CCGS ''Tupper'' was a Canadian Coast Guard ice-strengthened buoy tender that served from 1959 to 1998. The vessel spent her entire career on the

East Coast of Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundla ...

. Following her Canadian service, ''Tupper'' was sold to private interests with the intention of converting her to a yacht, but the conversion never happened and the vessel moved about Halifax Harbour, suffering a fire in 2008 before being sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in 2011. The vessel was not scrapped and the Canadian Coast Guard was forced to address the pollution concerns of the abandoned vessel in 2021.

Design and description

''Tupper'' and

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

were long overall with a beam of and a draught of . The vessel had a fully loaded displacement of and a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 1,358. The vessels were powered by a diesel-electric system driving two

screws A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

creating . This gave the vessels a maximum speed of . The ships were fitted with a flight deck and a telescopic hangar and were capable of operating one helicopter.

Service history

The buoy tender's keel was laid down in March 1959 by Marine Industries at their yard in Sorel, Quebec with the yard number 257. ''Tupper'' was launched on 3 October 1959, named for a former Prime Minister of Canada. The ship entered service with the Department of Transport on 1 December 1959. In 1962 the Department of Transport's Marine Service fleet was merged into the newly formed Canadian Coast Guard and ''Tupper'' was given the new prefix CCGS. ''Tupper'' was active in servicing the navigation aids of

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

as well as operating in heavy ice conditions in the

Gulf of St. Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence () is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about and containing about of water, at an average depth of . ...

and St. Lawrence River, and also acted as a harbour cleanup vessel. She occasionally traveled to the north. Earlier in her career she was stationed in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

, Prince Edward Island.

Fate

The ship was taken out of service in 1997 and used as alongside training ship at CCG Dartmouth Base, renamed ''1998-05'' until 1999 when she was sold to an American interest and renamed MV ''Caruso'' intended for conversion to a yacht. The vessel changed owners a couple of times, never leaving Halifax Harbour, changing piers until 11 October 2008 when a large fire broke out aboard ''Caruso'' while she was moored, requiring the services of the Royal Canadian Navy's firefighting tugboat . The blaze was deemed suspicious and partially gutted the vessel. In 2011 the hulk was sold for scrap to be broken up in Marie Joseph, a small community in the

Eastern Shore Eastern Shore may refer to: * Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia), a region * Eastern Shore (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia * Eastern Shore of Maryland, a region * Eastern Shore of Virginia, a region * Eastern Shore (Al ...

region of Nova Scotia. The vessel's dismantling was never completed and the hulk became a point of much controversy and concern. In January 2021, the Canadian Coast Guard's Environmental Response branch was sent to Marie Joseph to deal with the hulk and the remains of the former tugboat ''Craig Trans'' which lay beside it. They removed roughly fuel oil/water from the hulks. In 2022 it was announced R.J. MacIsaac Construction were to remove and green recycle the remnants of the vessel. Dismantling is scheduled to start at the end of January 2023.

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tupper, CCGS Canadian Government Ship Navaids tenders of the Canadian Coast Guard 1959 ships Ships built in Quebec Ships of the Canadian Coast Guard