Kingston Shipyards was a Canadian shipbuilder and ship repair company that operated from 1910 to 1968. The facility was located on the Kingston waterfront property known as Mississauga Point, which is the now the site of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston.

History

Marine Railway Company

In 1836 the British Board of Ordnance transferred control of the Kingston waterfront property, Mississauga Point, from the military to local businessmen.

John Counter John Counter (April 18, 1799 – October 29, 1862) was a Canadian businessman and political figure. He served as Mayor of the City of Kingston, Ontario, for the terms 1841-43; 1846; 1850; 1852–53 and 1855. Personal life John Counter was born on ...

, Henry Gildersleeve, and Thomas Kirkpatrick created the Marine Railway Company to service the shipping traffic on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. By 1839 the company had built a small

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

, an engine foundry, two wharves and a marine railway. In 1848 a large three storey warehouse was constructed.

Steam power A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

was added to the marine railway in 1851 and additional stone outbuildings were constructed in 1854. The Marine Railway Company advertised its facilities in 1862. The company claimed to own a marine railway with steam sawmill, workshops and offices, sixteen stone cottages, a large foundry known as the Ontario foundry, five large three and four storey fireproof warehouses and many wharves. Over two hundred men were employed to overhaul and service seven vessels at a time. At its time, it was the largest shipbuilding effort west of Quebec.

First World War

In 1910

Collingwood Shipyards Collingwood Shipbuilding was a major Canadian shipbuilder of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The facility was located in the Great Lakes and saw its business peak during the Second World War. The shipyard primarily constructed lake freighters ...

opened a subsidiary shipbuilding and repair plant in Kingston. The government dry dock was rented and purchased, and three government contracts for ships were secured. Several small jobs followed until the First World War in 1915. War contracts required 8 minesweepers for the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy and thus the workforce increased to over 1000 workers.

Depression

Manager D. Thompson headed the firm during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

keeping a crew of six to eight men onsite. Parties of workers were hired on the spot on a jobbed basis.

Second World War

The first three

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s were ordered to be constructed in 1940. This was the first construction contract since 1923. The workforce grew to over 1500 as

and minesweeper construction progressed. The last wartime contracts were for seven seagoing steam tugs which were finished after the war had ended.

Canada Steamship Lines takes over

In 1947 the yard was bought by the Canada Steamship Lines. This rejuvenated the shipyard business as the fleet of canallers owned by the Canada Steamship Lines provided repair work for the yard. The Kingston Shipyards throughout the 1950s was occupied with building tugs, barges and pontoons.

Final years

The opening of the

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...

in 1959 made the fleet of canallers obsolete. With no canaller fleet wintering in Kingston, the yard lost the majority of its work. In 1967 Canada Steamship Lines shut down the site and all the equipment was to be sold or transferred to Collingwood Shipyards. The property was sold in 1968, and in 1974 acquired by the establishment of the current Marine Museum of the Great lakes at Kingston.

Shipbuilding history

References

{{Reflist, 30em Shipbuilding companies of Canada Defunct companies of Ontario Defunct manufacturing companies of Canada Companies based in Kingston, Ontario History of shipbuilding in Ontario Manufacturing companies established in 1910 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1968 1910 establishments in Ontario 1968 disestablishments in Ontario