At the time of her launch, she was the largest steam vessel that had been built on Lake Ontario.
The MYLES, a package freighter built in 1882, was also known as the CATARACT and THERESE T. It had an official number of 77698 and was constructed at Hamilton, Ontario. The vessel was a package freighter with two decks, featuring iron frames and an oak hull. Archibald M. Robertson was the builder, and the original owners were Thomas & Charles J. Myles of Myles & Co., located in Hamilton.
Powered by a for-and-aft compound engine with two cylinders and two boilers, the MYLES had a propulsion system consisting of a screw. The engine, manufactured by Copp Brothers & Barry of Hamilton in 1881, had dimensions of 24 + 46 x 36 inches and generated 465 horsepower at 78 revolutions per minute. The vessel was equipped with an 8 x 10-foot scotch boiler operating at 110 pounds of steam.
The MYLES had overall dimensions of 175 feet in length, 33.6 feet in beam, and 14.6 feet in depth. Its gross tonnage was 1,199 tons, while the net tonnage was 742 tons.
In its final disposition, the MYLES was abandoned in Kingston, Ontario, on Lake Ontario in 1945. In 1965, the hull of the vessel remained intact, situated at the Canadian Dredge & Dock Co. Wharf in Kingston’s inner harbor.
The history of the MYLES dates back to its launch on September 2, 1882, at a cost of $80,000. It was registered in Hamilton, Ontario, on October 25 of the same year and chartered to the Western Express Line. The vessel operated between Duluth, Minnesota, Port Arthur, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, alongside steamers GLENFINLAS, ST. MAGNUS, and CANADA.
Over the years, the MYLES faced various incidents and underwent repairs and modifications. It suffered a boiler explosion in Duluth on October 28, 1885, resulting in two fatalities. The vessel continued operating in the Duluth-Montreal trade until it was wrecked on Hare Island in Lake Ontario on September 21, 1886. It later sank in Kingston, Ontario, on November 2, 1886, but was successfully refloated and repaired in April 1887.
The MYLES subsequently operated in the grain trade, running between Kingston and Duluth. It encountered additional incidents, such as striking a pier in Portage Lake in September 1888 and experiencing a collapsed and overheated boiler in April 1889. The vessel also ran aground at the Portage Ship Canal in September 1889.
In 1893, the MYLES lost its rudder off Cabot Head in Georgian Bay but was repaired in Owen Sound. It blew a cylinder head in the Lachine Canal in August 1895 and underwent repairs in Kingston. A major rebuild took place in Kingston in 1896, resulting in the vessel’s tonnage being recorded as 1,198 gross and 742 net tons.
In subsequent years, the MYLES faced further mishaps, including being stranded seeking shelter at Gros Cap while bound for Jackfish Lake, Lake Superior, on November 4, 1898. It was later sunk by the THOMAS CRANAGE on Russell Island in the St. Clair River on August 14, 1904. The vessel burned near Trenton, Ontario, on August 20, 1905, but was subsequently raised.
In 1906, the MYLES was acquired by the Cataract Ice Co. of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and underwent conversion into a screw steam barge. It was renamed CATARACT and primarily used for coal trade. However, it faced another fire incident in March 1910 while being fitted out in Brockville, Ontario.
Ownership of the vessel changed hands over the years, with the Port Colborne & St. Lawrence Navigation Co. Ltd. and F. McGibbon owning it in 1912. It was later owned by Tieffle Rondeau of Lanoraie, Quebec, who dismantled it and converted it into a schooner barge in 1915. The MYLES was subsequently owned by the Louzen (or Touzin) Sand Co. of Montreal in 1916.
In 1918, the vessel underwent reengineering and reconstruction by the Montreal Dry Dock & Ship Repairing Co., resulting in a new engine and tonnage of 839 gross and 451 net tons. It was then owned by the Canada Steamship Line in 1920.
Throughout its later years, the MYLES faced collisions with other vessels, such as the JOHN B. KETCHUM in the Cornwall Canal of the St. Lawrence Canal System on November 8, 1923, and the DONALD STEWART in the Montreal area in 1924. The vessel remained idle from 1925 to 1926 and was subsequently owned by the Sorel Sand Co.
In 1938, the MYLES was reduced to a barge with a gross tonnage of 693 tons and was renamed THERESE T. in Sorel, Quebec. It was owned by Sorel Harbour Tugs Ltd. In 1941, ownership transferred to John F. Sowards of Kingston, Ontario, and the vessel was towed by the PATDORIS in the coal trade.
