masters

 

Owner(s)

In 1944 she was built as a Ville-class tug for the Royal Canadian Navy. In 1946-1953 she was owned by Straits Towing & Salvage Co. Ltd., Victoria BC. In 1953-1958 she was owned by Straits Towing Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1958-1960 she was owned by Deeks-McBride Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1960-1967 she was owned by Simpson Brothers Logging Ltd., Stave Falls BC. In 1977 she was sold to Edward Carter, Britannia Beach, BC. In 1978-2007 she was owned by Robert B. Kerr, Squamish, BC.

 

Fate	Registry closed	Date	2007-04-04

 

Named Features
Significance of Name

 

Anecdotes

This vessel was employed as a Harbour Tug at Cornwallis NS. At the end of her career this vessel was employed on Kinbasket Lake (near Golden BC). Leigh Cossey (Email to For Posterity's Sake 08/09/2018) stated "This summer I located the Hartville at Kinbasket Lake near Golden BC and went to see her and take pictures. This vessel has been laying abandoned for 11 years now. this engine threw a rod while on a trip on Stave Lake and was re-powered with a Volvo Penta which being an aluminum block was much lighter and boom chain was added for ballast." On May 3, 1959 the Navvy Jack capsized in False Creek when the towline attached to a barge this vessel was assisting for the tug Torpedo.The combined forces of the current and the drag of the barge pulled her uder without warning. Captain Karl W. Gursli, trapped in the cabin of the Navvy Jack, drowned in the incident."

 

References
Canada List of Shipping; Bryon Taylor (Email to Nauticapedia 01/03/2018); RG12 Reel T-11591 (Navvy Jack); RG 12 Series A-1 Box 29 Accession 1994-95/727 File 9250-33 Pt2; DHH 81/520/8000 Box 374 File 002 HARTVILLE - Naval messages, information sheets and photographs; The Province (Vancouver BC) Thursday May 7, 1959 page 1;
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