Launching the Radium Cruiser at Waterways, 1939

The ''Radium Cruiser'' was a

Russel Brothers Russel Brothers Limited was a Canadian steel boat builder, diesel engine manufacturer and steel fabricator. The company operated in Fort Frances, Ontario from 1907 to 1937 and then in Owen Sound, Ontario from 1937 to 1994. Founded in Fort Frances ...

tugboat operated on the Mackenzie River system for the "

Radium Line Marine Transportation Services (MTS) formerly Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) is a marine transportation company operating primarily in the Mackenzie River watershed of the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, and the A ...

". She was constructed in

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attr ...

, in 1939, then disassembled and shipped by rail to

Waterways, Alberta Waterways is a locality within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta, Canada. It is now a neighbourhood within the Fort McMurray urban service area along the west bank of the Clearwater River, south of the river's confluen ...

. Waterways is a

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pu ...

, and was then the northern terminus of the North American railway grid. Waterways is on the Clearwater River, not far upstream from where the river empties into

Lake Athabasca Lake Athabasca (; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , " herethere are plants one after another") is located in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake ...

. The waters of Lake Athabasca flow into

Great Slave Lake Great Slave Lake (french: Grand lac des Esclaves), known traditionally as Tıdeè in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì (Dogrib), Tinde’e in Wıìlıìdeh Yatii / Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé (Dogrib / Chipewyan), Tu Nedhé in Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé (Chi ...

down the

Slave River The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the Rivière des Rochers and Peace River in northeastern Alberta and empties into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river's name is thought to derive from the ...

, and then down the Mackenzie River to the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

. A 16-mile series of large rapids at

Fort Smith, NWT Fort Smith ( chp, Thebacha "beside the rapids") is a town in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the Slave River and adjacent to the Alb ...

, on the Slave River, required a long portage. Most of the vessels of the Radium Line were reassembled at waterways, sailed to Fort Smith, then portaged overland to the lower river, and where they could navigate most of the tributaries of the Mackenzie River, and reach the Arctic Ocean without further portages. The Radium Cruiser, like the earlier Radium Queen, was intended to move cargo from the railhead to the Fort Smith portage, and to navigate the Athabasca River, Clearwater River, Peace River and Lake Athabasca and her tributaries. Ice prevents navigation of the Mackenzie River for almost eight months of the year. Like her sister ship, ''Radium Express'', she was smaller than the ''

Radium King The ''Radium King'' was built in 1937 to haul ore on the Mackenzie River, and her tributaries. This included uranium used in the US atom bombs of World War II. Later in her active career she hauled barges on Great Slave Lake. The ''Radium K ...

'' and ''Radium Queen'', just long. In 2005

Atomic Energy of Canada Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the 1950s, and in October 2011 licensed this ...

published a study of the toxic legacy of the mining of radioactive ore at Port Radium. According to the report all but one of the surviving vessels of the Radium line were found to be free of contamination, with the exception of the ''Radium Gilbert'', but the disposition of the ''Radium Cruiser'' was not known.

External links

Russel Brothers Boat Archive

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , url = http://russelbrothers.ca/xradiumcruiser.html , title = Russel Brothers Boats Archive , publisher = teve Briggs, author = Steve Briggs. , date = 2018 {{cite news , url = https://www.andra.fr/dvd_radium/pdfs/Status%20Report%20for%20the%20Historic%20Northern%20Transportation%20Route%20redacted%20colour.pdf#page=88 , title = Status Report for the Historic Northern Transportation Route redacted colour , work =

, date = December 2005 , page = 86 , accessdate = 2018-01-13 , url-status = live , quote = Ships were used along the NTR to move barges loaded with uranium ore and concentrates (among other materials and supplies). Some vessels also transported cargo on board. Fifteen Radium Series vessels used along the NTR were identified in SENES (1994). Three were determined to have been scrapped, and the disposition of one, the Radium Cruiser, was unknown. Radiological investigations were conducted on the other eleven vessels. Only one, the Radium Gilbert, showed any evidence of contamination. {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vxaIWrR2LUYC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=Radium+ellGilbert#q=Radium%20Gilbert , title = Highway of the Atom , publisher = McGill-Queen's Press , year = 2010 , author = Peter C. Van Wyck , page = 36 , isbn = 978-0-77358-087-9 , accessdate = 2018-01-13 , url-status = live , quote = There is material leakage all along the sides of the Highway, as well as on the vessels and barges used to traverse it. The merchant fleet ''Radium'' line: the ''Radium King'', the ''Radium Queen'', the ''Radium Lad'', the ''Radium Express'', and of course, the ''Radium Gilbert'' ... and so on. The rest of the list: ''Cruiser, Prince, Gilbert, Charles, Scout, Yellowknife, Franklin, Dew, Prospector, Trader, Miner. {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ez8jAQAAMAAJ&q=%22radium+cruiser%22&dq=%22radium+cruiser%22 , title = The Far Eastern Review: Engineering, Finance, Commerce, Volume 35 , publisher = G.B. Rea , year = 1939 , accessdate = 2017-11-23 , url-status = live , quote = The two new vessels which will be only 60 feet in length will be christened Radium Express and Radium Cruiser. They will be added to the radium carrying fleet which now includes the Radium King and Radium Queen. {{cite news , url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uZRjAAAAIBAJ&pg=1515,786523&dq=radium-yellowknife&hl=en , title = Freighting to the Northland , publisher =

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix ''The StarPhoenix'' is a daily newspaper that serves Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a part of Postmedia Network. The ''StarPhoenix'' puts out six editions each week and publishes one weekly, ''Bridges''. It is also part of the canada.com ...

, author = B.T.R. , date = 1948-09-09 , page = 13 , accessdate = 2012-09-05 , url-status = live {{cite news , url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19390412&id=EZgtAAAAIBAJ&pg=2902,2047114 , title = Adds Two New Vessels: Northern Transportation Increases Facilities , publisher =

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

, date = 1939-04-12 , page = 19 , accessdate = 2012-12-03 , quote = The new "Radium Cruiser," slightly smaller and of similar type, will operate on the Athabasca from Waterways. Tugboats of Canada 1939 ships Water transport in the Northwest Territories Cruiser