Foundation Franklin

What eventually became a sizable fleet of salvage tugs and other vessels began in early 1930 when the former HMS Frisky, a Royal Navy fleet salvage tug, was purchased and renamed Foundation Franklin. Farley Mowat's 1958 book "The Grey Seas Under" centres on the salvage operations carried out by Foundation Franklin over the next 18 years. 

A company publication entitled "...In All Respects Ready for Sea" from the early 1960s provides a good summary of both their contemporary operations as well as their history over the previous 30 years.

The contrast of Foundation's first "accidental" purchase of Foundation Franklin
to the 1960s purchase of the dedicated salvage vessel Foundation Venture.

Foundation's fleet incorporated a variety of vessels - over time I will attempt to cover the dedicated salvage assets they employed from the 1930s to the 1960s. As one of the first vessels in the fleet, and possibly the most famous, Foundation Franklin seems like a good place to start.

Built in Aberdeen in 1918 as a salvage tug for the Royal Navy, HMS Frisky did not serve long before being made redundant by the end of the First World War. She appears to have operated commercially under her own name for a few years before being renamed Gustavo Ipland as part of a scheme to tow barges to Argentina. This scheme fell through, and it was under this name that Captain James Sutherland found her rusting away in the harbour at Hamburg. After touring the 1050 ton former naval vessel (160 x 32 x 15 feet) and marveling at her two Scotch cylindrical boilers and 1200 horsepower "...massive triple-expansion engine which was big enough to have powered a freighter of five thousand tons..." he immediately recommended that the president of the Foundation Company of Canada purchase the tug.

As purchased and with the letter "F" already stencilled in on each funnel, Foundation Franklin appears to have had an open bridge and the foc'st'le was not yet raised. The photos below show that these defects were later rectified. Her forward mast is also immediately forward of the bridge.

If Farley Mowat is to be believed, the company's president immediately agreed to purchase the tug because otherwise Sutherland's wordy telegrams would have bankrupted the company.

Foundation Franklin with a fully enclosed wheelhouse deck and bridge, her foc'st'le build up to accommodate a hold for salvage equipment, and her forward mast relocated further forward.

Foundation Franklin underway from the air, showing signs of possible icing in winter conditions. 

An early job for Foundation Franklin was the unsuccessful attempt to salvage the S.S. Marsland from the rocks below the Fort Amherst lighthouse at the mouth of the harbour at St. John's, NL. The wreck became a local tourist attraction and eventually sank after a storm. 

Foundation Franklin working to salvage the Maplebranch in Montreal.

Foundation Franklin towing Ladder Dredge #17.

Foundation Franklin alongside Ladder Dredge #17.

Foundation Franklin alongside a wharf.

Foundation Franklin emitting impressive plumes of black smoke from her twin funnels. 

Foundation Franklin alongside, possibly with ice damage to her paint above the waterline. To the left of the image is the Traverse, one of two vessels operated by the Quebec Salvage and Wrecking Company out of Quebec City before they were purchased by Foundation Maritime.

Foundation Franklin and Davie's tug Manoir alongside the freighter Manchester City which was aground along the shore of the St. Lawrence.

For the next 18 years, Foundation Franklin built up an impressive record of salvage operations and ship rescues including operations during the Second World War. By 1948, she was showing signs of her age, and newer tugs took the heavy load of Foundation Maritime's salvage operations. Damaged by a hurricane during an attempt at one final salvage operation in 1948, she was broken up in 1949. 

Foundation Franklin at left laid up at the Foundation Maritime wharves in Halifax. Two of the modern tugs that replaced her, Foundation Josephine and Foundation Lillian respectively, can be seen in the centre of the image immediately to her right.

Another aerial shot of Foundation Franklin (right) laid up in Halifax with Foundation Lillian and Foundation Josephine seen to the left.

Sources:

• Wikipedia
• Mowat, Farley. 1958. "Grey Seas Under".
• Tourist information plaque about the wreck of the S.S. Marsland at the Fort Amherst Tea House.
• Photographs and various information from the AECON archives.