SS Keewatin
The SS Keewatin is a passenger liner that once sailed between Port Arthur / Fort William and Port McNicoll in Ontario, Canada. She carried passengers between these ports for the Canadian Pacific Railway's Great Lakes Steamship Service. The Keewatin also carried packaged freight goods for the railway at these ports.[1]
Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Scotland as Hull No. 453, the Keewatin was launched 6 July 1907 and entered service in the following year. She ran continuously for almost 60 seasons, being retired in 1966. Soon after, she was acquired for historic preservation and was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Her sister ship, the Assiniboia, was also set to be preserved as an attraction, but burned in 1971 and was scrapped.
Like many passenger ships of that era on the Great Lakes, the Keewatin and sister ship SS Assiniboia operated under stringent regulations imposed for wooden cabin steamships following the SS Noronic disaster in 1949. Doomed by their wooden cabins and superstructure, these overnight cruisers lasted through the decline of the passenger trade on the lakes in the post-war years. As passengers opted for more reliable and faster modes of travel, the Keewatin and her sister ship were withdrawn from the passenger trade in 1965, continuing in freight only service until September of 1967. Along with the South American and the Milwaukee Clipper, the Keewatin was among the last of the turn-of-the-century style overnight passenger ships of the Great Lakes. The Keewatin was eventually moved to Douglas, Michigan in 1967 where she is moored in the Kalamazoo River near Blue Star Highway and served as a museum ship across the river from Saugatuck, Michigan.
Since the 1980's, the ship has become a floating set for a number of maritime-related documentaries and television docudramas, including subjects involving the torpedoed ocean liner Lusitania, the burned-out Bahamas cruise ship Yarmouth Castle, Canadian Pacific's Empress of Ireland and the Titanic.
Recently it was announced that the vessel is scheduled in 2012 to be moved to a Canadian port, possibly Montreal, for restoration and permanent display as part of the Canadian Pacific and local maritime legacy. [2]
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[edit] Amenities
The S.S. Keewatin was a luxurious ship for its time. The ship boasted running water and electric lights. The ship had 105 staterooms on two decks. Seven deluxe suites had private baths. The dining room had gold leaf around the ceiling as did most of the public areas. In the Men's Lounge there is hand-carved oak paneling. The ballroom served many purposes other than being a dance area.[1]
[edit] Route
The Keewatin was originally designed to complete the link in the Canadian Pacific Railway's continental route. She served this purpose by linking the Railroad's Port McNicoll on Georgian bay and Fort William on Lake Superior. The ship took 21⁄2 days to make the trip each way, including half a day traversing the Soo.[1]
[edit] Specifications
| Length | 350 feet | Engine | 3,300 hp coal-fired boiler | |
| Speed | 14 knots | Consumption | 20 tons of coal a day | |
| Crew | 86 | Displacement | 3,856 tons | |
| Passengers | 288 |
[edit] Museum Ship
After languishing for a few years, the SS Keewatin was bought by West Michigan entrepreneur Roland J Peterson Sr.[3] The ship is now the Keewatin Maritime Museum, and is permanently docked in Douglas, Michigan. Visitors can see passenger staterooms, Captain's suite, quadruple expansion engine, coal bunkers, officers cabins and the bridge crew quarters, dining and lounge areas, food preparation areas and the wheelhouse.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d S.S. Keewatin - last of the Great Lakes steamships; Frederick Karst; The Times, Saturday, 16 August 2008; pg c5
- ^ http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/09/why_saugatuck_is_losing_ss_kee.html
- ^ http://www.thetimmelcollection.com/saugatuc.htm
