C88309 FLORANCE

• Tug
• 60f
• 100f
• Point Traverse

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La Compagnie Maritime et Industrielle de Lévis launched the Florence on May 3, 1885, in Lévis, Québec. The vessel was christened by Mrs. A. J. Learmonth of Montréal and built for Messrs. Henry Jewell and W. F. Lemesurier of Québec City. Initially, the Florence had dimensions of 91 x 19.8 x 9 feet, with a tonnage of 113 gross tons and 77 net tons. It was powered by a compound surface condensing steam engine, 18-36 x 24, and equipped with a steel boiler utilizing Cox patented corrugated furnaces, with a working pressure of up to 123 psi. All the machinery was constructed by the tug’s builder.

In September 1885, the Florence entered service and was primarily used for towing ocean-going barques and schooners between Montréal and Québec City. However, on February 26, 1898, it was sold at an auction to Sincennes-McNaughton Line Ltd. The vessel underwent machinery overhauls and was employed as a large harbor tug in Montréal. In March 1902, Captain F. B. Hackett of Amherstburg acquired the Florence to serve as a companion salvage tug to his tug Home Rule. On May 5, 1902, the Florence passed Prescott on its delivery trip from Sorel to Amherstburg.

Shortly after its acquisition, Captain Hackett chartered the Florence for towing log rafts on Georgian Bay. It returned in the following seasons and engaged in intense competition with the Great Lakes Towing Company and other American salvors, securing salvage jobs between Lakes Erie and Huron. There were even rumors that the vessel had been sold to the Great Lakes Towing Company to eliminate competition. However, this sale did not materialize.

On April 5, 1906, the Quebec Transportation and Forwarding Co., Ltd. was established by another Hackett family and J. S. Thom of Québec City. The company’s primary purpose was to transport coal eastward from Lake Ontario, and they quickly purchased the Florence, along with several American schooner barges, to fulfill this role. In 1908, the Quebec Transportation Co., Ltd. succeeded the Quebec Transportation and Forwarding Co., Ltd.

In 1921, the Florence transitioned to the George Hall Coal Co., Ltd. of Montréal, serving essentially the same purpose. It changed ownership again in 1923, being acquired by the St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. for operations at St. John. By 1927, the vessel belonged to the Essex Transit Company, Ltd. of Windsor, where it was utilized for towing their barge, the former rail ferry Great Western of 1886.

When Essex Transit Company encountered financial difficulties in 1932, Dominion Tankers, Ltd. of Toronto purchased the Florence and refurbished it for towing their new, state-of-the-art, British-built welded tank barge called Peter G. Campbell. Unfortunately, during their last trip of the season on November 14, 1933, adverse weather conditions led to the Florence taking on water and eventually sinking off Point Traverse, Ontario, in Lake Ontario.

Over the years, the Florence changed ownership several times. It was owned by Jewell & Co. of Quebec City in 1899, Thomas Trembley of Chicoutimi, Quebec in 1900, Hackett Co. of Amherstburg, Ontario in 1903, Quebec Transportation & Forwarding Co. in 1906, George Hall Coal Co. of Montreal in 1914, St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co. in 1923, Essex Transportation Co. of Windsor in 1927, and Florence Transportation Co. of Toronto in 1932.

Following its sinking, salvage efforts took place, and various components of the Florence were salvaged. In 1942, salvage operations recovered around 60% of the vessel, including the boiler, decking, smokestack, and blocks and chains, which were left on Timber Island.

In recent years, in 2022, moorings were installed by SOS Picton, and in 2023, shotline diving produced a site map and initial models of the Florence.

3D Model of the Deck, Corey Philips, SLD #

Post on Facebook by William Lafferty 

 I ask again, is “Tugboat Tuesday” really a thing here? Anyway, I posted this elsewhere, and it apparently is perhaps the only actual photograph (rather than one reproduced in a newspaper) of the tug Florence.

This is an amateur real photo posted 22 May 1908 from Coteau Landing at the southwest end of the Soulanges Canal to Ms, Clara Chesbrough of Dickinson, New York, from her cousin, T. F. Webb, one of the men standing on the tug’s deck.