Canada’s First Naval Architect had many PEI Connections

The name Mark Patten McElhinney is hardly a memorable one in connection with PEI history but his impact on the colony looms large when attached to the struggle to provide winter service across the ice-filled Northumberland strait. Born in 1837 near Londonderry Nova Scotia McElhinney went to at sea in 1853 at age 16 and worked his way to become a Master in 1862. His first steam commission was as captain of the Quebec and Gulf Ports steamer S.S. Alhambra in 1876, a vessel that was a frequent visitor to Charlottetown. However, in 1862 he took a job with the Dominion Department of Marine and Fisheries. He is referred to in most references as “naval advisor” and he seems to have been used by the department in many different capacities which illustrate the wide range of activities of the Department. For example, in September of 1882 McElhinney was noted as being in command of the steamer Northern Light, the first Canadian icebreaker, built in a mostly unsuccessful attempt to provide “continuous steam communication.”

Captain Mark Patten McElhinney 1894.
Library and Archives Canada. Topley photo, item 3468154

The next year he was appointed to manage the government-operated Ice-Boat service between Prince Edward Island and the mainland when the government took over the service formerly operated by subsidized private contractors.

In 1896 McElhinney took the steamer Petrel from Kingston to PEI in a vain attempt to placate local wishes and develop a winter service at the narrow but ice clogged passage between Cape Traverse and Cape Tormentine in New Brunswick as an alternative to the longer route from Pictou to Georgetown served by the Stanley. The effort was not a success and was terminated after a single season.

However, the greatest contribution was in regard to expanding the government fleet to better cover the responsibilities of the Department in areas such as lighthouses and aids to navigation. When, in 1888, the decision was made to replace the aging and spectacularly unsuccessful Northern Light, McElhinney was directed to travel to Scotland to superintend the building of the new steel steamer. During this period, he was also assigned to visit Norway and Sweden “where he will inspect vessels built specially for piercing ice fields.”  The result was the launch later in the same year of the icebreaking steamer Stanley built in a Scottish shipyard.  According to a news report, the vessel was built “from designs furnished by Captain McElhinney, Nautical Advisor to the Dominion Government – based on what he could gather from the workings of ice-breaking steamers in Hamburg and Gothenburg.” The Stanley was a significant improvement over the Northern Light and was the first in a number of increasingly effective Canadian icebreaking vessels. The steel-hulled Stanley, at 207 feet was half again as large as the Northern Light and with 2300 IHP dwarfed the power of earlier vessel and was the first truly effective Canadian icebreaker. However, the Stanley, like several of the later Canadian icebreakers, departed from the Baltic designs in that it was clearly a mixed-use vessel. With its primary role of providing passenger, mail and freight service on the forty-mile route across Northumberland Strait, the vessel had to have a considerable passenger accommodation and amenities. Unlike European vessels, it saw only limited use in breaking ice for the passage of other ships. In that respect, like many of the early Canadian ships, it might more accurately be termed an icebreaking steamer rather than an icebreaker. During the seven-to-eight-month period when other steamers could maintain the link across the ice-free Strait, the Stanley played its part in the lighthouse and buoy service, in acting as a fisheries patrol vessel, and as an excursion steamer favoured by the Governor General for official visits in the Atlantic region.

Canadian Government Steamship Stanley

In 1899 he was given credit by the Department of Marine and Fisheries for the design and specifications for the Minto which joined the Stanley as an icebreaker in the Prince Edward Island service. A report of the launch states that the vessel was built “in accordance with the ideas of Captain McElhinney.”

Canadian Government Steamship Minto

When the decision was made to provide icebreakers on the St. Lawrence River to reduce flooding from ice-jams and to increase the length of the shipping season McElhinney designed the ice breaking steamers Montcalm and Champlain (1904). He was also designed or was otherwise consulted with the design of other vessels built for the department including the fishery patrol and lighthouse service steamers Quadra (1890), Aberdeen (1894), Druid (1902), and Lady Laurier (1902). Remarkably almost all of these ships were constructed in the same shipyard; Fleming and Ferguson of Paisley, Scotland. McElhinney was responsible for almost all of the larger steamers built for the Canadian government for more than a decade and a half, a period of significant growth. His work also included smaller vessels including the oyster research vessel Ostrea which operated in PEI waters.

Although McElhinney is consistently referred in documents and newspaper coverage to as “nautical advisor” or “naval advisor” this was not an official designation. However, in a 1901 Memorandum to the Privy Council he is identified as “Captain McElhinney, Naval Architect of the Department.”  It is not known if he had any specific training in vessel design but in 1897 he was one of only two Canadian members of the American Society of Marine Architects.

McElhinney was promoted to be a 1^st class clerk 1890, and in 1907 was appointed Chief Clerk – Correspondence & Records.  However, that title may have been simply in recognition of his long service.  In response to questioning about the departmental accounts the following year the Minister stated “There is an extra Chief Clerk, Mr. McElhinney, who is an old employee of the department, who has been a faithful officer, and who I thought deserved promotion.” McElhinney was superannuated on 1 August 1908. He died in Ottawa 6 May 1909  and is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.

As a public servant McElhinney received little public recognition for his role in developing and designing the vessels of the Dominion’s marine service fleet. His obituary notice merely noted him as a valued member of the department without specifying the nature of his contribution, but his period of service saw the Dominion move from a fleet based on wood and wind to one of steel and steam. McElhinney, in spite of his position title, was effectively Canada’s first naval architect.  His legacy was the ships for which he had responsibility, and all of the steamers he designed, or for which he supervised construction, outlived their architect. Many had long lives; the Stanley was not scrapped until 1936, the icebreaker Montcalm was sold to the government of the USSR in 1942 to aid in the war effort and was in service in the Soviet arctic fleet until 1957, the Lady Laurier survived in the departmental fleet until 1959 and the Druid, in government service until 1947, was renamed by private owners several times and was not removed from the shipping registers until 1986.

An extended version of this paper with notes and sources can be found at the author’s Researchgate.org site here

Princess Royal Visited Cascumpec in 1861- or Perhaps Didn’t

In 1861 the village of Cascumpec (it didn’t become Alberton until 1862 following the visit of Prince Albert to the Island) was the largest settlement west of Summerside. Much of its growth had come from the rapid expansion of the mackerel fishing industry which annually saw hundreds of New England fishing schooners visit the Gulf of St Lawrence fishing grounds. The area to the north and east of Cascumpec was a particularly rich area for mackerel. Safe ports on the North Shore of Prince Edward were few and far between and the gentle curve of the Island’s shore could become a trap for the vessels, especially in a north east wind. The Yankee Gale of 1851 had seen almost a hundred vessels cast on the sands and rocks with more than 150 fishermen losing their lives.

Cascumpec Harbour. Detail from Bayfield Chart surveyed in 1845.Corrected to 1860.

As was the case with all north side harbours, getting to the safe anchorage of Cascumpec was not particularly easy. The barrier sands built up two bars across the harbour entrance with depths of less than ten feet at low tide in the narrow channel. A lighthouse had been built on Sandy Island to mark the entrance to the harbour by 1854. Never the less it was a popular port for the fishermen to wait out poor weather or to replenish supplies or land their catch. Merchants such as J.H. Myrick had direct connections to the New England market and the completion of a rail link between Shediac and Saint John and thence by steamer to Boston meant that fishermen could save having to go back and forth during the season. Instead they could transfer their cargos to coastal schooners for shipping to Shediac, Halifax or New England. Surely it would be only a matter of time before the coastal schooners were replaced by the dependability of steamers in the Gulf. There was already regular steamer service between Summerside and Shediac and other steamers went along Northumberland Strait to the Miramichi and Bay Chaleur ports.

Paddle Steamer Princess Royal . Built in Niagara Upper Canada 1841. Engraving by John Gillespie. Toronto Public Library Collection Item X25-6

One of these was vessels the wooden paddle steamer Princess Royal. The vessel had been built in Niagara in 1841. Designed by well-known naval designer George Thurston it was 168 feet long with a displacement of 243 tons. It was a handsome boat with twin funnels well forward on the boat which was powered by two engines and boilers and was soon in regular service linking Lake Ontario ports. In 1854 it was purchased for service between Montreal and Quebec as well as ports on the Lower St. Lawrence but after another change of owners was acquired in 1859 by two New Brunswick business men who ran the vessel between Saint John and the Bend of the Petitcodiac (recently re-named Moncton), stopping at other Bay of Fundy posts including Sackville. The completion of the rail line between Saint John and Shediac to following year seriously reduced traffic and the Princess Royal’s owners decided to change routes. By the fall of 1860 it was running between Shediac and Richibucto and Miramichi with occasional trips to Bedeque on the Island. The fare from Bedeque to Shediac was $1.50 while a through trip on the Princes Royal and the European and Atlantic Railway to Saint John was $3.25. New Brunswick railway officials were confident that between the steamers and rail connection, freight and passenger traffic which formerly went to Pictou and Halifax could be diverted to Saint John. They also noted that the paddle steamer’s owners had the intention to make one trip per week to Casacumpec in western Prince Edward Island in order to secure a portion of the 30,000 barrels of fish being shipped from the port.

This proposal had become common knowledge in the Island by the end of the year and early in February 1861 a public meeting was held in Cascumpec in order to draft a petition to the legislature seeking a grant to “enable the Princess Royal to call into Cascumpec so as to connect that port with other ports in New Brunswick and this Island.” Later in the legislative session, based on the argument that Cascumpec would soon be an important steamer port, an attempt was made to provide funds for buoys marking the channel. Neither initiative met with legislative approval, perhaps waiting to see if the reports for the proposed service were based in reality.

Advertisement in Christian Watchman newspaper [Saint John] 19 June 1861 p.3

In June 1861 an advertisement appeared in several New Brunswick newspapers advertising an “Excursion to Cascumpec, P.E.I.” The ad featured a late June trip on the Princess Royal from Shediac around North Cape calling at Rustico, Richmond Bay, and Cascumpec. Operated in conjunction with the European and Atlantic Railway the round trip fare was six dollars. Although the newspapers of Prince Edward Island, as well as most of those in New Brunswick failed to take any notice of the event, the Saint John Courier’s editor did carry an account – although he, himself, had been unable to make the trip. He noted that among the excursionists had been several members of the American press, representatives of the European and Atlantic Railway, and a captain of the Eastern Steamboat Company. However, other than recommending such excursions as being of benefit of “those who are compelled to endure the din, dust and confusion of city life” the account is devoid of details. Aside from this single, rather vague report, there is no other confirmation that the steamer actually visited Cascumpec. In spite of the press aboard no reports of the excursion have been found and one wonders if the trip actually took place. The excursion to P.E.I. was not repeated although the Princess Royal did make an excursion to northern New Brunswick the following month. Cascumpec continued as an active fishing port but was never able to attractive a regular steamship operation. The building of the Prince Edward Island Railway a decade later meant that imports and exports could be easily diverted to Summerside.

The excursions may have been an attempt to broaden the revenue base for the Princess Royal. Although in receipt of a subsidy from New Brunswick of $1800, profits may have been minimal. Early in 1862 the paddle steamer was sold to American interests and in May an advertisement appeared stating that the vessel would be sailing to New York before the end of the month and offering passage and freight.

The vessel was one of a large number of Canadian ships sold owing to the extreme need for vessels for civil and naval need of both sides in the Civil War. Owned in Baltimore the name of the vessel appears to have been changed to West Point and was chartered to the US Quarter Masters Department for the transportation of troops. On 13 August 1862 it collided with another vessel in the Potomac River with the loss of 75 lives. It was raised and again re-named – this time the Nellie Pentz. It foundered in 1865 in Lyndhaven Bay Virginia following a storm.

A Ship to Remember: The S.S. Prince Edward Island

S.S. Prince Edward Island ca. 1920. Close examination shows an iceboat hanging from the port side of the vessel. Valentine-Black postcard

I began posting to my Sailstrait blog ion 2012 and throughout the past decade and more, the single most popular subjects for postings are those having to do with the Carferry S.S. Prince Edward Island. This was not a single post, but a number of entries as I explored different aspects of the ship’s building and operation.  Some more recent readers may not realize that there have been a number of postings, so I have linked them in this article together to form a sort of “life and times” of the ship.  While there is some repetition between the articles, when read all together they present a biography of the ship. 

Unlike many of the vessels I have written about on these pages, I am proud to say I have a personal experience with the ship. First as a small boy travelling with my family on trips to visit the mainland to see friends and relatives and later as a crew member, serving as Purser aboard the vessel on summer postings while working my way through university.  As a child it was always exciting to be lucky enough to catch the “Prince” in the ferry lotto. It just seemed to have a mystique that the Abegweit lacked. There was a charm to the interior with dark wood and pomp and circumstance to the decor in contrast to the ultra modern chrome and glass of the later vessel which was hardly as old as I was. Much of the machinery was still operated by steam, although generated by burning Bunker C oil rather than coal. For example, there was a ventilation fan  outside the purser’s office which had its own little steam engine which would puff, puff, puff continually.  There were also mysteriously placed stairwells at the stern of the vessel what were sealed off. It was not until years later that I discovered these to be separate stairs for second class passengers that went directly to the lounge which was later chopped off to make a vehicle deck. The one-hour trip on the carferry (cars being railcars, not autos) gave several generations of Islanders a taste of a by-gone era of somewhat elegant travel. It was as close as most Islanders would come to an ocean cruise.

The series of postings began with the design and building with my discovery of construction photos from the shipyard where the Prince Edward Island was built. These can be seen here  That posting also shows the interior of the vessel before the unfortunate modifications made in the 1930 to accommodate the automobile. At the same time that the ferry was being built, work was also progressing on the  ferry terminals at both Port Borden and Cape Tormentine. This was the largest civil engineering project on the Island at the time and was linked with the decision to gradually change the gauge of the Prince Edward Island Railway from narrow gauge to standard gauge, a project not completed until the 1930s. The construction of the terminals is covered in a posting here.  Although the Prince Edward Island arrived in P.E.I. in 1915 service between Borden and the Cape did not begin until  1917.  A posting celebrating a century of the service is found here.  The design of the S.S. Prince Edward Island was directed toward the carrying of rail cars and passengers and did not anticipate the rapid adoption of the automobile but soon it was obvious that changes needed to be made to the vessel if it was to continue on the Strait service. That decision and the resulting alterations are documented in a posting seen by clicking here. 

A related posting deals with the vessels that stood in for the Prince Edward Island when it went to drydock on its annual re-fit. These humble vessels the Scotia and the Scotia II are covered in this posting. 

And finally the sad ending of a ship which was special to so many Islanders can be found in this posting.