Friday, April 26, 2019

We used to make things in this country, #302 Pictou Shipyard

Scottish Shipwrecks

 The Ashby Park (hull #20) is launched in 1944.

Avondale Park, the last Allied ship sunk by the Germans in WW2

Norman R. Ball, Mind, Heart and Soul Professional Engineering in Canada 1887-1987, National Museum of Science and Technology, 1987


Ship model at Halifax Maritime Museum

Although wooden ships had been built at Pictou, Nova Scotia in the 19th century, the shipyard acted as a marine repair facility for the first part of the 1900s. 
 During WW2 the yard was greatly expanded by the Foundation Company of Canada and went to work building cargo vessels. Pictou built twenty four of the one hundred seventy six 5000 ton Park class ships that were built in Canada during the war. 
 After the war the Ferguson Brothers bought the shipyard and continued to operate it till bankruptcy forced closure in 1984. During the Ferguson era, one hundred seven barges, trawlers and ferries were constructed. The shipyard still exists, operating as Aecon Atlantic Industrial, now as a marine service facility.

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