Union Steamship Co. - Photos & Discussion

[Low Light Mike]

From the show "Good Timber" based on the poetry of Robert Swanson, here is the full version of the song "He's got her made"
- CASSIAR was the logger's ship in the Union Steamship fleet.

This song captures the culture of that ship pretty well.

[gulflady]

Jan 6, 2013 16:59:50 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Some Union Steamship items seen at Sointula BC.

Here is a photo that I saw in a few places: on the wall in the Co-op store, and in a booklet in my cottage rental.
- I'm going to say this is the CARDENA. Seems like her, based on funnel, wheelhouse, lifeboat and vent placements.




And here is some ephemera, from an era when Union was dying. I like the final sentence of this letter.

[Starsteward]

Small coastal communities being cut off from essential services? Hmm, now where have we heard that recently ?

[compdude787]

Nov 30, 2013 11:07:31 GMT -8 Starsteward said:

Small coastal communities being cut off from essential services? Hmm, now where have we heard that recently ?

It's funny how we often think the problems we face today have never been encountered before. That's often not the case, many of our problems are not new!

[gulflady]

this is indeed the cardena,traveled on her a few times as a kid in alert bay,my grandmother would take one trip a year to vancouver to do a little shopping and visit my uncle.

[Low Light Mike]

Purser Art Twigg of Union Steamships left us with a valuable reference book about USS ships and personnel.

The Campbell River Maritime Heritage Centre has a display on the late Mr. Twigg, seen here, where his Union Steamship pursar uniform is the main attraction.





And a life story on Purser Twigg:


---------------

He died in 2001, at a time when I didn't have much knowledge or appreciation of Union Steamships. Thanks to his work, and books by the late Gerald Rushton and by Tom Henry, I know much more now about that fleet of small coasters.

- If Mr. Twigg had died in 2011, I'm sure I'd have driven 100-miles just to attend his memorial. His work (both his book and his career) means that much to me now.

[Low Light Mike]

A couple of pieces of USS memorabilia seen by me at the Cortes Island museum in July 2013.

Take a look at those fare categories, on the left-side of the ticket:




A nice card with CATALA on the cover

[Low Light Mike]

The Union Steamship CARDENA was built on the Clyde in Scotland, so it is fitting that the bottle of Cardena ale here is surrounded by the work of Innis & Gunn.




Old westcoast steamship history never tasted so good....



I haven't tried the Cardena ale yet. It's from Townsite Brewery in Powell River, and the 10.5% "Belgian Quad" has me intrigued. This bomber bottle will definitely be a "stay at home" ale, and I should try to do some quality forum moderating work in the hours after enjoying it.


Here's a close-up of this label, a label that made me gasp when I saw it.




Notes on the ale and the artist.
- I don't think the label is implying that CARDENA is one of the mill hulks. But she is a hulk, at Kelsey Bay.




ps: this bottle was a gift to me, and soon there will be 46 great reasons for me to enjoy it.

[Low Light Mike]

At Christmas, my mother in-law showed me an old Union Steamships schedule. It had been in a family steamer trunk.

My late father in-law lived in the Union Steamship era, and this 1948 schedule fits his era.

-------------------

Here are a few captures of it (more to come later)

The main cover, with a "white boat" as the cover ship. This was one of the ex WWII corvettes.




- with Mr. Rushton (author of "Whistle up the Inlet") listed




A shipping company also in the vacations selling business? What a concept...




The other "Route 1"
- served by Cardena.
- Leave Vancouver friday night, arrive at Stewart on Monday evening. Lots of time to party on board.
- take a close look at the Kincolith stop




Route 2 with Catala:

[SolDuc]

Jan 20, 2015 21:19:05 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

The other "Route 1"
- served by Cardena.
- Leave Vancouver friday night, arrive at Stewart on Monday evening. Lots of time to party on board.
- take a close look at the Kincolith stop

Interesting how they have no specific times - just whether the ferry's coming in in the morning or afternoon.
"Hey, Mike, when is the next ferry coming in town?"
"Uh, I don't know, tomorrow morning. It'd better not be when I'm at church"

I think that's totally what created the laid-back and relaxed island culture.

[WettCoast]

Jan 20, 2015 21:19:05 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

The other "Route 1"
- served by Cardena.
- Leave Vancouver friday night, arrive at Stewart on Monday evening. Lots of time to party on board.
- take a close look at the Kincolith stop

If you had gone to Kincolith you might have seen this:
www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_76/d_01808.gif

Kincolith wound have been the jumping off place for the once-upon-a-time fish cannery at Mill Bay, which was located (I believe) on the south side of the Nass River mouth not far from Kincolith.  My dad fished commercially before the war & sold his catch at this place.  His father was the Anglican Church missionary there from the early 1920's until the early 40's.  The 'O' in my brother's moniker (Mr DOT) commemorates his paternal grand father, the Reverend Oliver.

'Gingolx' is now the preferred name for Kincolith, which is one of four villages that comprise the Nisga'a Nation.

[Low Light Mike]

Union Steamship memorabilia comes in all shapes, sizes and types. This old wagon wheel is such an artifact, at my mother in-law's home. It was part of a wagon which was freight on a Union Steamship sailing from Vancouver to the Discovery Islands. It was supposed to be delivered to Manson's Landing on Cortes Island, but it only made it as far as Van Anda on Texada Island.

The reason why it didn't make it all the way? It was shipped in January 1913. The ship that took it was the Union Steamship "Cheslakee."









It was later salvaged from the re-floated ship.

- seen July 2014

[Low Light Mike]

Various 1948 southern routes schedules of Union Steamships.
- from my in-laws' collection.
-----------------------------------

Routes 5 & 5A:
Campbell River, Johnstone & Queen Charlotte Straits area





Route 6:
- Upper Sunshine Coast





Route 7:
- West Howe Sound





Route 8:
- Bowen, Brittania, Woodfible, Squamish





Route 8A:
- Squamish

[Neil]

I couldn't help but notice that Bowen Island was part of 'route 8' for Union Steamships.

Excellent choice of inlaws, Mr Horn. Made my evening. Thank you. 

[Low Light Mike]

Some northern routes from the 1948 Union Steamships schedule:








And a route map and a list of way-points:







===============

In my understanding, Union Steamship focused on smaller, more remote route destinatations, compared with the more mainline CPR steamship service. Also, Union Steamships didn't sail to anywhere on central or south Vancouver Island, nor the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Both Union and CPR sailed north to Prince Rupert and the northern inlets, but Union went to more of the smaller nooks of those places.

[Neil]

Footage shot from onboard the Lady Cynthia, some time in the 1940s.

vancouversun.com/storyline/daily-diversion-unbelievable-archival-footage-of-passenger-ship-sailing-out-of-1940s-vancouver?google_editors_picks=true

[Low Light Mike]

Apr 13, 2016 11:22:13 GMT -8 Neil said:

Footage shot from onboard the Lady Cynthia, some time in the 1940s.

vancouversun.com/storyline/daily-diversion-unbelievable-archival-footage-of-passenger-ship-sailing-out-of-1940s-vancouver?google_editors_picks=true

Wow, thanks for sharing that here.

I noticed the dog greeting the ship at Britannia Beach. Dock dogs are still a regular occurrence on boat days of the MV Frances Barkley at Kildonan and Bamfield, 3 days a week.

Some things never change.

[WettCoast]

Apr 13, 2016 11:22:13 GMT -8 Neil said:

Footage shot from onboard the Lady Cynthia, some time in the 1940s.

vancouversun.com/storyline/daily-diversion-unbelievable-archival-footage-of-passenger-ship-sailing-out-of-1940s-vancouver?google_editors_picks=true

I wonder if this is what was then called the 'boat train' that connected Vancouver with PGE passenger service at Squamish.  If so, Britannia Beach would have been a way-point.

[mrdot]

this was when there really was 'life on the coast' and we didn't need to be fed this 'best place on earth bulls't'  mr.dot.

[boatman44]

hello ,I have lived on the coast all my life ,my family homesteaded on harbledownr isd in 1897,i traveled to van. a few times on the cardena ,I built a 1/48 scale model it took 3 yrs ,I cannot seem to insert pics ,help

[shipyard]

Couple cool shots of the Lady Sylvia aka Lady Rose in there too

[Low Light Mike]

Apr 16, 2016 7:20:30 GMT -8 shipyard said:

Couple cool shots of the Lady Sylvia aka Lady Rose in there too

It shows just how small the Sylvia/Rose was. She was too small, even at the start of Union Steamship service, and even during her Barkley Sound days.

[Starsteward]

Apr 1, 2015 17:44:47 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Some northern routes from the 1948 Union Steamships schedule:








And a route map and a list of way-points:







===============

In my understanding, Union Steamship focused on smaller, more remote route destinatations, compared with the more mainline CPR steamship service. Also, Union Steamships didn't sail to anywhere on central or south Vancouver Island, nor the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Both Union and CPR sailed north to Prince Rupert and the northern inlets, but Union went to more of the smaller nooks of those places.

     Times have changed dramatically since all the steamship companies we know so well provided a service link up and down our coast. Scanning the list of
     nooks and crannies that these ships called upon magnifies my sense of 'loss' of what 'service' meant back in the day. From major cities, towns and villages down to
     fish plants, logging camps and 'stops at nowhere' one could only imagine spending a month or so riding aboard one those steamers for what would have been a most
     fascinating maritime journey.
     Back in those grand old days of steamers, we west-coasters truly had a marine transportation system. I wish I had been there to experience all of it.  

[peter]

Apr 13, 2016 11:22:13 GMT -8 Neil said:

Footage shot from onboard the Lady Cynthia, some time in the 1940s.

vancouversun.com/storyline/daily-diversion-unbelievable-archival-footage-of-passenger-ship-sailing-out-of-1940s-vancouver?google_editors_picks=true

Many thanks for posting this terrific video with shots of Lady Alexandra, Lady Rose, and Princess Louise. The two ships on the west side of the Union pier likely are the Chelosin and one of the post-war corvette conversions, which had the straight davits as seen in the video. I wonder if anyone can identify the steam tugs seen en route to Britannia? It is odd that the Cynthia approached the wharf at Britannia from the north, as presumably they would normally be continuing to Squamish.

[Low Light Mike]

Lady Cecilia and Lady Cynthia feature in this gem of a video of Union Steamships departing Vancouver, bound for Howe Sound.

- a glimpse of tiny Lady Rose at the 2:20 mark.

- the baggage-cart railway at Brittania Beach wharf, at 5:40 mark.