B.A. Peerless
Who am I?
Research has identified the ship as the B.A. Peerless. The tanker was built in 1952 for British American Oil Company at the Collingwood Shipyards. The vessel was shortened in 1959. The ship was sold to Gulf Oil Canada, Ltd. in 1969 and was renamed the Gulf Canada. In 1984, the ship was again sold, this time to Coastal Canada Marine Inc. who named it the Costal Canada. The ship was scrapped in 1990. If you wish to see a color photo of the B.A. Peerless, please click here.
posted by Ookpik at 6:10 PM
14 Comments:
Other than the funnel, it looks like the old Imperial Redwater. I don't recall if this oil tanker underwent a change later in life.
Hi Rock,
Thanks for looking at the photo! While the Imperial Redwater is similar in appearance, research seems to indicate that the ship is the B.A. Peerless. Did any other ships look like the B.A. Peerless or was she unique?
Since you are familiar with Michigan, you might want to check out boatnerd.com and find out from there what ship it may be. I am a deep sea mate, but have done a relief trip on a Triple-A, the Arthur M. Anderson. Wonderful ship with past history. Good luck in your quest for knowledge.
I recall the Peerless was to have a name change to Gulf Canada or Gulf something, but I don't have any research books at my fingertip that confirm it. Early 70's??
And marinerguy, your former vessel Arthur M. Anderson is a good looking boat, and her sister ship, the Philip Clarke opened the (then) new Poe Lock in 1968. I was there for the dedication. She was the first commercial vessel to come through. Quite an honor.
It's nice to see interest in the Peerless still. As a boy growing up my father sometimes mentioned the oiler and would recall some pretty cool things and experiances he'd gone through while he was working on the ship.He's got some pretty cool old black and whites and some with so much ice on the oiler ,it's a wonder how it stayed a float.My father was on the Peerless on it's maiden voyage and there after for five more years.His eyes light up when he talks of the times he had and i'm always eager to listen. If i can, i'll try to get some pics he has and scan them on this site or to anyone still iterested as I, THX R.F.GEROUX> Franklin{Hollywood}Geroux..nice handle dad!!..
I too would like to see some photos of the Peerless. My uncle was her captain from her launch in '52'? untill around 1965.if anyone has any photos or a story I would appreciate you E-mailing them to me at rongarrett44@hotmail.com . Thanks, Ron
My Grandfather W.F.Garrett was the Captain of the Peerless. I remember boarding her at lock one of the Welland Canal and sailing to Port Colbourne as a kid. It was one of the biggest thrills of my life. I also have a coloured picture of her coming into the Sioux. She was quite a sight. I live near the canal and still have memories of her coming through.
This is definitely the Peerless. She was renamed Gulf Canada in 1969, Coastal Canada in 1984, and was scrapped as Coastal I in 1991.
Although she was very similar to the Imperial tankers built at Collingwood around the same time (Leduc, Redwater, Woodbend) there were several differences.
I'm not sure of the timeline, but my uncle, James Barclay was chief engineer of the Peerless. He had brought over from Scotland one of the old Brit boats for BA and eventually took on the Peerless, since he held a first steam ticket.
I served on the Peerless for a couple of summers. I was told that when the St. Lawrence Seaway opened the Peerless had 80 feet removed. Prior to that she was the largest or longest freshwater tanker in the world
I visited a man in hospital tonight who was a stoker onboard the Peerless in the 50s and 60s. He spoke very fondly of memories from this period of time in his life. He told a story of a fueling explosion which seriously injured three men. Does anyone know details?
my dad worked on the peerless from 1958 to 1964 as a deckhand and watchmen and on his last year a wheelman under capt.garrett ,(the old man)as he was referred to when someone had to tell the capt news he did not want to hear .... dad had many fond memories and friends from those days and to his last days would light up and tell of his tales of the great lakes and also the seven seas (panama canal)like it was yesterday,the peerless was always a piece of him RIP jack porter
My father sailed on her maiden voyage and crewed on her for three years,my birth ended his sailing but he stayed with BA working at the refinery at Clarkson Ont. Canada. Then Gulf took over and he stayed with them all together for twenty years.
I sailed on the Peerless 1954 to 1959. i remember a deckhand named Plater..he tried to make us jehovah s witnesses.the explosion Geroux mantioned was in 55....the top burner in the boiler room blew out (a 32 inch piece of pipe)and tore 3 or 3 pieces of hair and skin off the top of don mathew`s head and sprayed him and bill miller with boiling hot oil.we were just entering port colbourn so they got to the hospital quickly. they were lucky, in 1961 george pitt was killed in the same kind of explosionon the HMCS iriquios,..i knew him. i remember there were 4 identical tankers built in collingwood...the largest in the great lakes,and maybe in the world. 620 feet long steam turbine engines,geared drive. one was the peerless,the other 3 were imperial redwater,imperial leduc and imperial ???the peerless,leduc and redwater tokk on oil in superior, wisconsin. one hot summer day redwater cleared the port harbour light at 8:10 am,loaded..the peerless cleared out at 8:16 .redwater challenged peerlesst to a race to the light at sault st. marie. for 24 hrs & 5?? minutes capt garret and the redwater captain radioed pleasantries about each others seamanship and sportmansip back and forthwhile chief barclay spent23
==
=
i sailed on the BA peerless 1954 to 1959..spud plater was a deckhand(and devout jehovahs witness )but i don`trecall geroux`s first name. there were 4 identical ships built at collinwood shipyards,620 ft. long, steam turbine engines,geared drive flat bottomed. B-A peerless, Imperial leduc,Imperial redwater and Imperial ???.the accident that "anonymous" mentioned was 1955...a top burner in the boiler room blew out (32 inches of pipe)tore some skin and hair off the top of don mathews head and sprayed him and bill miller with boiling hot oil. we were just coming to port colbourne,therewas an ambulance waiting at lock 8. in 1960 the same thing happened on HMCS iriquois killing seaman george pitt ....i knew him the redwater and peerless took on oil at superior wisconsin. one hot summer day ,the redwater clocked out of the harbour at7:50 am;the peerless at 7:55; as we cleared the light,peerless was challenged to a race accross lake superior to the light at sault st marie. capt.garrett accepted the challenge and for 24 hours chief barclay was on watch at every position "watch your bearings now,watch your bearings!" - we were not in the usual state of boredom....we were in a race......redwater won by less than 4 minutes. i figure when redwater came past the light at superior that she was already at or near full speed
Tilton Beaumont
\
Post a Comment
<< Home