The RCN's future River Class destroyers

Back on June 28th, the Halifax Shipyard hosted a ceremonial steel cutting for the new River Class of destroyers that are being built for the Royal Canadian Navy. I attended the event and wrote a piece that is appearing in the September 2024 issue of Warships International Fleet Review - which should be hitting Canadian shelves shortly, if not already. Atlantic News in Halifax usually carries the magazine, as Chapters/Indigo often has it as well. The cover looks like this:

My story appears on Pages 32 through 34:

The new ships will look something like this, based on this rendering provided courtesy of the RCN:

My article covers some of the challenges faced by the program and how they are being addressed. If you are interested, please check it out!

Ceremonial cutting of steel for the first River Class destroyer and the first Canadian Coast Guard AOPV.

Demolishing the Foundation Wharves

 I frequently cover the salvage operations of Foundation Maritime here, but there usually isn't anything new to share. But this month, work continues on the demolition of the old Foundation wharves on the Halifax Waterfront, and I've been following their progress during my occasional days in the office.

The Foundation Company of Canada lot with the Foundation Maritime wharves in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Construction Equipment Company was another subsidiary. At the wharves in the background are Foundation Josephine II (centre) and Foundation Frances beside the salvage shed to the right. 

Viewed from the water side from the air, this is an older image of the Foundation wharves. Beside the salvage shed to the left is the laid up Foundation Franklin, with Foundation Josephine just off Franklin's starboard side at the main wharf, and Foundation Lillian partly hidden on the other side of the main wharf.

One final image taken several years later, with the shed on the main wharf torn down and replaced with an office for Foundation Maritime. Foundation Frances is at left alongside the salvage shed, and possibly Foundation Vera in the centre.

In more recent years, the wharves have been used by Eastern Canada Towing (ECTUG), the successor to Foundation Maritime, and the firm is now owned by Svitzer and the tugs have moved to Mulgrave, NS. Until recently, the Atlantic Pilotage Authority also operated from these wharves, but they have now moved to the former Fader Agencies location near the Macdonald Bridge in Dartmouth. With the wharves now rather decrepit and the property itself is now owned by Develop Nova Scotia, the wharves are being removed to allow for further development. McNally has been hired to carry out the work, and their crane barge Canadian Argosy arrived in September.

The crane barge Canadian Argosy under tow by the small tug Oshawa on her way to the Foundation wharves. 

Canadian Argosy alongside in the same camber variously inhabited by the tugs Foundation Franklin, Foundation Josephine, and Foundation Frances in the photos above, with the salvage shed to the left (still displaying the remnants of the Svitzer logo).

The sun rising behind the spuds of Canadian Argosy.

Demolition progressing on the old salvage shed.

Canadian Argosy serves as the platform for a large crawler crane, of the type you would normally see on land. It is firmly lashed to the deck of the barge.

Looking out towards the partially demolished Salvage Shed.

A view with the Salvage Shed now gone (to the right), but with the old office building still standing.

Demolition has yet to begin in this image of the main wharf.

The Salvage Shed is gone, and the wharf it was on is now being removed - pile by pile.

Now the office building is gone from the main wharf.

The piles are the remnants of the Salvage Wharf.

This area is slated to become the new home for an arts district centered on the new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and there is a rendering on the AGNS website here (although it still shows the main wharf in place, and doesn't show much in the way of the development intention for the wharf area itself). 

One hopes that the new developments pay homage in some manner to the history associated with these wharves. 

Foundation Scarboro

To follow up on my post from last week, I thought I would showcase a small portion of the operational history of the Foundation Scarboro, a "derrick, compressor, and power boat of 230 tons lifting capacity".

Data sheet for Foundation Scarboro from a late-1950s rate schedule published by Foundation Maritime. 

Foundation Scarboro could be fitted with different lengths of shear legs, along with pontoons alongside the hull, to adjust her lifting capacity.

Foundation Scarboro under tow by the tug Glenlivet around January 6, 1932. Though bearing the Foundation "F" on her funnel, I can find no further information on the Glenlivet. 

The marine arm of the Foundation Company of Canada started off as a continuation of their shore-based construction business, and Foundation Scarboro ranged widely from the Great Lakes to the East Coast assisting in the construction of various projects, such as water intakes, wharves, and the like. 

Foundation Scarboro lifting what appears to be some sort of water intake manifold, possibly in Toronto.

Electrical switchboard, presumably onboard Foundation Scarboro.

Lifting hook used by Foundation Scarboro.

Foundation Scarboro herself would have been, if not the first, then one of the first assets of Foundation's new marine construction arm. Starting off as a barge with two shear legs capable of lifting up to 263 tons (assuming 40-foot shear legs and pontoons were fitted), she needed a tug to get her from one location to the next. Some time before 1935, she was fitted with an electric revolving derrick crane of 25-ton capacity for greater flexibility with smaller loads. 

In December 1935, Foundation Scarboro was in Saint John, New Brunswick, handling concrete cylinders 9' in diameter. 

Foundation Scarboro handling a concrete cylinder in Saint John. I'm guessing the cylinder was pre-cast within the graving dock, which was then flooded so that Scarboro could pick it up, deliver, and install it. She has pontoons installed to increase her lifting capacity.

A close-up of the "equalizer" that was used to allow both shear legs to share the load of the concrete cylinders.

Foundation Scarboro, now with the rotating crane derrick installed, is shown placing a 9' diameter concrete cylinder. The tug alongside does not seem to belong to the Foundation fleet.

Placing a concrete cylinder in Saint John.

In September 1945, Foundation Scarboro was back to help dismantle Berths 1, 2, 3, and 4 in West Saint John, possibly in preparation for a new immigration and customs facility. The EGM Company of Montreal was awarded a contract to prepare the site, and I wonder if the Foundation Company of Canada received a sub-contract for the marine work. 

Foundation Scarboro in drydock, presumably in Saint John, NB.

From the looks of the scaffolding around the top of the shear legs and around the pontoon alongside the hull, it would appear that Foundation Scarboro is receiving some maintenance work.

Foundation Scarboro was also dragged into Foundation Maritime's salvage business at times. In at least one instance, it was to salvage one of their own: as told in Farley Mowat's Grey Seas Under (p. 171-172), Foundation Maritime frantically purchased any tug still afloat that they could get their hands on at the beginning of the Second World War, and many were in fragile condition - in the case of the John G. Chandler, she was rammed at her berth in Halifax in late 1940, raised, and sank again. Foundation Scarboro raised her, and a number of these unfortunate vessels ended up beached on McNab's Island - the Chandler possibly among them.

Note: I've since discovered the entry for the John G. Chandler in the NS wreck database, and it indicates that she sunk on December 10, 1940, after a collision with Foundation Jupiter.

Additional Note: Mac Mackay of Shipfax was able to fill in some of the missing information here. He writes: "JOHN G. CHANDLER was built in 1902 in Bath, Maine and arrived in Halifax for the first time that I can determine, in August 1940. FM was so desperate for tugs they bought whatever they could find. On November 10, 1940 it sank at the dock. It was raised January 1, 1940 and was being towed to Mill Cove for drydocking (I guess there was a slipway there) but it began to sink again, so was towed back to the Foundation dock where it fell over on its side and filled with water.".

Raising the John G. Chandler.

Raising the John G. Chandler.

In 1943, Foundation Scarboro raised the wreck of the lightship Red Island in Halifax Harbour (I am currently unable uncover further information about this ship). 

Raising the Red Island. Roy Tidman photo, Halifax Chronicle and Daily Star.

Foundation Scarboro seems to have remained in service for quite some time. In a company publication from the early 1960s (it shows the "newly purchased" salvage vessel Foundation Venture, which was purchased in 1961), Foundation Scarboro was still shown as part of the Foundation Maritime fleet.

Bow Roll-Out of future HMCS HARRY DEWOLFE

Construction on the future HMCS HARRY DEWOLFE continues at the Halifax Shipyard, with the bow rolled out and aligned with the middle and aft mega-blocks on December 8th. The bow will now be connected to the rest of the hull, and work will continue inside the ship to ready it for a scheduled 2018 launch. The shipyard hired someone with a drone to get some nice aerial shots of the roll out - I don't have such deep pockets.

Despite the rainy weekend, there was a brief clearing on Sunday afternoon, and I managed to get a few photos. The Shipyard doesn't make it easy, and I had to frame the photos through the chain link fence.

I'm hoping that the current paint is only the primer, and the ship will receive a standard shipside grey and blue antifouling like the rest of the fleet.

The rain at least provided the opportunity for some reflections.

It is most inconvenient that a block wall, trailers, and a light standard are in the way of my photos.

I think the Harry Dewolfe will be the first ship commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy that will carry a bow thruster right from the builder's yard. The MCDVs were designed to accept a bow thruster if required, but never received one. PROTECTEUR and PRESERVER both received bow thrusters during refits. The ship's icebreaking bow is apparent here. I'm a bit surprised the anchor drops so close to the waterline, and hope it isn't too exposed to damage from ice.

The rudder is fitted, but the propellers are missing. The hydraulic crane for launching the ship's boats has been fitted over the transom.

Louisbourg Architecture

After ships, architecture is one of my favourite photographic subjects. Our vacation in August took us to Louisbourg, and a previous blog post features sunset, night, and sunrise photos from within the fort. Daytime also provides its share of treasures, and a collection of architectural features not present in Ye Olde City of Halifax. That said, I don't really know anything about architecture, I just enjoy photographing it. So don't expect edifying captions.

I started with overall buildings, and in particular the one that everyone recognizes.

The King's Bastion and Barracks is the main building within the Fortress of Louisbourg.

An animal pen within the King's Bastion.

Inside the animal pen, and zoomed in from the previous image.

The next two images are of Lartigue House, where we spent the night.

Lartigue House from within the yard, with the King's Bastion in the background.

Lartigue House, where we spent the night, taken from from the street.

A row of houses along the waterfront.

I then began to focus on some of the smaller details, in particular the various openings. There is a wide range of types of construction within the fort.

Windows.

Window with shutters.

Window and wagon. I'm not sure that the wagon counts as architecture, but I like it anyway.

The edge of a roof.

Window on a roof (and a chimney). I think the shadow makes the image.

Same chimney on a roof (with a ladder).

Dormer window, ladder, and chimney.

A collection of windows, dormers, and chimneys.

Bastion roof.

Two chimneys and a ladder. I can't imagine why they felt it necessary to tie back that chimney.

Windows, dormers, and chimneys.

Window and chimney.

One of the harbour gates.

Magazine doors.

I couldn't decide which one of these three I like best, so I processed them all. The colours just seemed to work well together.

Door, windows, and shutters.

Door, shutter, and window.

Shutter and window.