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W. J. Balcom / Beaupr�

Canadian List of Shipping 1956: W. J. Balcom [C.194400] registered at Ottawa. Built at Owen Sound in 1952. 37� 5 x 10� 5 x 4� 9; 13 g.t.; 9 n.t.; 200 hp. Owned by the Minister of Transport, Ottawa. Canadian List of Shipping 1970: Steel tender W. J. Balcom [C.194400] registered at Ottawa. Built at Owen Sound in 1952. 38�; 13 g.t. Owned by National Harbours Board, Ottawa. Renamed b] Beaupr�. GAO Notes: Also carried in Canadian List of Shipping 1994 and 1996: 38� x 11�; 13 g.t.; 9 n.t. Transport Canada List 2003: Owned by Administration Portuaire De Qu�bec, Qu�bec City.

 

Photo courtesy Jean-Pierre Charest.

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Photo Date: 1983/08/26
Photo and tables below courtesy Great Lakes Vessels Index, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes,
Bowling Green State University

 

Name Changes
Vessel Name: Date: Registry Official #
BEAUPRE 1964   CANADA 194400

Ownership Changes
Owner Name Date Registry Official #
Minister of Transport
Ottawa, Ont. Canada
1952 - 1963 CANADA 194400
National Harbours Board
Ottawa, Ont. Canada
1963 CANADA 194400

 

 

Aug. 11, 1995. Gerry Ouderkirk Collection.

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Beaupr� hauled out in Quebec City for refit in 1996. Photo by Mac Mackay.

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Hauled out in Quebec City for refit in 1996, Beaupr� shows her traditional hull form. No hard chines or flat plates for this small tug. Also no rolling chocks, evidence that she is meant to work in ice. Delivered on November 24, 1952 by Russel-Hipwell, in Owen Sound, ON, the tug was originally named W.J.Balcom and was built for the federal Mininster of Transport at Coral Harbour, NWT. That community is on the south side of Southampton Island, which is located in the northern extremity of Hudson Bay. (It is now known as Sallit and is in Nunavut Territory.)

Whether it ever reached Coral Harbour is doubtful, because in 1953 it was reported in use as a pilot boat in Goose Bay, Labrador. Its original use was probably to assist in landing cargo lighters during northern supply missions, but plans apparently changed. In 1963-64 it was declared surplus by the MoT and sold to the National Harbours Board. Assigned to Quebec City, it was renamed Beaupr�. With the privatisation of ports it remained with the port and was owned by the Port de Qu�bec and finally l'administration portuaire de Qu�bec.

 

Qu�bec City, July 31, 1997. Photo courtesy Mac Mackay.

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Nov. 5th, 1997. Gerry Ouderkirk Collection.

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Nov. 5th, 1997. Gerry Ouderkirk Collection.

 

Beaupre in Quebec City by Gordon Williams 8/02/04
boatnerd source: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/newsthumbs/newsthumbs_003.htm

 

2004. Gerry Ouderkirk Collection.

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Photo courtesy Roger Read.

 

June 11, 2006, Qu�bec City. Photo courtesy Michel Tremblay.

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Qu�bec City, Aug.10, 2007. Photo courtesy Yves Cloutier.

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Qu�bec City, Aug.10, 2007. Photo courtesy Yves Cloutier.

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Beaupr� in Matane, QC July 10, 2011, new ownership. Photo by Mac Mackay.
Sometime in the last year I would guess, the tug was sold to 3326405 Canada Inc of Matane, QC and that's where I spotted her July 10.

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BEAUPRE Taken on March 7, 2015 in Matane, QC, by Olivier Levallois.
https://flickr.com/photos/olivierlevallois/16832609691

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Photo from Shipspotting.com (downloaded May 2017)
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1122551#


Small Quebec Harbour tug delivering dolphins to frigate docking in Quebec on June 3rd 2010.
Photo by Jean Hemond.

 

For more Russel exhibits visit Owen Sound Marine & Rail Museum 1165 1st Ave West, Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K8
(519) 371-3333     http://marinerail.com