Russel Brothers Limited OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO Steelcraft Boat Builders
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| Welland
Canadian List of Shipping 1956: Welland [C.197912] registered at Ottawa; built at Owen Sound in 1954. Hull number 1031. 76' x 20' x 8'9; 94 g.t.; 42 n.t.; 600 hp. Owned by The Minister of Transport, Ottawa. GAO Notes: Steel tug Welland [C.197912] built by Russel Bros. at Owen Sound in 1954. 76'; 94 g.t.; registered at Ottawa, Ontario. Operated by the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority and primarily used on the Welland Canal. In commission. Sold in 1994 to Dan Minor & Sons Inc., 176 West Street, Port Colborne. Re-engined in 1995 at Vic Powell shipyard, Dunnville with GM 12V149. Currently [November 1995] stationed in Port Maitland, Ontario Pembina Oil Co. dock. Canadian List of Ships 1997: Owned by Dan Minor & Sons Inc., Port Colborne, Ontario. Transport Canada List 2002: Built by Russel-Hipwell Engine Co., Owen Sound, Ont. Transport Canada List 2003: Owned by Dan Minor & Sons Inc., Port Colborne, Ontario. GAO Notes. See also Christian Radich clipping file. Shaun Vary notes: Welland (tug) has been lengthened at some point. If you compare photos, she now has a longer, squared off stern. Her registered length is now 80' as apposed to 76' (1954-info in entry).
The tug Welland was built in 1954 in Owen Sound, ON by Russel-Hipwell Engines as the Welland for the Canadian Department of Transport. In 1994 she was sold to Dan Minor & Sons of Port Colborne, ON. She was repowered in 1995 by Vic Powell Shipyard in Dunnville, ON. She was also lengthened at some point during her career as well.
She is currently active servicing the gas wells and drill barges on Lake Erie.
Type: Single Screw Tugboat
Year Built: 1954
Builder: Russel-Hipwell Engines, Owen Sound, ON
Hull No.: 1031
Engines: 1 Detroit 12V-149
Horsepower: 1,000 bhp
Length: 86' 00?
Breadth: 20' 00?
Depth: 8' 00?
Port of Registry: Ottawa, ON. |
Featured in a R-H two page advertisement: Boating Magazine Oct. - Nov. 1955
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Paul Capel Collection.
Bill Moran writes "WELLAND shown in the Welland Canal on July 4th 1954. She was built by Russell Brothers in Owen Sound in 1954. In 1994, the St. Lawrence Authority sold her to Dan Minor of Port Colborne. She was repowered and remains a valuable part of the Minor fleet (St. Catharines Standard photo, Skip Gillham collection). |
Jim Hoffman notes (Nov. 3, 2017): "This is the tug my Grandfather, Arthur Lampman, worked on. He started with the Seaway in 1937 on an old steam tug. He was with the crew when they took delivery of Welland in 1954. Stayed with it till he retired in winter of 1978-79. Passed away in Feb. 1990 at age 76. Chief Engineer was Andrew Hunter (a real Scot!) and Capt. was Mel Marsh. Both of my hometown of St. Catharines, ON. The photo of it in "Seaway Blue" from 1979 is the way I remember it. This was the vessel I got my "sea legs" on, skipping classes in high school to take a few "rides" up and down the Welland Canal!!! WOW, what a memory. My first ride was in summer of '78, during summer break. It had that original 640HP Crossley "Straight-8" diesel air started, where I learned how to do this. 14 inch bore, 16 inch stroke, 350 RPM max. Now has a Detroit 12V-149. Those Detroit 149 Series were BIG! They are quite rare as they're overshadowed by their smaller 'brothers'. All were same basic design but all the later tugs I served on from McKiel (as cadet) to Nadro Marine, had the smaller Series 53's; Series 71's and Series 92's. That simply refers to the cubic inch displacement of EACH cylinder, for more power you get one with more cylinders. Minor Fisheries owns it and it has a slighly altered stern, squared off, for the fishing gear. This story and photo sure brings back those 70's memories!"
(May 11, 2018): Going to share a few high school memories here. I grew up in St. Catharines, along the Welland Canal. My Grandfather worked for 41 years for the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, on the canal, as oiler on the maintenance tugs. His last vessel was "Welland"(now owned by Dan Minor Fisheries, Port Maitland, I believe.). That vessel was built by Russell Bros. in Owen Sound in 1954. (She's about 84GRT). I used to play a lot of "hookey" from high school and go for "rides" up and down the canal on the tug with Grandpa!! That's really were I got my start in Marine Engineering. Got to know the crew very well and was welcome aboard anytime!!(even at the dock; they were stationed at the top of Lock 3 usually.)
Crew was my Grandpa (oiler), Mel Marsh (Captain) and Andy Hunter (Chief Engineer, 1st Class). Andy was a Scotsman and took a liking to my interest in mechanical stuff. Taught me much.
The tug was repowered by Minor's as the original engine was rather impractical for fish tug use. Welland had "traditional hull lines", rounded stern, Minor's has "squared" it off for fishing gear use. Repower was either Cat or Cummins.
But the original engine, as installed by Russell's was a large Crossley straight-8, two stroke, reversing, directly connected to the prop shaft. RPM range was 65-350. Was "air-started" (direct) by HP air (350psi) from 2 air receivers located at the bottom of the stbd ladder. The big "handwheel" you see in the pics here was the "Stop, Start, Run" for this engine. Ours was on the stbd. side, Chadburn directly above. I wish I had pics from those trips but I don't!!(regretfully!!). But I did find some pics of this type. They were common at one time. Crossley built this as a "standard" type engine in various cylinder configurations but all were "inline" engines.
The pics here are of a 6cyl. one and also a 4cyl. one. (The Start handwheel is on the port side on the 4cyl.). All engines in this line had common Bore/Stroke and that unique "octagon" shaped cylinder heads!! Bore was 14", Stroke was 18".
It was Andy who taught me how to Start/Run these according to orders from the Chadburn!! I was a bit "panicky" on my first try, being only 15yo. at the time. We were heading upbound in the canal, heading into Lock 3, the big sweepscow and mobile crane "on the hip". I went looking for Grandpa in the ER, but wasn't there. As I was going back up, Andy yelled to me to "get back here!!". I though something was wrong!! But no!! Andy was "at the handwheel" and stepped aside, telling me, "You're going to learn right now how to start and run this"!!(I can still "hear" his words!!). I really did go into "panic" mode, knowing we were heading towards the upper gates and obviously were soon going to go "Astern" to stop us.!! The thought of that big scow and crane alongside didn't help my "confidence" either!! Andy merely said to relax and then talked me through the whole thing, BEFORE we actually had to do it> Gave me time to "stick it in my head". Well, I did as told, watching the Chadburn, turning that big handwheel. Yup, we stopped!! It really was not that big of a deal after all!!
I don't know what Minor's did with that engine, but enjoy these pics!! (The engine was of a height and length similar to an EMD 16V-567).
Garth McKiel replied: Thank you for sharing your memories of the Welland and her crew. Back in the late 80s early 90s, I had the good fortune of working on the Welland. I trained as Captain (only had Master Minor Waters Unlimited Tonnage ticket at the time) on her and worked as oiler as well. I truly enjoyed working with Andy in the basement and spent one winter tearing down two cylinders for CSI inspection. I am likely one of very few that got to operate both ends of the telegraph in earnest. It was the ER seatime I got on her that enabled me to sit for my IVth Class diesel engineer ticket.
It wasn't till after I had left the Seaway and returned to McKeil's that I got the opportunity to actually serve as Master on her. The Seaway only had one skipper & he was off sick at the time. They needed a job done immediately and I was the only other person that was "Checked Out" as Master for her. So they contracted me through McKeil's to get the job done.
Andy was a gentleman. It was kinda funny how him and Mel got along (didn't ). It was kinda like that old cartoon with the Coyote and the Sheep Dog.
At the start of the morning. Andy went down into the engine room and fired up the boat to run at the dock and warm up... The skipper went into the galley and had a coffee. Once Mel heard the engines shut down, he moved to the wheelhouse and Andy went up into the galley... All with no conversation.
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Steelcraft Are Extra Strong
Canadian Shipping Magazine 1959 advertisement. Features Robert W., Mel Thomson (Mado Ray) and Welland.
DIESEL-POWERED CANAL TUG - Designed for assisting in the maintenance and operation of canals, the Welland is 80-foot overall with 20 feet beam. Main power is a 600 horsepower diesel engine. Light running 13 m.p.h.
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Welland Canal, Oct. 25th, 1979. Scotty McCannell photo.
Gerry Ouderkirk Collection.
Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes Vessels Online Index
Photo source http://ul.bgsu.edu/cgi-bin/xvsl2.cgi Item 007524 |
GAO notes: My parents took us to see the CHRISTIAN RADICH in 1964. My uncle Harry Parry was a lockmaster and the pic was taken from the lockmaster's control room. Please credit Mrs. Arthur Ouderkirk with the photo. (Welland on right).
Welland at Port Weller, date unknown. Scotty McCannell photo.
Gerry Ouderkirk Collection.
| In 1994 she was sold to Dan Minor & Sons of Port Colborne, ON. She was repowered in 1995 by Vic Powell Shipyard in Dunnville, ON.
Rory Dempsey comments (June 5, 2020): "One fact concerning the Tug Welland should be noted... The Tug Welland was actually 80ft 6ins. One of the reasons the Seaway made the decision to sell her was because of he inability to turn around in the lock. The lock is 80ft wide. In the late fall and early spring we used the tug to clear ice from behind the gates. The prop wash was used to wash ice from the gate pockets but because of the inability to turn around we could not push the ice away. That was their excuse to sell the tug but if the truth were to be known, it was because they were more interested in contracting out and downsizing."
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Welland in Port Maitland, ON Nov. 21, 1995. Photo by Gerry Ouderkirk.
Welland in Port Stanley, ON April 4, 2004
RM notes: Welland in 2005 in
Port Stanley, Ontario.
Welland towing drilling vessel Miss Libby in the Welland Canal, Sept. 2008.
BoatNerd Staff (boatnerd.com).
Welland at Erieau, ON, Oct. 4, 2009. Steve Phillips.
http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/tug/images/IMG_0275.jpg
Tug Welland. You can see the sub in the background. Port Maitland, Ontario - Paul Beesley Sept. 2011.
http://www.boatnerd.com/news/newsthumbsb/images-11-3/10-welland-9-23-11-pb.jpg
The Welland at Port Maitland, May 4, 2017. Photo by Shaun Vary.
From Russel company brochure: STEELCRAFT TOWING.
Gerry Ouderkirk archive.
Photos by Shaun Vary.
From the engine room telegraph on the Welland. Photo by Pat Minor. Jan. 5, 2019.
Shaun Vary photo.
Welland at Port Maitland, July 23, 2020.
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 |
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