St. Roch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the ship. For information on the French Saint see Roch
The St. Roch was a Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, the first vessel to complete a Pacific to Atlantic voyage through the Northwest Passage, the second to travel through the Northwest Passage from East to West and the first ship to completely circumnavigate North America. The ship often was captained by Henry Larsen.[1]
The ship can now be found at the Vancouver Maritime Museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is open to the public for scheduled visits.
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[edit] History
- 1928 - constructed in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at Burrard Dry Dock Shipyards
- 1929-1939 - supplied and patrolled Canada's Arctic
- 1940-1942 - became first vessel to complete a Pacific to Atlantic voyage through the Northwest Passage
- 1944 - became first vessel to make a return trip through the Northwest Passage and also the first to navigate the passage in a single season
- 1944-1948 - patrolled Arctic
- 1950 - became first vessel to circumnavigate North America, from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Vancouver, British Columbia, via the Panama Canal
- 1954 - returned to Vancouver for preservation
- 1962 - designated a Canadian National Historic Site at the Vancouver Maritime Museum
[edit] Construction
The St. Roch was made primarily of thick Douglas-fir, with very hard Australian Eucalyptus "iron bark" on the outside, and an interior hull reinforced with heavy beams to withstand ice pressure during her Arctic duties. Her length was 31.78 metres (104.25 feet).
[edit] References
- ^ Henry Larsen and the St. Roch - The Canadian Encyclopedia
