William James Roué (April 27, 1879 – January 14, 1970) was a

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

famous for his design of the fishing

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

Bluenose ''Bluenose'' was a fishing and racing gaff rig schooner built in 1921 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. A celebrated racing ship and fishing vessel, ''Bluenose'' under the command of Angus Walters, became a provincial icon for Nova Scotia and ...

'', which sailed to victory in the Halifax Herald International Fisherman's competition in 1921, 1922, 1923, 1931 and 1938, and held the record for the largest catch of fish ever brought into

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia Lunenburg () is a port town on the South Shore (Nova Scotia), South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. Historically, Lunenburg's economy relied o ...

History

Roué was born in the South End of Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. As an adolescent, Roué made and sailed model boats. He learned to crew at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS). He was a self-taught naval architect. He read volumes on boat design in the library of the Yacht Squadron. He enrolled in classes in mechanical drafting at the Victoria College of Art and Design, now the

Nova Scotia College of Art and Design NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), is a public university, public art school, art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution tha ...

. His experience was that of a yacht designer for fellow members of the Squadron while he worked in the family soft-drink business. Roué created more than 100 designs for commercial vessels, including many

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

s such as the schooner ; two fleets of freighters for

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and the Arctic and ferries. Roué died on January 14, 1970, in Halifax at the age of 90. In 1943, during the Second World War, William Roué invented a sectional

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

capable of being loaded disassembled on the deck of a ship and then reassembled to land troops and supplies.

Honours

In 1921, Roué was rewarded with a gold watch and commemorative scroll because Canada won the International Fisherman's Race. A 1998 domestic

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

was issued in commemoration of William J. Roué that shows his portrait and the famous ''Bluenose'' schooner he designed. The stamp was designed by Louis Hébert of Montreal. The

Maritime Museum of the Atlantic The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a maritime museum located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The museum is a member institution of the Nova Scotia Museum and is the oldest and largest maritime museum in Canada with a collection o ...

in Halifax has an exhibit on Roué with his original design instruments and drawing board as well as a Roué-designed sloop ''Vagabond'' and

''Hebridee II''. The W.J. Roué reading room was created in the Lunenburg, Nova Scotia library in 2002.

Craft designs

* Design No. 1 - '' Babette'' * Design No. 17 - ''

'' (1921) * Design No. 20 - Roué 20 (1922) * Design N0. 161 - Roué's Bluenose Sloop design (1946)

References

Selected books

*Getson, Heather-Anne, Bluenose: The Ocean Knows Her Name., Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 2006. *Keith McLaren. A Race for Real Sailors: The Bluenose and the International Fishermen's Race 1920 - 1938. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006. *Marq de Villiers. Witch in the Wind:The True Story of the Legendary Bluenose. Toronto: Thomas Allen, 2007.

External links

William J. Roué website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roue, William 1879 births 1970 deaths Canadian yacht designers Boat and ship designers People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian people of French descent NSCAD University alumni