SS ''Brulin'' was a lake freighter that worked the

North American 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 lak ...

routes from 1924 to 1960. She was renamed ''Outarde'' in 1939, and ''James J. Buckler'' in 1960, shortly before she ran aground and sank during salvage operations. ''Brulin'' was built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Hebburn-on-Tyne and launched on 31 July 1924, for the Montreal Forwarding Company. She was built to the maximum dimensions of the

canal lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...

s that preceded 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 ...

Career

She was involved in a number of incidents in her career. In August 1925 she ran aground at the head of the Morrisburg Canal. On the night of 15 July 1926 she struck and sank the

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

Emma L Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Emma'' (1996 TV film), a British television film starring Kate Be ...

'', off

Windmill Point Goose Village (French: "Village-aux-Oies") was a neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its official but less commonly used name was Victoriatown, after the adjacent Victoria Bridge, Montreal, Victoria Bridge. The neighbourhood was built ...

, killing six of the tugboat's seven crew, and in 1932 she ran aground on Seven Acre Shoal off

Kingston Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toront ...

. In 1935 she found the

tank barge A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong vehicle armour, armour, and good battlefield mobility (military), mobility prov ...

'' Bruce Hudson'' adrift and abandoned on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

, and was able to collect a salvage fee. On 15 November 1939 the ''Brulin'' collided with the Canadian Steamship Lines' ''Huronic'' in a dense fog. She was renamed ''Outarde'' in 1939 when she was sold to the Quebec and Ontario Transportation Company. (In 1962, after her loss, the firm renamed another vessel ''Outarde''. ) In January 1943 she ran aground near the St Pierre and Miquelon near the mouth of the St Lawrence estuary. She was armed with a small cannon during World War II. On 30 November 1945 a storm smashed the ''Outarde'' against the Consul-Hall Coal Dock at Clayton, New York. A

coffer-dam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for construction or re ...

needed to be erected to salvage the vessel, and clear the approach to the dock. Salvage took over four months, and repairs to return to service were not completed until June 1946. When the

was completed, in late 1959, allowing larger vessels to access sail to and from the Great Lakes, the ''Outarde'' was scheduled to be scrapped. She was, however, put back into service in 1960 as the ''James J. Buckler''. She ran aground on 13 June 1960, on a sandbank off the mouth of the Saguenay River. Though she was able to be refloated, she was found to have a serious leak, and was beached. A further salvage attempt was made, but on 16 June 1960 her hull cracked in two. She was purposely sunk near

Les Bergeronnes, Quebec Les Bergeronnes is a municipality in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec in Canada. The municipality includes the communities of Grandes-Bergeronnes, Petites-Bergeronnes and Bon-Désir. The Bon-Désir trading post After the continent ...

in November 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brulin Ships built on the River Tyne 1924 ships World War II merchant ships of Canada Shipwrecks in the Great Lakes Maritime incidents in 1925 Maritime incidents in 1926 Maritime incidents in 1932 Maritime incidents in 1939 Maritime incidents in January 1943 Maritime incidents in November 1945 Maritime incidents in 1960