SS Catala
Catala in Vancouver, 1925
| |
History | |
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Canada | |
Name | Catala |
Namesake | Magin Catalá |
Owner |
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Port of registry | Vancouver, British Columbia |
Builder | Coaster Construction Co., Montrose |
Yard number | 123 |
Launched | 25 February 1925 |
Identification | ON 152822 |
Fate | Wrecked, 1 January 1965 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Passenger ship |
Tonnage | 1,476 GRT; 851 registered tons |
Length | 229 ft (70 m) |
Beam | 37.1 ft (11.3 m) |
Depth of hold | 18.4 ft (5.6 m) |
Speed | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) (maximum) |
Capacity | 267 passengers (licensed); 300 tons cargo |
SS Catala was a Canadian coastal passenger and cargo steamship built in Scotland in 1925, for service with the Union Steamship Company of British Columbia. In 1927 the ship became a total loss after stranding on reef, but was recovered and returned to service. Retired in 1958, Catala was later used as a floating hotel until wrecked on the Washington State coast in 1965.
Nomenclature
Catala was named after
Design and construction
Catala was built by the Coaster Construction Company of
Catala was launched on February 24, 1925.[2][5][6] The ship was delivered from Scotland to Vancouver under Captain James Findlay, who had brought other steamships out from Scotland for the Union Steamship Company.[1]
Union Steamship career
Catala began her first voyage for the company on July 28, 1925, steaming north from Vancouver to Prince Rupert and the Skeena and Nass rivers.[1] Like her sister ship, the Cardena, Catala spent most of her operating career from 1925 to 1958 on the British Columbia Coast, carrying coastal freight and passengers.[7]
Grounding on Sparrowhawk Reef
On November 8, 1927, at 1:00 pm, on a south-bound trip originating from
With Chief Officer Ernest Sheppard on the bridge, the ship struck on Sparrowhawk Reef.[8] The reef was reported to have been marked with a warning buoy. Later, during an inquiry into the incident, glaring sunlight conditions were found to have had some role in reducing visibility.[8] Captain Alfred E. Dickson ordered the lifeboats lowered immediately, and with the aid of local people of the First Nations and their canoes, all passengers were taken off the ship and reached safety at Port Simpson, without loss.[8]
The depth of water over the reef ranged from 23 feet (7.0 m) at high tide to only 7 feet (2.1 m) at low tide. Catala was held at a 45 degree angle between two pillars of rock. So much of the ship jutted out unsupported in the air that there was a fear the ship might break in two. The ship had been built with a
Eventually, by incrementally blasting out the rock pillars, and patching the holes in the hull as blasting proceeded, the salvage crew was able to free the ship by December 5, 1927. The salvors took the ship to a temporary anchorage about a mile away, and thereafter to Prince Rupert. Eventually Catala was brought south to Vancouver, where at a cost of $175,000 the ship was repaired.[8] The repair was supervised by W .D. McLaren, who had been in charge of Coaster Construction in Scotland when Catala was built, and had since relocated to Vancouver. On March 30, 1928, Catala resumed her weekly sailing schedule out of Vancouver, again under the command of Capt. Dickson.[8]
Later career
In 1958 she was sold to new owners in British Columbia for use as a fish-buying ship. In Seattle's
Scrapping
Following her grounding, efforts to re-float Catala failed, and the wreck was left to decay at the beach on
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Rushton, Whistle Up the Inlet, at pages pp. 100-102
- ^ a b "Catala". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "Catala Passenger Ship 1925-1965". Wrecksite. 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ a b Rushton, Whistle Up the Inlet, p.212
- ^ "Montrose-built Vessel Launched". The Courier. No. 22383. Dundee. 25 February 1925. p. 7. Retrieved 10 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Launch at Montrose". Montrose Standard. No. 2912, Vol.LXXXIX. 27 February 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 10 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "The Union Steamship Story". sunshinecoastmuseum.ca. 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rushton, Whistle Up the Inlet, pp. 110-111.
- ^ Rushton, Echo of the Whistle, at page 55.
- ^ Esser, Doug (13 March 2006). "Historic ship rising from the grave". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 13 March 2006. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "SS Catala Shipwreck Investigation Report". Washington State Department of Ecology. 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "S.S. Catala - Ocean Shores, WA". waymarking.com. 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
References
- Henry, Tom, The Good Company – An Affectionate History of the Union Steamships, Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, BC (1994) ISBN 1-55017-111-9
- Newell, Gordon R., ed.H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, Superior Publishing, Seattle WA (1966).
- Rushton, Gerald A., Whistle up the Inlet – The Union Steamship Story, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver, BC (1974).
- Rushton, Gerald A., Echoes of the Whistle - An Illustrated History of the Union Steamship Company, Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, BC (1980) ISBN 0-88894-286-9
External links
- "SS Catala Timeline". Washington State Department of Ecology.
- "SS Catala shipwreck oil removal project final report" (PDF). Washington State Department of Ecology. September 2007.