SS ''Foundation Franklin'' was a seagoing

salvage tug A salvage tug, known also historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

as HMS ''Frisky'' in 1918. In 1924, the tugboat was sold and renamed ''Gustavo Ipland'' before being acquired in 1930 by Foundation Maritime and renamed ''Foundation Franklin''. The tugboat became famous for many daring salvage operations and rescues between 1930 and 1949. Her many rescues and salvage triumphs were celebrated in

Farley Mowat Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...

's book '' The Grey Seas Under''. In 1948, the ship was damaged in a hurricane and not considered repairable. The tug was

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sold for re-use, ...

for scrap in 1949 at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

Description

As built, the

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

measured , was long between perpendiculars with a beam of .Miramar Ship Index The vessel had a draught of . ''Foundation Franklin'' was powered by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

driving one propeller, rated at . The tugboat had a maximum speed of .

History

''Foundation Franklin'' was built as HMS ''Frisky'' by John Lewis and Sons Shipbuilding at their yard in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, in 1918. Given the yard number 67, ''Frisky'' was launched and completed in August 1918. She was designed to move

capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...

s, and operate in rough weather. The ship was commissioned in early 1919, but the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

removed the need for ''Frisky'' by the Royal Navy. She was used to tow warships to Scapa Flow until being laid up. In 1924, the ship was sold and retaining her named, performed towing work on the Rhine River and in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

. ''Frisky'' was later purchased by a German project in 1927 intending to tow

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to Argentina and renamed SS ''Gustavo Ipland'', but the project fell through. ''Gustavo Ipland'' then was laid up until 1930. The ship was purchased in January 1930 at

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany by Foundation Maritime representative Captain James Sutherland. Brought to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

for further refit and inspection, she was registered under the Canadian Red Ensign and given the name ''Foundation Franklin''. Brought to Foundation Maritime headquarters in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1931, the tug was further refitted by Halifax Shipyards for Atlantic salvage service. After a few salvage jobs based along the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

, ''Foundation Franklin'' established a homeport at

for the rest of her career. One of the most successful and hard-working vessels of her type, ''Foundation Franklin'' carried out many remarkable rescue and salvage exploits. She continued to operate in the salvage role until 1948, when, during the tow of the vessel ''Arosa'' a hurricane damaged the ship beyond economical repair. The ship was

for scrap at Halifax which was completed on 4 April 1949. Her bell, bearing her original Royal Navy name ''Frisky'', was saved from the scrapyard and used at the Foundation Wharf to summon crews to successor rescue tugs when vessels were in distress. The bell has continued to reside at offices beside the company's wharf through successive ownership changes. Today it is owned by Svitzer Canada Limited which continues to operate tugs from ''Foundation Franklin''s old wharf. A plaque beside the wharf on the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk commemorates her many rescues. The

Maritime Museum of the Atlantic The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a maritime museum located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The museum is a member institution of the Nova Scotia Museum and is the oldest and largest maritime museum in Canada with a collection o ...

preserved ''Foundation Franklin''s bridge and engine room clocks as well as several models and the tug's heavy salvage tackle. ''Foundation Franklin'' was the centrepiece of a special tug exhibit which opened at the museum in 2009 displaying many pieces of her original equipment and her original bell on loan from Svitzer Canada.

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , last=Mowat , first=Farley , author-link=Farley Mowat , title=The Grey Seas Under , date=May 1964

External links

''hazegray.org'' specifications and photographs of ''Foundation Franklin'' and sister tugs

plaque location and picture
Tugboats of the United Kingdom 1918 ships History of Halifax, Nova Scotia Steamships of Canada Tugboats of Canada