The ''Radium King'' was built in 1937 to haul ore on the

Mackenzie River The Mackenzie River (French: ; Slavey language, Slavey: ' èh tʃʰò literally ''big river''; Inuvialuktun: ' uːkpɑk literally ''great river'') is a river in the Canadian Canadian boreal forest, boreal forest and tundra. It forms, ...

, and her tributaries. This included

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

used in the US atom bombs of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Later in her active career she hauled barges on

Great Slave Lake Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada (after Great Bear Lake), List of lakes by depth, the deepest lake in North America at , and the List of lakes by area, tenth-largest lake in the world by area. It ...

. The ''Radium King'', and a sister ship, the '' Radium Queen'', were built in the Manseau shipyards in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. They were then disassembled and the pieces were loaded on flatcars for shipment by railroad to Waterways, Alberta, which was then the northern terminus of the North American railway grid, to be reassembled and launched on the Mackenzie River. It required nine flatcars to completely load all the parts of the vessel. The ''Radium King'' was staffed by a crew of 10, and could carry 10 passengers. The shipping season was short during the working lifetime of the ''Radium King''. In 1942 she was to be the last vessel to make the round trip down the Mackenzie River, and had to leave on August 17, in order arrive back on time. On November 16, 1945, the ''Radium King'' and the '' Radium Express'' were caught by freeze up in Yellowknife. The ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'' reported in 1953 that the ''Radium King'' was the first vessel to cross Great Slave Lake—arriving in

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

on June 8. While the lake's ice had broken up, it hadn't moved out. Northern Transportation added additional vessels to her fleet, many of which, like the '' Radium Charles'' and '' Radium Yellowknife'' also bore the prefix "Radium", and the line was known locally as the " Radium Line". In 1956 the ''Radium King'' survived the explosion of mining supplies on a barge she was towing. In 1959 noted English professor

Hugh MacLennan John Hugh MacLennan (March 20, 1907 – November 9, 1990) was a Canadian writer and professor of English at McGill University. He won five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award. Family and childhood MacLennan was born in Glace B ...

described a trip he took down the Mackenzie on the ''Radium King'' for ''

Maclean's magazine ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

''. He said the vessel was suddenly frozen in, on Great Slave Lake, for over a week, due to a sudden cold snap at the beginning of the shipping season in 1958. In 1967 the boat was retired. Currently she is on display outside the Northern Life Museum in

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories Fort Smith ( "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 Alberta border along ...

. The ''Radium King'' was restored, and turned into a museum. In 2005

Atomic Energy of Canada Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL, Énergie atomique du Canada limitée, EACL) is a Canadian Crown corporation and the largest nuclear science and technology laboratory in Canada. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in th ...

published a study of the toxic legacy of the mining of radioactive ore at Port Radium. According to the report the ''Radium King'' and all the other surviving vessels of the Radium line were found to be free of contamination, with the exception of the '' Radium Gilbert''.

References

External links

Pictures of the ''Radium King''
* {{coord, 60.004827, -111.888603, display=title Tugboats of Canada Museum ships in Canada 1937 ships Water transport in the Northwest Territories

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Ships built in Montreal Ships built in Alberta