''Sankaty'' (a.k.a. HMCS ''Sankaty'', a.k.a. ''Charles A. Dunning'') was a

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

-driven steamer that served as a

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 ...

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

and

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

; in

Rockland, Maine Rockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine State ...

;

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

and Oyster Bay,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

in the United States from 1911 to 1940. 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 ...

, the ship was requisitioned by the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

for service as a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

and maintenance vessel along the Canadian Atlantic coast. Following the war the ship returned to a ferry, working the

Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island Wood Islands is a rural farming and fishing community located in southeastern Queens County, Prince Edward Island on the Northumberland Strait. It takes its name from several small forested islands, then located several hundred metres offshore in ...

and Caribou, Nova Scotia route in Canada from 1947 until 1964. While being towed to the breaker's yard, the ship sank off the coast of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

on October 27, 1964.

Description

''Sankaty'' was designed by Chauncey G. Whiton. The ship was long, a slim vessel with twin

s and twin smokestacks.''The Dukes County Intelligencer''. Vol. 7, No. 4. May 1966 She had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

, and at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

and drew of water. The ship had a depth of

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (ship), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Fermat ...

of . The ship had a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 657 tons. ''Sankaty'' rolled much more than the sidewheelers that preceded it. Because of this, the ladies' parlor and toilet was situated on the upper deck in a location to reduce the motion and vibration while on the rough waters of

Vineyard Sound Vineyard Sound is the stretch of the Atlantic Ocean which separates the Elizabeth Islands and the southwestern part of Cape Cod from the island of Martha's Vineyard, located offshore from the state of Massachusetts in the United States. To the we ...

. The ship was powered by a

triple expansion 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 tr ...

fed by steam from four Almy

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s turning the two propellers. The ship had a maximum speed of . In Canadian naval service, the ship had

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of , a

complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...

of 3 officers and 39 ratings and the vessel was armed with one .303 machine gun.

Career

Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Ferry

''Sankaty'' built by the Fore River Works in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

with the

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

192. The ship was launched on 2 February 1911 and completed in April.''The Dukes County Intelligencer''. Vol. 24, No. 4. May 1983 From her construction in 1911 until 1924, ''Sankaty'' operated as a

for the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket Steamboat Company, serving the islands of

and

. While not the first propeller-driven steamer to serve these islands (which was ''Helen Augusta'' which substituted for during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

) it marked the end of the

paddlewheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...

steamer era for the Cape and Islands. On 20 February, 1917 she went ashore on Wilburs Point at Sconticut Neck near

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

. Refloated, repaired and returned to service.

1924 fire, Maine and New York Ferry Service

On the night of June 30, 1924, ''Sankaty'' caught fire and burned down to her steel hull while tied up overnight in

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

harbor. She drifted across the

Acushnet River The Acushnet River is the largest river, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 flowing into Buzzards Bay in southeastern Massachusetts, in the United Stat ...

in flames and crashed into the whaling ship , setting her on fire as well. ''Sankaty'' was raised, sold and rebuilt with an open deck for use as a car ferry in

. Owned by the New England Steamship Company, the vessel was sold to Snow Marine Company in 1925. In 1931, the vessel was sold again, this time to the Stamford-Oyster Bay Ferries Corporation to serve as a ferry between

, and

Oyster Bay, Long Island Oyster Bay is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County in the state of New York, United States. The hamlet is also the site of a station on the Oyster Bay Branch of the Long Island Rail R ...

Canadian service and fate

In 1940 ''Sankaty'' was purchased by

Northumberland Ferries Northumberland Ferries Limited (NFL) is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada and headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. NFL is also the owner of subsidiary Bay Ferries Limited (which used to include the Bay Ferries Great La ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

, Canada, but before she began service she was requisitioned by the

that year to serve in

as a

, HMCS ''Sankaty''. The ship was commissioned on 24 September 1940 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 ...

and was also used as a maintenance vessel. With the end of the war, the ship was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

on 18 August 1945. Never entirely suitable for job as a minelayer, the ship was replaced in Canadian service by . After the war she was renamed ''Charles A. Dunning'', and served from 1946 until 1964 in the waters between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia. During this period her capacity was twenty-three cars and four trucks. She was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in 1964, but sank en route to

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...

on October 27, 1964.

The new ''Sankaty''

In 1994,

The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, doing business as The Steamship Authority (''SSA''), is the statutory regulatory body for all ferry operations between mainland Massachusetts and The Islands (Massachusetts), the ...

began service of a new freight vessel ''Sankaty'', named after this steamer.

Notes

{{coord, 46, 30, N, 61, 40, W, display=title Ferries of Massachusetts Maritime history of the United States Martha's Vineyard Ferries of Prince Edward Island Ferries of Nova Scotia Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy Shipwrecks of the Nova Scotia coast 1911 ships Maritime incidents in 1964 Transportation in Dukes County, Massachusetts Transportation in Nantucket, Massachusetts Transport in Kings County, Prince Edward Island