Toronto Drydock Company

Toronto Drydock Company is a shipbuilding repair company in Canada and the name of two shipbuilders in the 19th and 20th centuries respectively.

Toronto Dry Dock Company

The first Toronto Dry Dock Company was established in 1847 by William Botsford Jarvis (1799-1864) in the Province of Canada to build ships to ply the waters of the Great Lakes.^[1]

Toronto Dry Dock Company Limited

Another Toronto Dry Dock Company Limited was established in 1917 by several partners:

C. S. Boone - President of the C. S. Boone Dredging and Construction Company Limited
John E. Russell,
Lawrence Solman, manager of the Toronto Ferry Company Limited
John J. Manley, C. S. Boone Dredging and Construction Company Limited
Henry J. Dixon

The company acquired shipbuilding business from Patrick Dixon and son Harry J. Dixon) under the Ontario Companies Act to build larger ships and remained in business until 1964 and was later acquired as part of the Port Weller Dry Docks.^[2]

The facilities were sold following the bankruptcy of Port Weller Dry Docks Limited, who moved the dry dock to Port Weller, Ontario and sold the facilities to Toronto Harbour Commission.^[3] The former dockyard is now used for storage by Harbourfront Centre and Port of Toronto (to store the airport ferries).

Toronto Drydock

The current Toronto Drydock, founded in 1989 is a small marine repair facility built from the former Great Lakes pulpwood carrier Menier Consol (built in 1962 and converted as floating drydock after 1984) and located in the eastern Portland area in the Turning Basin along Basin Street and across from the former Hearn Generating Station.

History of Shipbuilding in Toronto

Shipbuilding in Toronto dates back to the period when shipping was isolated to the Great Lakes. Early ship builders were conducted by the Royal Navy for use in the Great Lakes.

Polson Iron Works was a major builder of steamers in the 1900s. Established in Toronto in 1883, the Iron Works went bankrupt after World War I due to lack of tariff protection.

A number of other builders dotted along Toronto:

Rouge River
Highland Creek - Thomas Adams
Humber River
Credit River

The Rouge River's ship building was linked to the prolific lumber industry. The ship building industry ranged between 1810 and 1856.

Most of the ships were used for passenger and to carry potash, grain and lumber between Oswego, New York and Toronto, then called York.

A list of ships built in Toronto:

**Product list and details**
Make/Model	Description	Fleet size	Year acquired	Year retired	Notes
HMS Arcturus	naval warship	1	1942		Toronto Drydocks Limited
Mayflower	ferry	1	1890		Bathurst Street Wharf
Primrose	ferry	1	1890		Bathurst Street Wharf
Bluebell	ferry	1	1906		built by Polson Iron Works Limited
Trillium	ferry	1	1910		built by Polson Iron Works Limited
Kwasind	passenger ferry	1	1913		built by Polson Iron Works Limited for RCYC
William Inglis	ferry	1	1935		by Toronto Drydock Company
Sam McBride	ferry	1	1939		by Toronto Drydock Company
Duke of York	schooner	1	1820		built by Capt. Hadley
City of Toronto	wood ship	1	1855		built for Allan Lines
name unknown^[4]	wood sailing ship	1	c. 1812		built by Thomas Adams Port Union near Highland Creek
Mary Ann^[5]	wood sailing ship	1	1834		built by Thomas Adams Port Union at mouth of Highland Creek

References

External links

Toronto Dry Dock

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[1] ttp://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/GreatLakes/Documents/Scanner/08/06/default.asp?ID=c007

[2] ttp://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/documents/scanner/08/06/default.asp?ID=c007

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20100620125015/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/world/canada/portweller.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-03.

[4] ttp://www.ccranews.com/history_port_union.html^{[no|permanent dead link|dead link}}]}

[5] ttp://www.ccranews.com/history_port_union.html^{[no|permanent dead link|dead link}}]}

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