CCGS John A. Macdonald
 CCGS John A. Macdonald (red ship at left) in the Northwest Passage in 1969 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name: | John A. Macdonald |
| Namesake: | Sir John A. Macdonald, 1st Prime Minister of Canada |
| Owner: | Canadian Government |
| Operator: | Canadian Coast Guard |
| Builder: | Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon, Quebec |
| Yard number: | 313107 |
| Commissioned: | 1960 |
| Decommissioned: | 1991 |
| In service: | 1960-1991 |
| Out of service: | 1991 |
| Refit: | 1987 |
| Struck: | 1991 |
| Homeport: | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia |
| Nickname(s): | "Johnnie Mac" |
| Honours and awards: |
"Queen of the Fleet" U.S. Coast Guard Unit Commendation 1967 |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1994 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Heavy Icebreaker |
| Displacement: | 6,186 tonnes (6,818.90 short tons) |
| Length: | 315 ft (96 m) |
| Beam: | 70 ft (21 m) |
| Draft: | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Ice class: | Arctic ice class 2-3 |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric; three shafts (15,000 shp) |
CCGS John A. Macdonald was a Canadian Coast Guard heavy icebreaker. She was named after The Right Honourable, Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC (Canada), the first Prime Minister of Canada.
The was commissioned into the Canadian Department of Transport's Marine Service in 1960 using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship" (CGS). She was transferred in 1962 into the newly created Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and served with distinction until being decommissioned in 1991, and replaced by the then-chartered (but later purchased) CCGS Terry Fox.
Service history
John A. Macdonald was known to Canadian Coast Guard personnel as "The Queen of the Fleet".
John A Macdonald was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard Unit Commendation "for extremely meritorious service in the support of United States Coast Guard operations during the period of 23 September 1967 to 08 October 1967", during the Arctic West Summer 1967 cruise by Admiral Willard J. Smith, Commandant, United States Coast Guard.[1][2]
In 1969 John A. Macdonald assisted the then-new CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent in rescuing SS Manhattan during her transit of the Northwest Passage. John A. Macdonald made a double transit from the east to west and returned west to east.[3][4] During the rescue, John A. Macdonald broke her starboard propeller in heavy ice; the propeller is on display by the Dartmouth Ferry Terminal, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. John A. Macdonald was assisted by the United States Coast Guard icebreakers Northwind and Staten Island
In 1975 John A. Macdonald made a partial transit of the Northwest Passage, westward, through Lancaster Sound, Peel Sound and Victoria Strait. During 1978 John A. Macdonald made an east to west partial transit of the Northwest Passage, traveling on charter to Dome Petroleum, through Lancaster Sound, Prince of Wales Strait and the Beaufort Sea. The next year, the vessel made another partial transit of the Northwest Passage, west to east, returning eastward from a charter operation.[5]
During 1985 John A. Macdonald made a further partial transit of the Northwest Passage traveling westward, through Peel Sound, Victoria Strait, Amundsen Gulf and back.[5] In 1987 she underwent an eight month, $8-million (CAD) refit. In 1988 the ship made another partial transit of the Northwest Passage traveling westward, through Lancaster Sound, Peel Sound and Demarcation Point then back.[5] The ship was taken out of service in 1991. She was transferred from the Canadian Coast Guard to Crown Assets and was renamed 1201. The vessel was sold for scrap and towed from Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia to India in November 1993 and was broken up in the early months of 1994.
Awards and honours
- Queen of the Fleet
- U.S. Coast Guard Unit Commendation, 1967
Gallery
References
- ↑ U.S. Coast Guard COMDTINST M1650.25D, May 2008
- ↑ U.S. Department of Homeland Security. United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
- ↑ MacFarlane, John M. (2012). "Full Transits of the Canadian Northwest Passage". Nauticapedia.ca. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ↑ Smith, William D. (1970). Northwest Passage, The Historic Voyage of the SS Manhattan. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd, Publishers. ISBN 0-07-058460-5.
- 1 2 3 MacFarlane, John M (2012). "A List of the Early Partial Transits of the Canadian Northwest Passage 1921 to 2004". Nauticapedia.ca. Retrieved 27 August 2016.