ST Stella Maris(1882)
| Name | Stella Maris |
| Owner | Halifax Trading & Sealing Co (c.1917–) |
| Builder | Samuda Bios |
| Launched | 1882 |
| Type |
|
| Tonnage | 229 |
| Length | 124.5 ft (37.9 m) |
| Beam | 23.6 ft (7.2 m) |
| Depth | 12.2 ft (3.7 m) |
Stella Maris(from the Latin for "star of the sea" ) was asteamshipbuilt in 1882 as the Royal NavygunboatHMSStarlingand converted to steamtugin 1905.Stella Marisplayed a major role in the events of theHalifax Explosionin 1917.
Stella Mariswas built in Poplar, England in 1882 bySamuda Biosas aBanterer-class gunboat,HMSStarling.The vessel was 124.5 feet (37.9 m) long, 23.6 feet (7.2 m) wide, and 12.2 feet (3.7 m) deep, and had atonnageof 229.Starlingwas composite-built (wooden planks on iron frames) and armed with two 6-inch and two 3.75-inch guns.Starlingwas sold for merchant service in 1905.[1]
AsStella Maris,the tug was owned by Halifax Trading & Sealing Co, run byJames Augustus Farquhar.[2]
On 6 December 1917,Stella Maris,with Captain Horatio Harris Brannen and 23 others aboard, was towing two scows near mid-channel in the Narrows ofHalifax Harbourleading intoBedford Basin.Shortly before the explosion, the tug had to hastily change course to avoid the outboundSSImowhich was departing Bedford Basin.Imothen collided withMont Blanc,a French munitions ship. The collision started a fire onMont Blanc,forcing the crew to evacuate. The burning ship then began drifting towards Halifax's Pier 6 on the western shore.[3]Stella Marisanchored its barges to respond to the fire and approached the burning munitions ship, spraying the flames with its fire hose. As the fire was too intense to stop with a single fire hose, theStella Maris's crew began to prepare a towline to pull the French vessel away from Pier 6 and prevent the fire from spreading ashore. The crew were in the process of retrieving a ten-inchhawserfrom the hold to assist a party of volunteers fromHMCSNiobe's steampinnacein securing a line toMont Blanc.Before this could be done, the explosion occurred.[4]
TheHalifax Explosionwas the largest man-made blast prior to theTrinity testof the atomic bomb.Stella Mariswas severely damaged and thrown up on the beach near Pier 6 with the bow ashore and the shattered stern submerged. Nineteen of the crew were killed, including Captain Brannen, but five managed to survive and two provided important eyewitness testimony at the investigation into the disaster.[5]The tug was salvaged and rebuilt for service in the First World War.[2][6][7]
References
[edit]- ^Winfield, Rif & Lyon, DavidThe Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889(2004) London: Chatham Publishing, p.298.
- ^ab"Stella Maris".Ships of the Halifax Explosion.Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.Archived fromthe originalon 5 June 2013.Retrieved23 November2011.
- ^Janet Kitz,Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion and the Road to Recovery(2008) pp.14-16
- ^Kitz, p. 20
- ^Kitz, p. 28
- ^"The Halifax Explosion".CBC Radio.Archived fromthe originalon 21 November 2011.Retrieved23 November2011.
- ^Imo vs Mont Blanc, Volumes 1 & 2, Southern Pacific Whaling Company (principal author) & Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. In the Privy Council on appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada between the ship "Imo" (Southern Pacific Whaling Company, Limited, Owners) (Defendant), appellant and La Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (plaintiff), respondent record of proceedings, volume 1 Constant & Constant... appellant's solicitors, William A. Crump & Son... respondent's solicitors, testimony of Walter Brannen and William Nickerson
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