CCGS Labrador
Encyclopedia
CCGS Labrador was a Wind-class
Wind class icebreaker
The Wind-class icebreakers were a line of diesel electric-powered icebreakers in service with the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Coast Guard and Soviet Navy from 1944 through the late 1970s...
icebreaker
Icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...
. First commissioned on 08 July 1954 as Her Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Labrador (pennant number
Pennant number
In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
AW 50) in the Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
(RCN), Captain (CAPT) O.C.S. "Long Robbie" Robertson, RCN, Commanding. She was transferred to the Department of Transport (DOT) on 22 November 1957, and redesignated the Canadian Government Ship (CGS) Labrador. She was among the DOT fleet assigned to the nascent Canadian Coast Guard
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...
(CCG) when that organization was formed in 1962, and further redesignated the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Labrador. Then, Labrador's
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in a single voyage.
Early history
Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the Canadian government made limited exploration within the vast Arctic coast it laid claim to, largely because it lacked the capacity to make forays into much of this remote terrain. Labrador was conceived as Canada's first modern, powerful icebreaking vessel, which could help meet national defence needs in the high Arctic but also explore the vast area and its rich resources.Labrador was built in the Marine Industries LTD yards in Sorel, Quebec between 1949 and 1954, using modified plans from the just-completed Wind-class icebreakers of the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
. She was modified to include then state-of-the-art scientific equipment changing her from a purely military patrol vessel to a self-sufficient explorer—an elaborately equipped floating laboratory, hospital, transport, rescue ship and school. Labrador also trained Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
(RCN) cadets; with college instructors included in crew. At the time of her commissioning, she was the RCN's first fully diesel-electric
Diesel-electric
Diesel-electric transmission or diesel-electric powertrain is used by a number of vehicle and ship types for providing locomotion.A diesel-electric transmission system includes a diesel engine connected to an electrical generator, creating electricity that powers electric traction motors...
vessel. When built Labrador was the worlds largest and most complex icebreaker. She was fitted with Denny Brown gyro stabilisers, and had full bridge control of her diesel engines - six each at 2000 SHP, two each at 5000 SHP. Labrador was equipped with starboard and port heeling tanks with 40,000 gallons per minute transfer capability, which facilitated icebreaking operations. On 10 July 1954 Labrador departed Sorel, Quebec, enroute to her new homeport in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Whilst underway she experienced engine troubles (lowered oil pressure), between Sorel and Quebec City, Quebec. Further difficulty was experienced in the Richilieu river
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...
, where she developed steering gear problems which were overcome by expert seamanship. Labrador arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 14 July 1954.
Northwest Passage voyage
Labrador set sail on her maiden voyage on 23 July 1954 from Halifax, Nova ScotiaCity of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, bound for the Labrador Sea
Labrador Sea
The Labrador Sea is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. The sea is flanked by continental shelves to the southwest, northwest, and northeast. It connects to the north with Baffin Bay through the Davis Strait...
. Over the next summer she worked her way through Canada's Arctic archipelago from east to west, conducting hydrographic
Hydrography
Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...
soundings, resupplying RCMP
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
outposts and deploying assorted scientific and geological teams. Her rendezvous with her American sister-ships USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282) and USCGC Burton Island (WAGB-283)
USCGC Burton Island (WAGB-283)
USS Burton Island was a United States Navy that was later re-commissioned in the United States Coast Guard as the United States Coast Guard Cutter Burton Island ....
off the coast of Melville Island
Melville Island, Canada
Melville Island is a vast, uninhabited member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with an area of . It is the 33rd largest island in the world and Canada's eighth largest island. Melville Island is shared by the Northwest Territories, which is responsible for the western half of the island, and...
on 25 August 1954 marked the first time naval vessels had met in the Arctic from the east and west. During the rendezvous, the crews visited with one-another in good mateship. The three ships surveyed the Beaufort Sea
Beaufort Sea
The Beaufort Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska, west of Canada's Arctic islands. The sea is named after hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort...
together until the end of September 1954, at which point Labrador headed for the base of Canada's Pacific fleet at Esquimalt, British Columbia
Esquimalt, British Columbia
The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquimalt Harbour and Royal Roads, to the northwest by the...
. Labrador then became the first large vessel to transit the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. Upon sailing down the west coast of the United States, through the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
and back to Halifax, Nova Scotia; Labrador also became the first ship to circumnavigate North America in a single voyage.
Career
In January of 1955 Labrador underwent refit. The remainder of Labradors early career involved considerable work on the Distant Early Warning LineDistant Early Warning Line
The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the North Coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska, in addition to the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland...
(DEW Line) project. From June to September 1955, she led a task group of 14 Canadian and American ships delivering thousands of tons of supplies for Distant Early Warning Line
Distant Early Warning Line
The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the North Coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska, in addition to the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland...
(DEW Line)) sites under construction in the Foxe Basin
Foxe Basin
Not to be confused with Fox Bay, Falkland IslandsFoxe Basin is a shallow oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, located between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula...
area of the eastern Arctic, and in following years continued to provide icebreaking and operational support.
In 1956, Captain (CAPT) T.C. Pullen RCN, sailed Labrador on an expedition through the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. Labrador sailed west through the Prince of Wales Strait
Prince of Wales Strait
The Prince of Wales Strait is a strait in the Northwest Territories of Canada separating Banks Island to the northwest from Victoria Island to the southeast. It extends from Viscount Melville Sound in the northeast to Amundsen Gulf in the southwest. From late winter it is filled by ice that usually...
, re-tracing the 1944 route of RCMPV St. Roch, which was commanded by Captain Henry A. Larsen, RCMP(GRC). Labrador then conducted extensive surveys in the areas of Prince of Wales Strait
Prince of Wales Strait
The Prince of Wales Strait is a strait in the Northwest Territories of Canada separating Banks Island to the northwest from Victoria Island to the southeast. It extends from Viscount Melville Sound in the northeast to Amundsen Gulf in the southwest. From late winter it is filled by ice that usually...
, including; Somerset Island, and Prince Regent Inlet
Prince Regent Inlet
Prince Regent Inlet is a body of water between Somerset Island and the Brodeur Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. To the south, the inlet leads to the Gulf of Boothia; to the north, it leads to Lancaster Sound. The Arctic inlet's northern portion is approximately wide; the southern portion is...
. Labrador used her helicopters to establish triangulation points on the shore for the survey. During this voyage Labrador recovered a large anchor on "Fury Beach" of Somerset Island (Nunavut), which was left there in 1825 by the crew of HMS Fury
HMS Fury (1814)
HMS Fury was a Hecla-class bomb vessel. Built in the 1810s, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816, captained by Constantine Richard Moorsom. The ship after it left his command was converted to an Arctic exploration ship.The Fury made two journeys to the...
. The Fury, with HMS Hecla
HMS Hecla (1815)
HMS Hecla was a Royal Navy Hecla-class bomb vessel of 372 tons. Launched on 15 July 1815, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816...
, both commanded by Rear Admiral William Edward Parry, RN, FRS
William Edward Parry
Sir William Edward Parry was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer, who in 1827 attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole...
(who then held the rank of Commander, RN); left the anchor, stores, boats, and other useful items there, as Fury was beset and had to be abandoned. The gear was left there for future explorers to use, and because there was no space in Hecala for the equipment. The cache left by Hecala did indeed prove useful to mariners years later. The anchor remained as a landmark for navigators for 136 years. Labrador transported the artifact to Halifax NS, and it was placed in the Maritime Command Museum (1961). In 1972 Fury's anchor was moved to CCG Base Dartmouth Nova Scotia. In 1981 the anchor was removed to the Canadian Coast Guard College
Canadian Coast Guard College
The Canadian Coast Guard College is a maritime training college and Canadian Coast Guard facility located in Westmount in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, near Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada....
at Sydney Nova Scotia, in 1991 the relic was "spiffied-up", and remains a popular exhibit.
Labrador was transferred to civilian control in 1957, and operated within the Department of Transport (DOT) during the four years before the Canadian Coast Guard
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...
(CCG) was formally established. She continued to serve the CCG for 29 years, before being sold for scrap in 1987.
Ship's History
- 1951 - Laid down.
- 1952 -
- 1953 -
- 1954 - Completed and commissioned, in the Royal Canadian NavyRoyal Canadian NavyThe history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
, Captain O.C.S. “Long Robbie” Robertson, RCN, Commanding, and based at Halifax, NS.- - Her first arctic cruise involved:
- Hydro graphic survey.
- Cosmic ray studies.
- Magnetic compass studies.
- Installing navigation markers (Prefabricated - 750 lbs).
- Non-navigable days were declared Sunday's.
- - First circumnavigation of North America east to west - Returned to Halifax, NS - 21 November 1954.
- - First cruise helicopter pilots:
- LCDR (P) John Laurie (Senior Pilot).
- LCDR (P) Duke Muncaster (Co-Pilot).
- - First arctic cruise, 17 July 1954.
- - Her first arctic cruise involved:
- 1955 - Second arctic cruise - supported DEW line work, sea lift in Foxe BasinFoxe BasinNot to be confused with Fox Bay, Falkland IslandsFoxe Basin is a shallow oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, located between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula...
, NU. From 05-06 July Labrador was beset in Foxe BasinFoxe BasinNot to be confused with Fox Bay, Falkland IslandsFoxe Basin is a shallow oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, located between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula...
, NU. On 07 July Labrador was again beset 65 km east of Cape Fisher. She freed herself in both instances. - 1956 - Oceanographic work on Gulf of St. Lawrence - 20 February-16 April.
- - Third Arctic cruise; 05 July through 13 October.
- - Captain T.C. Pullen, RCN, sailed Labrador on a survey expedition of the Northwest PassageNorthwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. (Note: Captain Pullen later retired and was the Canadian government representative in SS Manhattan, during the super tanker's historic transit of the Northwest PassageNorthwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
in 1969.
- 1957 -A Bell HTL-4 helicopter, (SN 202), from Labrador crashed on Peter Point, York Sound Frobisher BayFrobisher BayFrobisher Bay is a relatively large inlet of the Labrador Sea in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island...
. All crewmen survived. - 1958 - Paid off for refit, but transferred to DOT. Commissioned as CGS Labrador, based in Dartmouth, NS.
- 1959 -
- 1960 -
- 1961 -Labrador.
- 1962 - Renamed CCGS Labrador in the Canadian Coast Guard.
- 1963 -
- 1964 - Captain N.V. Clarke, CCG, took the Labrador up Kennedy Channel, between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, to reach the most northerly position ever attained by any Canadian ship at the time. This position, in 81 deg. 45 min. North latitude, is only 60 nautical miles (111 km) from AlertAlert, NunavutAlert, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada, is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world, from the North Pole. It takes its name from HMS Alert, which wintered east of the present station, off what is now Cape Sheridan, in 1875–1876.Alert was reported to have five permanent...
. - 1965 -
- 1966 -
- 1967 -
- 1968 -
- 1969 -
- 1970 -
- 1971 -
- 1972 - In September Captain G.S. Yarn, CCG, transited Bellot StraitBellot StraitBellot Strait is a passage of water in Nunavut separating Somerset Island from Murchison Promontory on the Boothia Peninsula, the northernmost part of mainland North America...
with Labrador, MV Theta was under escort, but the conditions in Queen Maud GulfQueen Maud GulfQueen Maud Gulf lies between the northern coast of the mainland and the southeastern corner of Victoria Island in Nunavut, Canada. At its western end lies Cambridge Bay, leading to Dease Strait; to the east lies Simpson Strait; and to the north, Victoria Strait.It was named by the Norwegian...
precluded passage to Cambridge Bay and the mission was aborted. During the 1972 voyage CCGS Labrador assisted CCGS Norman MacLeod Rogers off of a shoal near Little Cornwallis IslandLittle Cornwallis IslandLittle Cornwallis Island is one of the Canadian Arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada. It is located at 75°30'N 96°30'W, between Cornwallis Island and Bathurst Island in McDougall Sound, and measures . It is uninhabited....
in August. In November CCGS Labrador once again assisted CCGS Norman McLeod Rogers with the towage of the MV Northern Shell from Deception Bay, Quebec. The tanker had sustained rudder damage and had to be towed from the Arctic to a shipyard.CCGS Labrador returned to Dartmouth, NS on 29 November 1972. - 1973 -
- 1974 -
- 1975 -
- 1976 -
- 1977 -
- 1978 -
- 1979 -September, Labrador searched the waters of Beechey Island, NU for the 1853 wreck of HMS Breadalbane. The location was later verified and explored (1980) by CCGS John A. Macdonald, Captain Steven Gomes, CCG, Master. Subsequent research (1981) was done by CCGS Pierre Radisson, Captain Pelland, CCG, Master.
- 1980 -
- 1981 -
- 1982 -
- 1983 -
- 1984 -
- 1985 -
- 1986 -
- 1987 - Decommissioned from service and scrapped. Replaced by CCGS Henry Larsen. The Larsen was later transferred to Newfoundland.