Flower-class Corvette chart house

As a child growing up in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, there were a number of similar garden sheds around the town - boxes with windows sitting in various backyards. I probably played in more than one of them over the years.

But these were no ordinary garden sheds - they used to be sea going structures. Not only that, but they used to be installed on the bridges of warships - well, corvettes anyway - small commercially -built ships based on whale catchers that were gerrymandered into submarine hunters and convoy escorts. 

Not a Tardis - this humble shed used to be a charthouse mounted on the bridge of a Flower-class corvette. This example has been restored and sits in front of the Queen's County Museum in Liverpool. 

The first batches of Flower-class corvettes came from the builder's yard with a short foc'st'le and a small chart house (also known as a compass shelter or "Asdic hut") on the open bridge platform above the wheelhouse. On the early RCN corvettes, this hut housed the ship's only compass - in contrast with the RN corvettes with their gyro compasses and multiple repeaters, it was a magnetic compass with no repeaters. Macpherson & Milner's "Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939-1945" recounts that this made it impossible for the corvette's captain to direct a submarine battle from the open bridge while having direct sight on the ship's compass. Some ships had a monkey's island on top of the chart house, and judging from the many photos of early corvettes in the above mentioned book, the construction of the chart houses themselves might vary from ship to ship in terms of size and the number of windows.

The following photos show early Flower-class corvettes with their charthouses fitted - in fact, as these photos were copied from the memorial wall of the Royal Canadian Legion's White Ensign branch, I believe all of these ships were sunk with the charthouses still mounted.

HMCS WINDFLOWER - one of the original batch of Flower-class corvettes built for the Royal Navy in Canadian yards but taken up by the Royal Canadian Navy. The chart house is seen on top of the wheelhouse, and just behind the mast. Photo courtesy Royal Canadian Legion, White Ensign branch.

HMCS SPIKENARD in the original configuration, though with an early SW1C radar at the masthead. Photo courtesy Royal Canadian Legion, White Ensign branch.

HMCS WEYBURN. Photo courtesy Royal Canadian Legion, White Ensign branch.

HMCS LOUISBOURG. Photo courtesy Royal Canadian Legion, White Ensign branch.

The original batches of corvettes had a number of issues which were rectified in refits later in the war (assuming the ships survived that long), and later batches of corvettes were built from scratch with the modifications incorporated. These modifications included (but were not limited to) a longer foc'st'le (to improve seakeeping abilities among other reasons), moving the mainmast behind the bridge (to improve visibility from the bridge), and the removal of the charthouse - it was replaced with an open pilotage, as can be seen today onboard the only remaining Flower-class corvette, HMCS SACKVILLE.

Liverpool was home to Steel and Engine Products Limited - STENPRO for short (I've been corrected that it may have been called "Thompson Brothers" during the war). Later bought by Irving (and since shuttered and sold), this little ship repair yard (a short hop from the house in which I grew up) with its single marine railway, was active during the Second World War refitting corvettes - and not being ones to throw things away, the chart houses ended up in people's back yards, and some were still there 30-odd years later when I was growing up. 

I believe the small platform on the front of the chart house may have supported an RDF (Radio Direction Finder) antenna, although not all ships carried their RDF in this position. Many photos show it mounted more centrally on the roof of the chart house.

Along with the door on the aft end of the chart house is a small protrusion with a glass top - I believe this housed nautical charts so that they could be seen from outside without the chart getting wet in adverse weather conditions.

A view of the chart compartment from inside.

The museum was closed during my brief visit, so I don't know if it is known which corvette donated this particular charthouse - I wouldn't be surprised if that information has been lost to time. I'm just glad to see that at least one of these structures (along with some childhood memories) has been saved.

Lunenburg Waterfront

I had heard that a schooner was being launched this past Sunday, and figuring that they would launch on the high tide, I headed over to see if I could photograph the launch. Unfortunately, I was too late, but there were still some picturesque scenes for me to capture.

David Westergard continues to build schooners in the historic Smith & Rhuland shed on the Lunenburg waterfront.

The launching ways lead into the water from the old Smith & Rhuland shed.

A more modern version of the traditional fishing dory.

The schooner whose launch I missed on Sunday, already tied up at a nearby wharf.

Further along the waterfront, other boats prepare to take to the water. Wooden boats often need to allow their planking to swell up at the beginning of a season, and to prevent them from sinking, they often need to sit on the shore while this occurs. This may be what was happening here. 

Not all the boats in Lunenburg were sitting alongside or on the shore - the tour boat in the background was taking passengers around the harbour.

It started out overcast, but the sky cleared and provided some beautiful light on the waterfront.

Rolling, rolling, rolling - moving HMCS SACKVILLE into the Sub Shed

After being hoisted out of the water on Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott's (FMFCS) Syncrolift platform on February 11th, SACKVILLE's hull was cleaned of marine growth and prepared to transfer into the adjacent Captain Bernard Leitch Johnson submarine maintenance building in HMC Dockyard (hereafter referred to as the "sub shed" or simply the "shed").

By the morning of February 15th, SACKVILLE was ready to transfer into the shed.

Thursday morning was sunny, so I got some better photos of SACKVILLE on the lift. She also looks a bit cleaner.

SACKVILLE points towards the sub shed which she will soon enter. The army of bogeys under the ship can be seen here.

The view from inside the shed, looking out. The bogeys to the right are connected to the tow motor, and straddle inner two of the four rails. The tow motor will push these bogeys, and the attached tow bridle, out to join to the bogeys under the ship. The brow is still fitted in this photo.

An HDR image made from two different exposures - it turned out pretty good, considering I took the two exposures hand-held, and not from a tripod as I should have. Throughout the transfer, I had issues with the different exposures between the interior of the shed and the bright sunny day outside. The tow motor's traction chain is running along the centre of the image here.

A plated-over hull penetration below what would have been the chain locker or store. I'm not sure what it was for - it may have been associated with SACKVILLE's postwar career.

These hull penetrations are just aft of the bow slope transition, and are roughly where the original Type 123 ASDIC would have protruded below the hull. I'm not sure why there are two, though some of the early sonar sets required penetrations for more than one transducer. Again, both of these may not have been original.

Looking forward along the port side, showing the bilge keel, blocking, and bogeys. There are several of these plates on the hull that stand an inch or more proud of the hull surface. Four anodes are also visible.

It is important that the ship's hull be well supported during the move, so workers pounded shims into any gaps between the hull and the blocking.

The system for transferring the ship into the shed is fairly simple. Four rails run from the Syncrolift platform into the shed, and the bogeys which support the ship's weight straddle either the two outer sets of rails, or the inner set. The tow motor that propels the ship along the rails straddles the inner two rails.

The outer end of the traction chain that the tow motor grips to propel itself, with SACKVILLE in the background. During the transfer, the chain will be under considerable tension, and this presents a hazard to people in close proximity to the chain if it were to fail or snap. During the transfer, only FMFCS staff were allowed to remain in the work area.

Unlike a train locomotive, which uses the friction between its drive wheels and the rails to propel the train, the tow motor grips a heavy chain (I will refer to it as the traction chain in this post) that runs between the two inner rails from an anchor post at the inshore end of the shed to an anchor post at the inshore end of the lift platform.

The yellow post at the end of the traction chain is the outer anchor post, which allows the tow motor to pull itself out to the wharf. The tow motor can not go out onto the platform itself, as it can not pull itself beyond the anchor post.

In order to hook itself up to the bogeys under SACKVILLE, the tow motor pulled itself out to the Syncrolift platform along the traction chain.

The orange tow motor, at left, is now in position. It has pushed a series of bogeys and a tow bridle out onto the Syncrolift platform to bridge the distance between itself and the bogeys under SACKVILLE, and workers have connected the two sets of bogeys.

Once everything was connected, and non-essential staff were directed to designated observation areas, the transfer began. I was allowed to view the transfer from the mezzanine platform inside the sub shed, but was not allowed down to the shed floor during the transfer.

The transfer has begun, and the tow motor has moved back inside the sub shed. SACKVILLE is still on the platform in this photo.

There were several pauses during the transfer operation to confirm that SACKVILLE was still well supported by the blocking.

The view looking inward, with SACKVILLE now inside the building.

There are several levels within the sub shed, and this photo was taken from the highest level.

Once SACKVILLE was fully inside the shed, and the tow motor could not proceed further without hitting the end of the building, the intermediate bogeys between the tow bridle and the bogeys under the ship were removed to shorten things, and allow the tow motor to get closer to the ship, in order to bring SACKVILLE in a bit further. There are several overhead bridge cranes that span the width of the shed, and one of these was used to lift the bogeys out of the way.

One of the intermediate bogeys is lifted out of the way.

The tow motor is at the inshore end of the traction chain, which is attached to the inshore anchor post that is just outside the shed, through the dark opening just to the right of the motor. The anchor post itself is cast into a large block of buried concrete. The tow bridle is attached directly to the bogeys under the bow of the ship.

Once the ship was in position, I was allowed back down to the shed floor to get some more photos of the ship inside the shed. 

The tow motor is at the inshore end of the shed, and the yellow overhead bridge cranes can be seen behind the ship.

A view from the mid-level mezzanine platform of the starboard bow.

Compared to the previous photo, this was taken from the upper platform, which is just below the overhead bridge crane track. Some of the photos make the ship look like a model.

Another photo from the upper platform showing the ship from aft, with the brow (gangway) now fitted. It was lifted into place by one of the bridge cranes. The man pulling out the safety net is standing on the mid-level mezzanine platform.

A wider-angle photograph, showing the scale of the shed's interior, including the upper level translucent panels to allow in natural light.

A floor level image from aft.

A wider angle image from floor level, with the yellow bridge cranes visible at the top of the image.

A panoramic image from my phone. Until I viewed her from above, I never realized SACKVILLE's pendant number was painted on top of her radar enclosure.

Two FMFCS staff stand between the transfer rails, alongside the traction chain.

Now that SACKVILLE is inside the shed, her refit can begin, and is expected to last several months at least.

A complete gallery of my processed images of SACKVILLE's lift and transfer is linked here.

Blue Dream Project Schooner - Wooden Boatbuilding

Whilst walking along the Lunenburg waterfront last weekend, I stumbled upon some activity within the old Smith & Rhuland shed - the same one where Bluenose and Bluenose II (Mk.1) were built in 1921 and 1963 respectively (Bluenose II Mk.2 was built nearby in a temporary structure erected for the reconstruction). 

The old Smith & Rhuland shed.

Within I found a new wooden schooner being built. The Blue Dream Project aims to build an ambassador to raise public awareness of the health (or lack thereof) of our planet's oceans. The schooner is being built by David Westergard using traditional methods.

I'm always a fan of boats, and boatbuilding, but I may have been more awed simply by being able to photograph the interior of the Smith & Rhuland shed. The combination of wooden boatbuilding within this building was, therefore, irresistible. I may have spent more time inside than I planned, and kept my poor father on his feet longer than he may have wished.

The 60-foot long schooner is roughly half the size of the 111-foot long (waterline) Bluenose, so there is some room to move around her in the shed. This helps with the taking of photos. She is framed up, and partially planked after roughly a year of construction.

Detail showing how the planking joins with the stem, the latter itself trimmed down to aid her passage through the water.

The decking is placed, and the joints taped to prevent debris from getting in.

The gunnels are placed, and frame the image above. I love the framing of the shed above the boat. My Dad was present for the launching of Bluenose II (Mk.1) in 1963, and his recollection is that they had to make some adjustments to the end wall of the shed (seen in the background) when they launched her to prevent the bow from taking out some of the structure. He was standing on a wharf nearby, and the wave of water created when Bluenose was launched got his feet wet.

Viewing the deck from the bow.

The keel gracefully transitions up into the stern of the boat.

I have always been fascinated with how the planking joins up to the keel in a wooden boat.

A detail of the partially planked port side showing the various frames running aft.

Starboard side looking aft. The treenails holding the planks to the ribs can be seen above.

The schooner is being fastened together with treenails, which are wooden pegs or dowels. The treenails will swell when the boat is in the water, allowing it to increase their holding power. There is a good explanation of this on the Traditional Maritime Skills website.  

Detail of the boat's stem.

The benefit of the boat only being partially planked is that it is easy to photograph the interior without having to squeeze into tight spaces (which I probably wouldn't be allowed to do anyway).

The inside end of some treenails can be seen in the foreground and trailing aft.

In the photo above, the wooden angles that join the deck to the ribs are known as knees.

A different angle from further forward, but still looking aft.

A well worn boat's wheel and steering gear that may end up in the new schooner.

For anyone interested in traditional wooden boatbuilding, for photographers looking for something special to photograph, or just the chance to go inside a building where the legendary Bluenose was born, I highly recommend dropping in on this project in Lunenburg. You might even leave a donation to help this project continue!

2016 UPDATE:

The schooner, now named Mahayana (which is apparently Sanskrit for "Great Vehicle"), was launched in an unfinished state on Saturday July 23, 2016. I was unfortunately unable to make it, but my Dad took some photos which I hope to post here at some point in the near future. I did manage to catch her at the Fisheries Museum wharf in Lunenburg later that day.

"Mahayana" in the early evening of her launching day. 

Some work still needs to be done, and she evidently does not yet have her ballast installed. I hope to follow any progress made over the summer and post the photos here as they become available.