SS ''Sagona'' was a passenger and freight

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

used in ferry service on the northern coastal routes between the island of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and the coast of

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

in Canada. In winter, ''Sagona'' was primarily a sealing vessel, bringing in a total of 165,599

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

from 1912 until 1938 under captains Job Knee, Jack Randell, Lewis Little and Jacob Kean.

Vessel history

''Sagona'' was built in 1912 at

Dundee, Scotland Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

by the Dundee Shipbuilding Company. A steel steamship of 808 gross register tons, she measured in length and could accommodate 50 salon and 40

steerage Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North America ...

passengers. Her hull was reinforced with double rows of pitch pine for ice breaking capability. ''Sagona'' was built for the Newfoundland Produce Company and was managed by Crosbie & Company. She arrived in St. John's on 14 March 1912 under the command of Captain Marshall. ''Sagona'' made its first trip to the seal hunt on 15 March 1912 under Captain S.R. Winsor. In 1914, ''Sagona'' was acquired by the

Reid Newfoundland Company The Reid Newfoundland Company was incorporated in September 1901 and was the operator of the Newfoundland Railway across the island from 1901 to 1923. For a time it was the largest landowner in the Dominion of Newfoundland, today the modern Canad ...

, which operated a series of coastal steamer routes as well as the

Newfoundland Railway The Newfoundland Railway operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow-gauge railway system in North America. Early construction ] In 1880, a committee of the Newfoundland Leg ...

. On 16 January 1920, ''Sagona'' ran aground at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, but incurred only minor damage. ''Sagona'' and the rest of the Reid Newfoundland fleet were acquired in 1923 by the Newfoundland government as part of the arrangement that saw the Colony acquire the railway. During the winter sealing season of 1933, ''Sagona'' helped in the rescue of survivors of the disaster in March of that year. In the map published with the ''Newfoundland Royal Commission Report 1933'', ''Sagona'' was shown as serving in summer the coastal steamer route between

Bonne Bay Bonne Bay is a bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada. It is located on the western coast of Newfoundland and separates the Great Northern Peninsula from the rest of the island. It is a part of Gros Morne National Park. It is s ...

, Newfoundland and

Battle Harbour Battle Harbour (Inuttitut: ''Putlavak'') is a summer fishing station, formerly a permanent settlement, located on the Labrador coast in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Battle Harbour was for two centuries the economic and soci ...

, Labrador.''Newfoundland Royal Commission Report 1933''. London: His Majesty's Stationery Officer, 1934 Last used as a sealer in 1938, ''Sagona'' was sold by the

in 1941 to the Colliford Clarke Company of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 1944 the vessel was acquired by the Zarati Steamship Company, Ltd., with registry transferred to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Fate

''Sagona'' was bound from

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

when she was lost on 21 November 1945 after striking a mine five miles southeast of

Porquerolles Porquerolles (; oc, Porcairòlas), also known as the Île de Porquerolles, is an island in the Îles d'Hyères, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Its land area is and in 2004, its population has benn about 200. Porquerolles, the larges ...

Island.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sagona Ferries of Newfoundland and Labrador Steamships Sealing ships 1912 ships

Vessel history

Fate

See also

References