The ''Radium King'' was built in 1937 to haul ore on the Mackenzie River, and her tributaries. This included

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the 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. Uranium is weakly ...

used in the US atom bombs of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Later in her active career she hauled barges on

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 ...

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

Montreal 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- ...

. They were then disassembled and the pieces were loaded on flatcars for shipment by railroad 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 ...

, 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 in Edmonton, Alberta. 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. Cunningham — as ...

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

Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and 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 ...

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 Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rathe ...

'' and ''

Radium Yellowknife The ''Radium Yellowknife'' is a Canadian tugboat. Like other vessels built for service on the MacKenzie River, its tributaries, and Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake, she was first built in a shipyard in Vancouver, British Columbia, then ...

'' also bore the prefix "Radium", and the line was known locally as 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 ...

". 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 Ba ...

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

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

''. 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 The Northern Life Museum is in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada. The museum has a collection of over 13,000 artifacts representing the peoples and history of the North. Many of the artifacts were collected by the Oblate Fathers ...

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories 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 Albe ...

. The ''Radium King'' was restored, and turned into a museum. 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 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 The ''Radium Gilbert'' was a tugboat built for transporting supplies to, and ore from, the radium and uranium mines in Canada's Northwest Territories. Like the other tugs in the Radium Line she was steel-hulled. She was named after Gilbert Lab ...

''.

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 the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

Ships built in Montreal Ships built in Alberta