RMS Segwun
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Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, a resort area with many lakes and rivers. Early in the 20th century Muskoka was poorly served by roads. Vacationers were transported to lodges, or private cottages, via a fleet of steamships, including the Segwun.
Ports of call included Gravenhurst
Gravenhurst, Ontario
Gravenhurst is a town in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, Canada. It is located approximately south of Bracebridge, Ontario. The mayor is Paisley Donaldson...
, Bracebridge
Bracebridge, Ontario
Bracebridge is a town and the seat of the Muskoka District Municipality of Ontario, Canada.The town was built around a waterfall on the Muskoka River in the centre of town, and is known for its other nearby waterfalls . It was first incorporated in 1875...
, Beaumaris
Beaumaris, Ontario
Beaumaris is a small settlement in Ontario, Canada, on Lake Muskoka which once served as an important transit point during the steamship era on the lake, and once hosted a summer hotel, called the Beaumaris Hotel and a post office...
, Port Sandfield, Port Carling
Port Carling, Ontario
Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Canadian province of Ontario.It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971...
, Bala
Bala, Ontario
Bala is a community located in Muskoka Lakes Township where Lake Muskoka drains into the Moon River at Bala Falls.It is considered one of the hubs of cottage country located north of Toronto. Thus, its year-round population of several hundred is increased by thousands of seasonal residents and...
.
Construction
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. By 1924 the Muskoka Lakes Navigation Company found that the six steamers then serving the lakes were growing inadequate to the task and looked to add to their fleet. Rather than commission an entirely new boat, management decided to convert the decommissioned SS Nipissing from a paddle-wheeler to a twin propeller passenger steamer. The Nipissing's wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
hull was built on the Clyde in 1887 and was in service on the lakes from 1887 through 1915. When the Segwun was rebuilt on the hull of the second S.S. Nipissing she was also converted from a side paddle wheel steamer with a walking beam engine into the current two counter-rotating propellers
Counter-rotating propellers
Counter-rotating propellers, found on twin- and multi-engine propeller-driven aircraft, spin in directions opposite one another.The propellers on both engines of most conventional twin-engined aircraft spin clockwise . Counter-rotating propellers generally spin clockwise on the left engine and...
.
The conversion was performed at the Navigation Company's yard in Gravenhurst, Ontario
Gravenhurst, Ontario
Gravenhurst is a town in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, Canada. It is located approximately south of Bracebridge, Ontario. The mayor is Paisley Donaldson...
during the fall and winter of 1924-5, at which time the bulk of the Nipissing's machinery was removed, including her engines. Workers installed a new Scotch marine boiler along with two secondhand Doty
Doty
Doty is a surname, and may refer to:*Aaron Doty, comic artist*Al Doty, Minnesota State Representative*Charles Doty, who ran for the U.S. presidency in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000, and whose campaign comedically became a recurring segment during The Daily Show's Indecision 2000.*Charles Doty ,...
compound steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s and stack. The bulk of the two lower decks were retained.
A carving of the Phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
carried atop of Segwun's pilothouse
Pilothouse
A pilothouse or pilot-house is a glass-enclosed room from which a ship is controlled by the ship's pilot. The pilothouse also is known as the wheelhouse....
is a replica of the one originally carried on the Segwun in 1925. The first Phoenix statue was carved for a second version of the S.S. Nipissing launched in 1887 to replace the original Nipissing destroyed in a fire the previous year. The new version of the Nipissing inherited the engines from the original Nipissing - which had to be raised from the bottom of the lake after the fire, so the second version carried on both the name and steam engine. At the close of navigation season in 1925, the SS Sagamo
SS Sagamo
-Construction:The SS Sagamo was designed by naval architect Arendt Engstrom of Cleveland, Ohio in 1905 based roughly on the design of the SS Cayuga a ship on the Toronto to Niagara run which Engstrom had just completed designing...
caught fire while being laid up, so in subsequent years the Phoenix was placed on the Sag' where it was lost by fire a second time in 1969. The SS Sagamo
SS Sagamo
-Construction:The SS Sagamo was designed by naval architect Arendt Engstrom of Cleveland, Ohio in 1905 based roughly on the design of the SS Cayuga a ship on the Toronto to Niagara run which Engstrom had just completed designing...
was not rebuilt, however the Phoenix did arise from its ashes and is now carried by the ship it was intended for.
The ship was launched in June, 1925 for the summer passenger season. While originally she was intended to retain the Nipissing name, the extent of the alterations were so extensive that the Navigation Company chose to rename her Segwun, an Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
word meaning "springtime".
Remodel
The Navigation Company underwent a change in ownership at the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when Major Hugh C. MacLean, publisher, sold his 90% interest in the company to a Toronto businessman, Gordon Douglas Fairley. MacLean had owned his share in the company for several decades and the steamship line benefited from promotion in MacLean's publications. Perhaps anticipating another postwar economic boom similar to the 1920s Fairley made some significant investments in the company's fleet.
In the off season of 1946-7 the Segwun was remodeled. The gentleman's lounge and two staterooms toward the aft of the upper deck were removed and a new series of seven carpeted staterooms were added in their place and connected to the forward oak-paneled lounge. The open space formerly present on that deck just aft of the stack was closed in. Additionally a new steel bulkhead salvaged from the Medora was installed in the forward hold to create a crew sleeping area. The changes were generally favorable, but at the cost of increasing the craft's sensitivity to the wind. These changes finalized the silhouette of the ship to this day.
Refit
On 16 September 1949 a fire broke out on the SS NoronicSS Noronic
The SS Noronic was a passenger ship that was destroyed by fire in Toronto Harbour in September 1949 with serious loss of life.-The ship:SS Noronic was launched June 2, 1913 in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada...
, then sailing the Great Lakes and docked at Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Inadequate fire alarms and firefighting equipment allowed the fire to rage out of control resulting in between 118 to 139 deaths. In the aftermath, the Ministry of Transport imposed new fire control requirements on steamships. The Muskoka Lakes Lines, then owner of the Segwun and the remaining steamships of the Muskoka Lakes Navigation and Hotel Company, already suffering from declining passenger and freight business due to new competition from the automobile and trucking lines, lacked the resources to re-fit the entire fleet. The Muskoka Lakes Lines filed bankruptcy and the ships were repossessed by the Navigation Company who chose to fit the required equipment only on the flagship Sagamo and her companion the Segwun. The Segwun was fitted with new hoses and hydrants and sailed the 1950 season, but her occupancy certificate was cut from 243 to only 100 by the Ministry.
Accident
In the 1958 season the Segwun received a new captain to replace the aging crew who had long manned the ship. Unfortunately, on his first trip, the captain bumped the swing bridge at Port Carling, almost disabling it, then later struck the concrete dock at the Lockmaster's house, resulting in a badly dented forepeak.Segwun Museum
Most of these vessels on the Muskoka Lakes were broken up or lost to fire, when roads were built. The Segwun, and the fleet's former flagship, the RMS Sagamo, the last two remaining vessels in service, were retired in 1958 and Segwun spent decades moored at the Town Dock in Gravenhurst. The Sagamo, converted into a floating restaurantFloating restaurant
A floating restaurant is a kind of vessel which is usually a type of steel barge used as a restaurant on water. For example, the Jumbo Palace at Aberdeen in Hong Kong is one such restaurant. Sometimes retired ships are given a second lease on life as floating restaurants. The former car ferry New...
, was destroyed in a fire in 1969. The Segwun Steamboat Museum, moored next to the Sagamo, survived the fire.
Restoration
From 1972 through 1981, the Segwun was restored, and put back into service on 27 June 1981.The Segwun still maintains its Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
'R.M.S.' designation as an official Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship , usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract by Royal Mail...
and features her own private label wine which is distributed throughout Ontario by the L.C.B.O.
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is a provincial Crown corporation in Ontario, Canada established in 1927 by Lieutenant Governor William Donald Ross, on the advice of his Premier, Howard Ferguson, to sell liquor, wine, and beer through a chain of retail stores...
In 2001 & 2002, the Segwun was voted 'Best Large Attraction' by Attractions Canada.