Bluenose
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Bluenose postage stamp of 1929. |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Launched: | March 26, 1921 |
| Fate: | Struck reef in Haiti and wrecked, January 1946 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 258 metric ton |
| Total Length: | 49 m |
| Length, waterline: | 34 m |
| Beam: | 8 m |
| Draft: | 5 m |
| Mainmast,height from deck: | 38 m |
| Formast,height from deck: | 36 m |
| Propulsion: | Sails, Masts |
| Sail area: | 1036 m² |
| Mainsail area: | 386 m² |
| Crew: | 5 Officers, Chief Cook, 12 Deckhands |
For other uses, see Bluenose (disambiguation)
Bluenose was a Canadian schooner from Nova Scotia, a celebrated racing ship and a symbol of the province. The name "bluenose" originated as a nick-name for Nova Scotians.
Designed by William Roué and built by Smith and Rhuland, Bluenose was launched at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia on March 26, 1921, as both a working cod-fishing schooner and a racing ship. This was in response to the defeat of the Nova Scotian Fishing Schooner Delawana by the Gloucester Fishing Schooner Esperanto in 1920. That race was sponsored by the Halifax Herald newspaper.
After a season fishing on the Grand Banks, Bluenose defeated Elsie (out of Gloucester, Massachusetts), returning the trophy to Nova Scotia. During the next 17 years of racing, no challenger, American or Canadian, could wrest the International Fishermen's Trophy from her.
Fishing schooners became obsolete after World War II, and despite efforts to keep her in Nova Scotia, the undefeated Bluenose was sold to work as a freighter in the West Indies. She foundered on a Haitian reef on January 28, 1946.
Bluenose and her captain, Angus Walters, were inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, making her the first and only non-human CSHF inductee until 1960, when she was joined by Canadian Hydroplane Champion Miss Supertest III. That same year another honour was bestowed upon the famous sailing ship when a new Canadian National Railways passenger-vehicle ferry for the inaugural Yarmouth-Bar Harbor service was launched as the M/V Bluenose.
Bluenose, under full sail, is portrayed on the 1929 Canadian Bluenose postage stamp as well as on two other stamps issued in 1982 and 1999 and also appears on the current Nova Scotia licence plate. The depiction of a generic schooner on the Canadian dime has for years been commonly known as the Bluenose. In 2002, the government of Canada declared the depiction on the dime to be the Bluenose.
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[edit] Bluenose II
Her daughter, Bluenose II, was launched at Lunenburg on July 24, 1963, built to original plans by many of the same workers. She cost $300,000 to build and was financed by the Oland Family as a marketing tool for their brewery operations in Halifax and Saint John. Her popularity led to her being sold to the government of Nova Scotia which in turn gave possession of the ship to the Bluenose II Preservation Trust. The trust's mandate was to restore the aging and poorly maintained ship to full operational status and to operate her for the people of Nova Scotia. Over the winter of 1994-95 the trust restored the ship’s hull, leading to her being recommissioned in May 1995. The trust maintained and operated Bluenose II until March 31 2005, when the government of Nova Scotia placed the vessel under the management of the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society.
The Bluenose II serves as a goodwill ambassador, tourist attraction in Lunenburg, and symbol of the province. During the summer, she visits ports all around Nova Scotia and frequently sails to other ports on the eastern seaboard.
In honour of her predecessor, Bluenose II does not officially race.
Bluenose II, like her predecessor, had the largest working mainsail in the world, measuring 386 m² (4,155 ft²); she has a total sail area of 1036 m² (11,150 ft²). Currently, the sloop Mirabella V has the largest working mainsail in the world among all sailing ships, measuring 1557 m² (16,760 ft²).
Funds for the operation of the ship are raised through charging for passage on the vessel, public donations, and sales in the Fisheries Museum Gift Shop (in Luneneburg), run by the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society.
[edit] Bluenose III
Vince Dow, the great-grandson of the designer, has started the fund raising to build a new Bluenose. Ms. Roue sees the need for a new ambassador for Nova Scotia and Canada. There is a web-site schoonerbluenose.ca which lists all the particulars. The Bluenose II still visits ports throughout the Eastern U.S. and Canada, including the Great Lakes.
[edit] Books
A Race for Real Sailors - The Bluenose and the International Fishermen's Race 1920 - 1938 by Keith McLaren. Douglas & McIntyre Publisher 2006
[edit] In the Media
Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers honours both ships in his song Bluenose, found on his albums Turnaround, released in 1978, and Home In Halifax, released posthumously in 1994.
[edit] Tradition
In traditions associated with Sailors and Marines crossing the Arctic Circle line, there was a "raucous and rowdy" initiation presided over by those who had crossed the line before, known as "Order of the Blue Nose". The eldest Sailor was called King Neptune, and the next eldest was his assistant who was called Davy Jones. Some form of hazing would be carried out by the senior crewmen.
"Blue Nose" Crossing of the Arctic Circle (66-32 North latitude). See also "Arctic Circle", "Order of the Blue Nose" and "Northern Domain of the Polar Bear."
