Toronto Drydock Company is a

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

repair company in Canada and the name of two shipbuilders in the 19th and 20th centuries respectively.

Toronto Dry Dock Company

The first Toronto Dry Dock Company was established in 1847 by William Botsford Jarvis (1799–1864) in the Province of Canada to build ships to ply the waters of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

Toronto Dry Dock Company Limited

Another Toronto Dry Dock Company Limited was established in 1917 by several partners: * C. S. Boone – President of the C. S. Boone Dredging and Construction Company Limited * John E. Russell, * Lawrence Solman, manager of the Toronto Ferry Company Limited * John J. Manley, C. S. Boone Dredging and Construction Company Limited * Henry J. Dixon Toronto Dry Dock and its floating dry dock and yard were located along the south edge of Keating Channel, along with the related Toronto Ship Building Company, owned by the same principals. The company acquired the shipbuilding business of Patrick Dixon and son Harry J. Dixon) under the Ontario Companies Act to build larger ships, and during WW I Toronto Shipbuilding constructed two wood-hulled freighters in 1918, the ''War Ontario'' and ''War Toronto'', side-launching both into Keating Channel. The company remained in business until 1964 and was later acquired as part of the

Port Weller Dry Docks Port Weller Dry Docks was a shipbuilder on the Welland Canal at the Lake Ontario entrance. The shipbuilder was founded in 1946 and the site was initially owned by the Government of Canada for storage purchases. The shipyard expanded to include ship ...

. The facilities were sold following the bankruptcy of Port Weller Dry Docks Limited, who moved the

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, ...

Port Weller, Ontario Port Weller, Ontario is a community in St. Catharines, Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario, Canada and is part of the Golden Horseshoe region. It is located north of the centre of St. Catharines at the north end of the Welland Canal at La ...

and sold the facilities to

Toronto Harbour Commission The Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront. It built both ...

. The former dockyard is now used for storage by

Harbourfront Centre Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became ...

and

Port of Toronto The Port of Toronto is an inland port on the northwest shoreline of Lake Ontario in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The port covers over of land on the eastern shore of the Toronto Harbour, in an area known as the Port Lands. The port includes several ...

(to store the airport ferries).

Toronto Drydock

The current Toronto Drydock, founded in 1989 is a small marine repair facility built from the former St-Lawrence

pulpwood Pulpwood is timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production. Applications * Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more gener ...

carrier Menier Consol (built in 1962 and converted as floating drydock after 1984) and located in the eastern Portland area in the Turning Basin along Basin Street and across from the former

Hearn Generating Station The Richard L. Hearn Generating Station (named after Richard Lankaster Hearn) is a decommissioned electrical generating station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The plant was originally fired by coal, but later converted to burn natural gas. The pl ...

History of shipbuilding in Toronto

Shipbuilding in Toronto dates back to the period when shipping was isolated to the Great Lakes. Early ship building was conducted by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

for use in the Great Lakes, but several small, medium, and large private shipbuilding concerns developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Polson Iron Works, established in Toronto in 1883, was a major builder of steamers into the 1900s. Located at the foot of Sherbourne Street, the Iron Works produced around 150 assorted vessels, including ten steel-hulled

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s for the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Navy, and six cargo vessels during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war Polson declared bankruptcy and closed in 1919 due to lack orders and tariff protections. A succession of ship builders were also located at

Bathurst Street Wharf Bathurst Street Wharf was a series of shipyards located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue along Lake Shore Boulevard West. Early years The first facility appeared in 1890 and the last closed at the end of Worl ...

,http://shipbuildinghistory.com/canadayards/redfern.htm starting with John Doty Engine Works (1875–1892). The yard was purchased by Bertram Engine Works (1893–1905), then by Canadian Shipbuilding Company (1905–1907); and then by Toronto Shipyards (1908–1910). The idled yard was later taken over by Thor Iron Works (1913–1917), which constructed two minesweepers for the Royal Navy and four cargo vessels before selling the yard to Dominion Shipbuilding. Dominion then built a new facility on reclaimed land leased from the

and constructed twelve merchant ships during and immediately following the war (1917–1921) before ceasing operations. The once again idle ship yard was reactivated during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

by the Canadian Government to construct ''Bangor'' and s (1941–1945), with the yard operated by a succession of companies, starting with Dufferin Shipbuilding Company Limited, then government-owned Toronto Shipbuilding Company Limited, and finally Redfern Construction Company Limited. At the end of the war the yard was closed for good. A number of other small builders dotted the waterfront east and west of Toronto proper: * Rouge River * Highland Creek – Thomas Adams * Humber River * Credit River The Rouge River's ship building was linked to the prolific lumber industry. The shipbuilding industry ranged between 1810 and 1856. Most of the ships were used for passenger and to carry potash, grain and lumber between

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port C ...

and Toronto, then called York.

References

External links