 | |
| Founded | 1911; 114 years ago (1911) |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 1944; 81 years ago (1944) (aircraft operations) 1988; 37 years ago (1988) (shipbuilding, as MIL Vickers) 1990; 35 years ago (1990) (rail car operations, as Versatile Vickers) |
| Fate | Aircraft division absorbed intoCanadair in 1944 |
| Successor | Canadair andVersatile Vickers (using Canadian Vickers as brand only) |
| Headquarters | Montreal,Quebec, Canada |
| Parent | Vickers Limited |
Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated inCanada from 1911 until 1944. A subsidiary ofVickers Limited, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence.Canadair absorbed the Canadian Vickers aircraft operations in November 1944.
In 1907, British shipbuilding and weapons manufacturing conglomerateVickers Sons & Maxim began investigating possible locations for a shipyard inMontreal.[1] Vickers Sons & Maxim intended to use the shipyard as a repair facility for transatlantic shipping traffic entering Montreal.[2] Vickers Sons & Maxim was invited by theGovernment of Canada in 1911 to establish a Canadian division to manufacture vessels for the nascentRoyal Canadian Navy. According to naval historian Marc Milner, "the Harbour Commission and the city ofMaisonneuve offered Vickers a first-class location" to establish the yard, and "an extended lease on the land and deferred taxes."[3] Vickers Sons & Maxim established Canadian Vickers in June 1911 and constructed the shipyard between Rue Notre-Dame and rue Viau along theSaint Lawrence River (now Viterra Montreal Terminal).[1] Canadian Vickers ordered the construction of a large floatingdrydock, which was opened in 1912.[1][3] Due to the establishment of Canadian Vickers, Montreal became one of Canada's leading shipbuilding centres.[1] The shipyard's first full year of operation was 1914, a year marked by the beginning ofWorld War I.[2]
During World War I the yard assembled American-designedHolland 602 type submarines on behalf of theRoyal Navy.[4] Thehulls were Canadian-built, but the machinery and equipment were American. They were known as theBritish H-class submarine in the Royal Navy and were the first submarines to cross theAtlantic Ocean under their own power. Canadian Vickers (along withPolson Iron Works ofToronto) also constructed the first vessels specifically designed for the Royal Canadian Navy, theBattle-classnaval trawlers.[5]
This shipyard would go on to produce many civilian and military ships in Canada, including:
Canadian Vickers also manufactured luxury yachts and vessels that were later converted as yachts:
Following World War I, labour militancy grew withinQuebec. In June 1919, Canadian Vickers workers ledlabour action in Montreal as part of larger strike actions within the shipbuilding industry. The labour strike was a result of demands for maximum 8-hour shifts. Employees of Canadian Vickers coordinated with other work forces in Montreal, though shortly after it began, disagreements over a general strike led the labour action to falter.[9] The end of the First World War also saw a reduction of shipping orders and increased competition among shipbuilders. This led to consolidation among shipyards and Canadian Vickers' parent company, Vickers merged withArmstrong Whitworth to formVickers-Armstrongs. In 1926,Frank Ross ofMontreal Dry Dock and two business partners sought to acquire Canadian Vickers from its parent company. Negotiations began in March and were agreed to in November. In 1928, Ross merged Montreal Dry Dock with Canadian Vickers. During the 1930s, the yard survived theGreat Depression with repair contracts and constructing manufacturing turbines and structural steel.[10]
The shipyard was reacquired by Vickers in 1956.[11] It was renamed Vickers Canada Limited in 1978 after being sold to Canadian interests and renamed several times again by the last ownersMarine Industries, eventually (asVersatile Vickers Inc[12][13] in 1981 and MIL Vickers in 1987). Shipbuiding operations ceased by 1988.[11]
Canadian Vickers ventured into aircraft manufacturing in 1923 when it won a contract to supplyVickers Vikingflying boats to the recently formed Canadian Air Force (Royal Canadian Air Force from 1924). Between 1923 and 1944, Canadian Vickers produced over 400 aircraft, some of which were original Vickers' designs while the remainder were other manufacturers' designs built under license.
In July 1941, the Canadian government awarded Canadian Vickers a contract to produce PBV-1 "Canso" amphibians (a version of theConsolidated PBY Catalina flying boat) for theRoyal Canadian Air Force. Many of the aircraft were delivered to the United States Navy as the PBV-1; also to theUnited States Army Air Forces as the OA-10A for rescue work.
To speed Canso production, the government authorized construction of a new manufacturing facility atCartierville Airport inVille Saint Laurent, on the north-western outskirts of Montreal, and appointed Canadian Vickers to manage the plant's operation on the government's behalf. IndependentlyBoeing also produced Catalinas in Canada.
In 1944, business pressure compelled Canadian Vickers to ask the government to relieve it of its management responsibilities regarding the Cartierville plant. Ottawa agreed and entered into a management contract withCanadair, a new company founded by a small group of former senior Canadian Vickers personnel headed by Benjamin W. Franklin (no relation to his famous namesake). On 4 November 1944, Canadair took over operation of the plant. In September 1946, Canadair and the plant were acquired by theElectric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut.
In 1952, Electric Boat boughtConsolidated Vultee and combined it, Canadair, and several smaller companies to formGeneral Dynamics Corporation. General Dynamics later became one of the largest U.S. aerospace corporations. Canadair remained a General Dynamics subsidiary until January 1976 when it was re-acquired by the Canadian government.
In December 1986, the government again sold Canadair, this time toBombardier, a Quebec-based international conglomerate. Today, Canadair itself no longer exists as a separate entity having been absorbed intoBombardier Aviation.
For aircraft built after 1944, those aircraft were built under theCanadair name.
Versatile Vickers used the Canadian former Vickers plant briefly to buildrail cars in the 1960s and 1970s during the period of turmoil at the shipyard in Montreal. The rail car products were mostly built under contract, or licensed from other rail car builders or as joint production efforts (such as the MR-63 subway cars for the Montreal Metro with technical support fromCIMT-Lorraine which also designed the rubber-tired system for some of theParis Métro lines). In 1979 Vickers name was changed from Canadian Vickers Ltd. to Vickers Canada, Inc. following the purchase of its shares by the Canadian management from the British holding company. In 1981 the name was again changed to Versatile Vickers, Inc. Versatile Vickers went out of business in 1990.
| 1963–1967 | MR-63 subway cars built for theMontreal Metro which opened in 1966, and were based onAlstom'sMP 59 trains for theParis Métro. Retired 2016–2018. |
| 1969 | CommuterCab car (Bi-level "Town Car" coaches andgallery cars) built as a variant of thePullman Company Gallery coaches for theCanadian Pacific Railways' Montreal suburban service; later re-classified asAMT 900 series cars.[14] Rebuilt early 2000s and now retired. |
| 1972–1977, | Car shells supplied by Canadian Vickers or theBudd Company forGeneral Electric forMetropolitan Transportation Authority andConnecticut Department of TransportationM2 railcars. All cars were retired in 2018. |
| 1980 | PATCO II railcars were manufactured by Canadian Vickers under a license from theBudd Company for thePort Authority Transit Corporation. All cars rebuilt byAlstom between 2013-2019. |
There is a Canadian Vickersfonds atLibrary and Archives Canada.[15] Archival reference number is R3819.
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