CCGS ''John A. Macdonald''CCGS stands for Canadian Coast Guard Ship was a

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

heavy

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

. She was named after

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...

Sir John Alexander Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

, the first

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

. The ship was commissioned into the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

's Marine Service in 1960 using the prefix "Canadian Government Ship" (CGS). The vessel was transferred in 1962 into the newly created Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and served with distinction until being decommissioned in 1991, and replaced by the then-chartered (but later purchased) .

Design and description

Considered one of the finest icebreakers ever constructed for the Canadian service, ''John A. Macdonald'' was

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a draught of . The vessel had a fully loaded displacement of and had a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 6,186 tons.Maginley and Collin, p. 151Moore, p. 86 The ship was propelled by three

screws A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

driven by a diesel-electric system creating . This gave the vessel a maximum speed of . The vessel could carry two helicopters.

Service history

The vessel was constructed by

Davie Shipbuilding Davie Shipbuilding is a shipbuilding company located in Lauzon, Quebec, Canada. The facility is now operating as Chantier Davie Canada Inc. and is the oldest continually operating shipbuilder in North America. History The Davie shipyard in Lauz ...

at their yard in Lauzon,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

with the yard number 620 and launched on 31 October 1959.The Miramar Ship Index and ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' disagree on the exact date, with Miramar claiming 31 October and ''Jane's'', 3 October During construction, the vessel was visited by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

officials who took interest in her design. There was a distinct resemblance to ''John A. MacDonald'' in the five ships in the next class of Soviet icebreaker, though they were larger and more powerful. The vessel entered service as part of the government fleet in September 1960 as CGS ''John A. Macdonald''. In 1962, ''John A. Macdonald'' transferred to the newly created Canadian Coast Guard and set a record by reaching Tanquary Fjord, the closest to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

a Canadian vessel had ever been. In 1967, ''John A. Macdonald'' transited the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

in order to aid the smaller icebreaker in the western Arctic. Following that, the icebreaker then travelled to assist after the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

vessel became trapped in heavy ice north of

Point Barrow Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at , south of the North Pole. (The northe ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. The vessel then returned to the East Coast via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

, circumnavigating North America in the process. ''John A Macdonald'' was awarded the U.S.

Coast Guard Unit Commendation The Coast Guard Unit Commendation is the highest peacetime unit award that may be awarded to military commands of the United States Coast Guard. The decoration was first created in 1963 and is presented to members of any Coast Guard unit that di ...

''"for extremely meritorious service in the support of United States Coast Guard operations during the period of 23 September 1967 to 08 October 1967"'', during the Arctic West Summer 1967 cruise by Admiral Willard J. Smith, Commandant,

In 1969 ''John A. Macdonald'' assisted the then-new in rescuing during her transit of the Northwest Passage. ''John A. Macdonald'' made a double transit from the east to west and returned west to east. During the rescue, ''John A. Macdonald'' broke her starboard propeller in heavy ice; the propeller is on display by the Dartmouth Ferry Terminal,

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Dartmouth ( ) (Scottish Gaelic, Scottish-Gaelic: Baile nan Loch) is a Urban area, built-up community of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has 101 ...

. ''John A. Macdonald'' was assisted by the United States Coast Guard icebreakers ''Northwind'' and In 1974 the merchant vessel ''Atlantean I'' was damaged on Les Escoumins, received repairs at

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 ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

and failed to pay for them. An order of arrest was produced but the vessel sailed without authorization. In February 1975, the Gulf of St. Lawrence was filled with ice and ''John A. MacDonald'' was sent to intercept the ship, now renamed ''Answer''. Stuck in ice and boarded by lawyers bearing the warrants, the captain of the merchant vessel refused to sail for

Gaspé, Quebec Gaspé () is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec in Canada. Gaspé is about northeast of Quebec City and east of Rimouski. Gaspé has a total population of 15,063, as of th ...

. On 28 February,

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

and Canadian Coast Guard personnel were placed on board the merchant and the two ships sailed for

Sept-Îles, Quebec Sept-Îles (, , ) is a city in the Côte-Nord region of eastern Quebec. Along with Brador, Quebec, Brador and Blanc-Sablon, Sept-Îles is one of the oldest places in the province. The population was 24,569 as of the 2021 Canadian census. The ...

. However, as soon as ''Answer'' was free of the heavy ice, the ship broke escort and fled for the Atlantic. After legal arguments were heard over the right of Canada to seize the vessel, the ship was boarded a third time, the crew taken off and ''Answer'' and ''John A. Macdonald'' arrived at Sept-Îles on 7 March. Also in 1975, ''John A. Macdonald'' made a partial transit of the Northwest Passage, westward, through

Lancaster Sound Lancaster Sound () is a body of water in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin ...

Peel Sound Peel Sound is an Arctic waterway in the Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It separates Somerset Island on the east from Prince of Wales Island on the west. To the north it opens onto Parry Channel while its southern end merges with Franklin Str ...

and

Victoria Strait Victoria Strait is a strait in northern Canada that lies in Nunavut off the mainland in the Arctic Ocean. It is between Victoria Island to the west and King William Island to the east. From the north, the strait links the M'Clintock Channel an ...

, and sailed to aid CCGS ''Camsell'' again after the smaller Coast Guard ship was damaged in the Western Arctic. In 1977, the ship was chartered to Dome Petroleum. During 1978 ''John A. Macdonald'' made an east to west partial transit of the Northwest Passage, traveling on charter to Dome Petroleum, through Lancaster Sound,

Prince of Wales Strait The Prince of Wales Strait is a strait in the Northwest Territories of Canada separating Banks Island to the northwest from Victoria Island to the southeast. It extends from Viscount Melville Sound in the northeast to Amundsen Gulf in the south ...

and the Beaufort Sea. During the winter of 1978–79, the vessel was laid up. In 1979, the vessel made another partial transit of the Northwest Passage, west to east, returning eastward from a charter operation.Maginley, p. 126 ''John A. Macdonald'' returned to Coast Guard service in 1980 and supported the search that confirmed the wreck of , which had been crushed by ice and sank in the Arctic Ocean in 1853. The following year, ''John A. Macdonald'' escorted a factory barge to

Little Cornwallis Island Little Cornwallis Island is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Canadian Arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada. It is located at 75°30'N 96°30'W, between Cornwallis Island and Bathurst Island in McDougall Sound, and measures . It is uninh ...

where the barge was beached and incorporated into the island. During 1985 ''John A. Macdonald'' made a further partial transit of the Northwest Passage traveling westward, through Peel Sound, Victoria Strait, Amundsen Gulf and back. That year, the icebreaker was sent to escort through Canadian waters as far as

Viscount Melville Sound Viscount Melville Sound, formerly Melville Sound, is an arm of the Arctic Ocean in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut and the Inuvik Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. Forming part of the Parry Channel, it separates Victoria Island and Prince ...

during the American vessel's unauthorized transit through waters claimed by Canada. In 1987 she underwent an eight-month, $8-million (CAD) refit. In 1988 the ship made another partial transit of the Northwest Passage traveling westward, through Lancaster Sound, Peel Sound and Demarcation Point then back. In November–December 1989, the Canadian Coast Guard went on strike and ''John A. Macdonald'' was the only Coast Guard vessel to remain at sea, escorting to

Nanisivik Nanisivik (; ) is a now-abandoned company town which was built in 1975 to support the lead-zinc mining and mineral processing operations for the Nanisivik Mine, in production between 1976 and 2002. The townsite is located just inland from Str ...

. The ship was taken out of service in 1991. The vessel was replaced by , initially on charter to the Canadian Coast Guard, which was later purchased.Maginley and Collin, pp. 151, 158 The vessel was transferred to Crown Assets and was renamed ''1201''. The ship was then sold for scrap in 1993 and

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

in 1995.

Awards and honours

* U.S.

, 1967

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * *

External links

Details of ''John A. MacDonald'' by the Canadian Coast Guard
{{DEFAULTSORT:John A. Macdonald, CCGS Icebreakers of the Canadian Coast Guard 1959 ships Canadian Government Ship