 CSSAcadia preserved as amuseum ship alongside the wharves of theMaritime Museum of the Atlantic inHalifax, Nova Scotia in 2007 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name | Acadia |
| Namesake | Acadia |
| Port of registry | Ottawa |
| Builder | Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson,Newcastle |
| Yard number | 912 |
| Laid down | 1912 |
| Launched | 8 May 1913 |
| In service | September 1913 |
| Out of service | November 1969 |
| Identification | *list error: list item missing markup (help)
  |
| Status | Museum ship, Halifax, 1982 |
 Canada | |
| Name | Acadia |
| Commissioned | 16 January 1917 |
| Decommissioned | March 1919 |
| Recommissioned | 2 October 1939 |
| Decommissioned | 3 November 1945 |
| Identification | Pennant number: Z00 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Hydrographic research ship/auxiliary patrol vessel |
| Tonnage | 846 GRT, 439 NRT |
| Displacement | 1,050long tons (1,070 t) |
| Length | 181 ft 9 in (55.40 m) |
| Beam | 33.5 ft (10.2 m) |
| Draught | 19 ft (5.8 m) |
| Ice class | Ice strengthened |
| Installed power | 1,715 shp (1,279 kW) |
| Propulsion | Single shaft, 2 ×Scotch boilers, 1triple expansion steam engine, |
| Speed | 14knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement | 60 |
| Armament |
|
| Official name | S.S. Acadia National Historic Site of Canada |
| Designated | 1976 |
CSSAcadia is a formerhydrographic andoceanographicresearch ship of the Hydrographic Survey of Canada and its successor, theCanadian Hydrographic Service.Acadia for 56 years from 1913 to 1969, charting the coastline of almost every part ofEastern Canada including pioneering surveys ofHudson Bay. She was also twicecommissioned into theRoyal Canadian Navy (RCN) asHMCSAcadia, the only ship still afloat to have served the RCN in both World Wars. The ship is also the last remaining ship afloat that was present at the 1917Halifax Explosion. The ship is now amuseum ship, designated as aNational Historic Site of Canada, moored inHalifax Harbour at theMaritime Museum of the Atlantic.[1]
Acadia is aresearch ship that initially measured 170 feet 9 inches (52.04 m) long with abeam of 33 ft 7 in (10.24 m) and adraught of 19 ft (5.8 m). The ship was measured at 846 gross register tons (GRT) and 439 net register tons (NRT).[2][3] The ship had adisplacement of 1,050long tons (1,070 t).[4] The ship was powered by steam provided by two coal-firedScotch boilers being fed to atriple expansion engine turning onescrew, creating 1,715shaft horsepower (1,279 kW).[5][6][a] This gave the ship a maximum speed of 14knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).[6] The ship was designed to operate along Canada's northern coast, and had additional7⁄8-inch (22 mm) steel plating and strengthened framing. After arriving in Canada, the ship underwent further strengthening for use in ice.[8] The ship had onefunnel and twomasts and the crew cabins hadmahogany andoak paneling andbrasswork.[5] The vessel originally had wooden carvings of thecoat-of-arms of the provinces ofOntario andNova Scotia situated on thestarboard side of thebow and those ofQuebec andNew Brunswick on the port side.[7] The crew numbered 60 with 10 assigned tohydrography-related research, but that number fluctuated depending on the planned deployment.[9] The vessel was equipped with two surveylaunches andcutters.[10]
InRoyal Canadian Navy (RCN) service, the vessel was armed with a 4-inch (102 mm) gun placed forward and a12-pounder gun situated aft.[11][12] The ship had a displacement of 1,050 long tons (1,067 t) and measured 169 feet 11 inches (51.8 m) long with a beam of 33 feet 6 inches (10.2 m) and a draught of 19 feet 0 inches (5.8 m). In naval service, the vessel could only reach speeds of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).[11] The ship had a complement of 59 officers andratings in RCN service.[4]
Acadia was the first ship of the Canadian Hydrographic Service to be fitted withwireless telegraphy in 1913. The ship had agyrocompass installed in 1928. The following year in 1929,Acadia had anecho sounder system fitted.[5] In 1951, the vessel underwent a completedecking renewal, a partial renewal in 1985. The masts, originally fitted for sails, were converted for lighting and sensor use and the launches/cutters were modernised.[10] In 1955, the ship underwent a refit that added an enlargedbridge.[6] In 1956, the ship had her first navigationalradar installed.[5] By 1987, the vessel measured 182 feet 1 inch (55.5 m)long overall with a beam of 32 feet 10 inches (10 m) and a depth of 9 feet 10 inches (3 m). The ship's displacement had increased to 1,700 long tons (1,700 t). By the 1960s, the ship could only make approximately 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph).[6]
Acadia was designed inOttawa by Canadian naval architect R. L. Newman for the Hydrographic Survey of Canada and built bySwan Hunter & Wigham Richardson atNewcastle-on-Tyne in England. Named afterAcadia, the early colonial name forAtlantic Canada, she waslaunched on 8 May 1913.Acadia arrived atHalifax, Nova Scotia on 8 July and was entered service that July upon her first voyage using the prefix CGS, which stood for "Canadian Government Ship."[13] Her first two seasons were spentcharting in westernHudson Bay atPort Nelson,[14] and rescued the crew of thesteamshipAlette, crushed by ice in Hudson Bay, the first of several rescue operationsAcadia would perform.[15] In her first year, she also made the first Canadian surveys ofSable Island in November 1913.[16] She saw extensive use prior to 1917 surveying the waters along Canada's Atlantic coast, including tidal charting anddepth soundings for various ports, also performing pioneering Canadianoceanographic research in 1915 and 1916.[17]
After the outbreak ofWorld War I in 1914,Acadia was among the government vessels used to patrol the Bay of Fundy during the winter months, sailing betweenYarmouth, Nova Scotia andGrand Manan.[18]Acadia wascommissioned into the RCN on 16 January 1917, as apatrol vessel, replacing the CGS prefix withHis Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS), thus becoming HMCSAcadia.[4] Though intended for patrol, the vessel's slow speed made her practically unusable. The vessel was armed with one 4-inch (102 mm) gun placed forward.[19] From 1917 until the end of the war, she conductedanti-submarine patrols from theBay of Fundy along Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast and through theGulf of Saint Lawrence.[4] On 6 December 1917, less than twelve months into her wartime service,Acadia survived theHalifax Explosion.Acadia was serving as aguard ship at the entrance toBedford Basin but suffered only minor damage.[20] In 1918, she was one of the Canadian warships assigned to escort merchantconvoys through Canadian waters, defending them against theGerman submarine threat.[21] Near the end of the war, she served as a platform for experiments with anti-submarinekite balloons.[22] The ship was decommissioned from RCN service in March 1919.[4]
Following her naval service,Acadia was returned to the Hydrographic Survey of Canada (renamed theCanadian Hydrographic Service in 1928) and resumed hydrographic survey work throughout the inter-war period of the 1920s and 1930s. Though in the winter months of 1922–1923, the ship was detailed withicebreaking duties along the coast of Nova Scotia and in major coastal ports on the way.[23] Lack of survey funds suspended her operation in 1924 and 1925. In 1926 she resumed surveys, mainly in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and up into theSaguenay River.[24] A major achievement was surveying in the summer seasons in 1929 to 1931, to establish the port ofChurchill, Manitoba.[14] In 1929Acadia rescued the crew of a crashedSikorsky amphibious aircraft named "Untin Bowler" who were attempting a round-trip to Europe acrossGreenland and Iceland sponsored by theChicago Tribune until the aircraft was destroyed by ice off the tip ofLabrador.[25] In mid-to-late September 1939, the vessel was tasked with re-charting the coasts of the CanadiansMaritimes and the island ofNewfoundland.[26] In 1934,Acadia was among the ships gathered to celebrate the 400th anniversary of French explorerJacques Cartier's arrival in the North America with a celebration atGaspé, Quebec. She returned to icebreaking duties along the Nova Scotian coast in the winter months of 1934–1935.[23]
The vessel was recommissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 2 October 1939 duringWorld War II, once again becoming HMCSAcadia and given thepennant number Z00 on the Atlantic coast.[27][b] She was first used as atraining ship forHMCSStadacona, ashore establishment at Halifax. From May 1940 to March 1941 she saw active use as a patrol ship off the entrance ofHalifax Harbour, providing close escort support for small convoys entering and leaving the port from the harbour limits at thesubmarine nets offMcNabs Island to the "Halifax Ocean Meeting Point". After a refit,Acadia was assigned in mid-1941 for use as ananti-aircraft training ship and serving as a gunnery training vessel for crews of theDefensively Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS) fleet.[4] In June 1944,Acadia was assigned to the training baseHMCS Cornwallis and stationed at the nearby port ofDigby, Nova Scotia where she was used for gunnery training. The ship was decommissioned on 3 November 1945.[4] The name HMCSAcadia continued in use as aRoyal Canadian Sea Cadets training centre atCornwallis, Nova Scotia beginning in 1956 until its closure in 2022.[29][30]
During World War II,Acadia was given an unofficial badge honouring the ship. However, in 1948, anofficial badge and official colours were awarded by the RCN.[31]Acadia's badge consists of a young woman's head and shoulders wearing a 1755-period cap and a scarf all done in white situated on a field of blue with a goldensemé-de-lis. The ship's official colours are gold and blue.[32][c]
With the end of the warAcadia was returned for the second time to the Canadian Hydrographic Service with the new prefix CSS, the acronym standing for Canadian Survey Ship. In 1946, the vessel was tasked with charting theNorthumberland Strait.[24] A major post-war assignment was updating and expanding the nautical charts ofNewfoundland and Labrador after the former colony had joined Canada in 1949. In the 1950s, the wooden carvings of the provincial coat-of-arms were removed during a refit and were lost in a fire when the shed they were stored in burned.[7] In 1961,Acadia rescued hundreds of people from forest fires in eastern Newfoundland, evacuating 600 people.[33] The ship was taken out of service with the Canadian Hydrographic Service on 28 November 1969.[4]
After being retired,Acadia was transferred to theBedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) for use as amuseum ship. The vessel was declared aNational Historic Site in 1976.[1] On 9 February 1980, the BIO transferredAcadia to theMaritime Museum of the Atlantic for preservation and interpretation.[4] In 1982, the vessel was moved to her new home alongside the wharves behind the museum.Acadia is known for being one of the few ships to continue the tradition of keeping an officialship's cat, of which there have been four since 1982.[5]
Acadia is moored at the museum's North Wharf and opens to visitors from May to October.Acadia isdry docked every five years to preserve her hull usingzinc anodes.[5] In 2017–2018, the poor condition ofAcadia made Canadian national news, with demands for government intervention to stop the ship's deterioration.[34][35] In 2021, the vessel was sent for an overhaul atShelburne, Nova Scotia.[36]Acadia is the only known vessel still afloat to have survived the Halifax Explosion in 1917 and serve in the Royal Canadian Navy in both world wars.[34]
Named after thefamous Viking, Erik the Red was atabby cat, born about 1997, that served onAcadia as the rodent control officer.[37][38] He is believed to have been a stray that found his way aboard the ship as a stowaway onCanada Day in 2000. He initially worked alongside the existing rodent control officer, Clara, until Clara's retirement and quick decline in health.[39] Erik the Red survived three abductions or disappearances, which were particularly worrisome for the community because Erik had medical concerns requiring daily medication or he would not eat.[38][40] Erik became a well known local attraction on the boardwalk nearAcadia, welcomed up and down the waterfront and into stores.[38] Erik retired in 2015 during a party in his honour on 20 September and died in July 2017 after a short illness.[38][41]
44°38′52.5″N63°34′11.8″W / 44.647917°N 63.569944°W /44.647917; -63.569944
National Historic Sites of Canada by location | |
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