MV ''Hiawatha'' is a passenger ferry built in 1895 for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The boat is long, wide, has a depth of , and measures 46 gross tons. Her capacity is 100 passengers. ''Hiawatha'' was built by the Bertram Engine Works near Queen's Wharf in Toronto harbour and named for Hiawatha, a First Nations leader and co-founder of the

Iroquois confederacy The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

. It is claimed to be the oldest passenger vessel still in active service on the North American Great Lakes. ''Hiawatha'' has served as a ferry for the yacht club since 1895. The boat was converted from a

steam engine 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 ...

to a gasoline engine in 1944. The ship was refurbished in 1983. On July 26, 2000, both ''Hiawatha'' and the yacht club's slightly newer ferry, ''

Kwasind M/V ''Kwasind'' is a passenger ferry built in 1912 for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is long. She was built by the Polson Iron Works and cost . Her name was taken from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem about ...

'', were sunk by vandals. ''Kwasind'' was refloated and was back in working order the day of the sinking, while ''Hiawatha'' required further repair.

References

External links

''Hiawatha''s historical plaque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiawatha Ferries of Ontario 1895 ships Ships built in Ontario