Halifax

The keel was laid on March 3, 1962 for this large straight deck bulk carrier at Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon, QC, as their hull # 638. The laker was launched Dec. 17, 1962 as Frankcliffe Hall (2), and completed in 1963 for the Hall Corporation of Canada, Montreal, QC (later Halco Inc.). The company dated back to 1927 with roots in the inland transportation network dating back to 1876. Following a fleet naming policy, the first word was suffixed by “cliffe,” followed by the second word “Hall,” honoring the fleet’s founder Mr. George Hall of Ogdensburg, N.Y. Frankcliffe Hall’s namesake was Mr. Frank Augsbury Sr. born at Plessis, N.Y. in 1865. After being involved with the moving of pulpwood on the St. Lawrence River from the province of Quebec in the early 1900s, his interests for a time were consolidated with the George Hall Corporation. In 1923, he entered the transportation business on his own, founding the Hall Corporation of Canada and becoming its president and chief operation officer. Mr. Augsbury remained involved with his company until his death in 1964 at age 89.

The first Frankcliffe Hall was a small canaller built by Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal, QC, and launched as Frankcliffe Hall on April 28, 1952 for the Hall Corporation of Canada. Her overall dimensions were 259′ 00″ (78.94m) loa x 43′ 08″ (13.31m) beam x 20′ 09″ (6.32m) depth, 3,760 tons (3,820 mt) capacity. The canaller was renamed Northcliffe Hall (2) in 1962 to free the Frankcliffe Hall name for the corporation’s new large bulk carrier. Under the name Roland Desgagnes, the small bulker sank in the St. Lawrence River in 1982 with no loss of life after grounding near Pointe au Pic, QC, and being freed by high tide.

Although considered a 730-footer, Frankcliffe Hall held the Queen of the Lakes title for the longest vessel on the Great Lakes by 2 inches (5.08cm) at 730′ 02″ (222.56m) from her launch through to April 14, 1965, when the title was passed on to fleetmate Lawrencecliffe Hall. The Lawrencecliffe Hall was longer by another two feet at 730′ 04″ (222.61m). Frankcliffe Hall was the last steam-powered vessel to hold this honor and was the only steam-powered bulker of the five large lakers built for the Hall Corp. of Canada. Though slightly longer, she was considered a sister ship to the Canada Steamship Lines straight-decker Baie St. Paul, which was launched at the Davie shipyard on November 23, 1962 (scrapped in India, 1996).

Frankcliffe Hall was powered by a single John Inglis Co. 10,000 s.h.p. (7,460 kw) cross-compound steam turbine engine with two water tube boilers burning heavy fuel oil (HFO). The power was fed through double reduction gears to a single variable-pitch propeller that could drive the laker at speeds up to 19.6 m.p.h. The vessel was also fitted with a bow thruster. Frankcliffe Hall’s overall dimensions were 730′ 02″ (222.56m) loa x 75′ 00″ (22.86m) beam x 39′ 03″ (11.96m) depth. Her 17 hatches serviced 6 holds where she could carry 27,300 tons (27,739 mt) at a mid-summer draft of 27′ 05.5″ (8.37m) or 25,300 tons (25,706 mt) at the early Seaway draft of 26′ 00″ (7.92m). Water ballast capacity was 11,049.5 tons (11,227 mt) and fuel capacity was 625 tons (635 mt.

After commissioning, on May 25, 1963, Frankcliffe Hall departed the next day on her maiden voyage in ballast to Duluth, MN, arriving on May 29 for a load of export grain for delivery to a Canadian St. Lawrence River / Gulf of St. Lawrence port. As a straight-decker, Hall Corp. kept the vessel busy in the iron ore and grain trades. In 1964, the laker set a Seaway record for oats at 11,493 tons (11,678 mt). Later that year, she closed the navigation season on December 14 for the port of Fort William/Port Arthur, ON (now Thunder Bay.

Frankcliffe Hall brushed the 10,350 dwt British salty Gloxinia on July 13, 1966 after swerving to miss another salty in heavy rain on the St. Lawrence River near Montreal, QC. Frankcliffe Hall grounded near a private yacht club. There was no noted damage resulting from this incident. On June 6, 1967, the laker ran aground in heavy fog two miles (3.2 km) off Thunder Cape by Hare Island in Lake Superior while loaded with 800,000 bushels of wheat. The vessel was pulled free June 10 after lightering. The resulting damage to 60 bottom plates was repaired at Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon, QC. Another grounding occurred below the St. Lawrence Seaway’s Snell Lock on May 20, 1973. She was released the next day with no noted damage.

Hall Corporation had Frankcliffe Hall converted to a coastal (Nova Scotia) class self-unloader, with her hull being ice-strengthened including the deepening of the laker’s hull to 45′ 02″ (13.75m), by Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co., Thunder Bay, ON, during the winter and early spring of 1979/1980. The self-unloading equipment consisted of six hopper-type cargo holds gravity feeding product through a series of hydraulically operated cargo gates onto two continuous loop-belt conveyors feeding stern-mounted elevators. These elevators fed a 263′ 00″ (80.16m) stern-mounted discharge boom that could be swung 90° to port or starboard and unload iron ore at a rate of up to 5,413 tons (5,500 mt) per hour or coal up to 3,937 tons (4,000 mt) per hour. Frankcliffe Hall’s modifications reduced the number of hatches to 16 and increased her capacity to 29,283 tons (29,752 mt) at a new mid-summer draft of 30′ 02″ (9.19m). The new self-unloader’s coal capacity was 25,650 net tons (standard measurement of coal equivalent to 22,902 tons or 23,270 mt). The Lloyd’s Register Classification detail read as follows: “Great Lakes and River St. Lawrence service, also Gulf of St. Lawrence, Strait of Belle Isle West of Long. 56° W and North of a line joining Baccaro Point, N.S. and Cape Pine, Newfoundland, also between June and September each year coasting service to Saint John N.B. and between July and September each year, coast service to Canada Bay Newfoundland via the Strait of Belle Isle.” (from Register of Ships 1985-86, vol. A – G, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping).

In July 1980, Frankcliffe Hall returned to service, with her first cargo consisting of a load of potash from Thunder Bay to Montreal. The stack was raised during the winter of 1980/1981 to avoid downdraft problems resulting from the conversion. While unloading iron ore at Bethlehem Steel, Lackawanna, N.Y., on August 5, 1982, a crewman was injured when he got caught in the unloading conveyors and had to be freed by firefighters. On November 19, 1986, she was struck by a salty while tied up below the St. Lawrence Seaway’s St. Lambert Lock causing some damage and closing the canal for six hours.

From 1986, Frankcliffe Hall was operated and managed by Navican Management Canada, Inc., Montreal, QC, owned by Halco c/o the Royal Bank of Canada. On April 18, 1987, Frankcliffe Hall sailed under charter to Canada Steamship Lines, departing Thunder Bay, ON, with her first CSL cargo consisting of corn for Halifax, NS, and returning to the lakes with a load of gypsum. In early 1988, Hall Corporation (Halco) ceased operating. The existing fleet was divided among the Canada Steamship Lines, Misener and Paterson fleets. In early April 1988, CSL purchased Frankcliffe Hall, as well as the straight-deckers Maplecliffe Hall and Cartiercliffe Hall, from the receivers as their part of the transaction. Frankcliffe Hall was renamed Halifax after the city of the same name, the capitol of Canada’s province of Nova Scotia. The other two vessels were renamed Lemoyne (2) and Winnipeg (2) respectively.

A case of being at the right place at the right time, on July 24, 1988 the Halifax rescued four people from a capsized catamaran in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Halifax was rocked by an explosion and fire in the tunnel under # 1 hold on April 6, 1993, while upbound in the St. Marys River. The vessel diverted to Sault Ste. Marie, ON, for fire-fighting assistance but the fire was extinguished by the crew prior to arrival. Repairs to the unloading system were near completion by three tunnelmen and the hydraulics were being tested when a fire broke out in the center tunnel below the cargo holds. The incident resulted in the death of the head tunnelman and caused major internal damage. Halifax proceeded to Thunder Bay, ON, for repairs. She returned to service on May 1, 1993. On December 25, 1999, a loss of power caused by a failure of the fuel system resulted in the grounding of the Halifax near Johnson’s Point while upbound in the St. Marys River. The vessel was refloated without assistance, the resulting damage being an indent in the # 1 ballast tank.

While downbound the Welland Canal on May 31, 2000, Halifax was in collision with the Netherlands-flagged 6,142 grt salty Kroonborg, owned and operated by Wagenborg Shipping, Delfzijl, Netherlands, resulting in minor damage only. On February 27, 2002, Thunder Bay, ON, firefighters and contract workers were quick to extinguish a fire that broke out in a storage room of Halifax while wintering at the Keefer Terminal. Paint was accidentally ignited as workers were welding. Damage was minimal and no injuries were noted. Loaded with a cargo of stone, the Halifax grounded south of Sombra, ON, by Fawn Island on the St. Clair River while attempting to dock at Sombra Pyramids on August 6, 2004. ‘G’ tug Wyoming freed the stranded vessel late the same day after an earlier attempt by tugs Wyoming and Manitou failed. After discharging the stone, she proceeded upbound to Sarnia, ON, for inspection and necessary repairs. She returned to service on August 8, upbound into Lake Huron for Calcite, MI. Later that year, on October 13, 2004, Halifax allided with a bridge while negotiating the Calumet River in S. Chicago, IL, with two tugs assisting. She received severe damage to her poop deck, which had to be repaired prior to departure. On September 19, 2007, Halifax struck the arrestor cable of the Welland Canal’s Lock 7 and sheared the arrestor cable pin. Seven ships were delayed about six hours until repairs were completed.

Halifax, the last surviving steamship of the Canada Steamship Lines’ fleet after the scrapping of the Tarantau in 1999, laid up for a final time at Montreal, QC, on December 28, 2008. After remaining idle through the 2009 and 2010 navigation seasons, the retired laker was stripped down in the spring of 2011 in preparation for a scrap tow to Aliaga, Turkey.

From the April 2011 edition of CSL World: “The Halifax was prepared for decommissioning under CSL’s Ship Recycling Policy, a strict set of guidelines ensuring that ships that have reached the end of their useful lives are recycled in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.” Halifax’s Canadian registry was officially closed on April 21, 2011. On May 23, 2011, the International Transport Contractors (ITC) Panamian-registered ocean tug Sirocco arrived at Montreal to take the Halifax in tow. After final preparations, the former Halifax, registered out of Liberia, left Montreal early on May 25, 2011 under tow of the Sirocco being assisted by the tug Florence M controlling the stern while transiting the St. Lawrence River. Sirocco with the Halifax in tow arrived at Aliaga on June 22, 2011.

Written by George Wharton.