M/V ''William Carson'' was a

CN Marine CN Marine was a Canadian ferry company headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick. History CN Marine was created by parent Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1977 as a means to group the company's ferry operations in eastern Canada into a separate ...

passenger/vehicle

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 ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

named in honour of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

colonial politician

William Carson Sir William Carson (baptised 4 June 1770 – 26 February 1843), often called "The Great Reformer", was a medical doctor and businessman in Newfoundland. Carson's primary contribution to Newfoundland was the application of modern agricultural ...

. Built by Canadian Vickers Ltd. in

Montreal, Quebec 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 ...

, Canada, ''William Carson'' measured 351 feet (107 m) in length and displaced 8,300 tons. Primarily a freight/cargo

, she had a capacity for 260 passengers and 60 cars which were loaded through a side ramp. Designed for service between

Port aux Basques Channel-Port aux Basques is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of Newfoundland fronting on the western end of the Cabot Strait. A Marine Atlantic ferry terminal is located in the town which is the primary entry point onto the island of Newfou ...

and

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

, she was commissioned in 1955. One of the largest vessels built in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at the time, her large size forced her to use the more spacious harbour at

Argentia Argentia ( ) is a Canadian commercial seaport and industrial park located in the Town of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by ...

for her first three years in service while the Port aux Basques harbour was modified to accept her. ''William Carson'' was reassigned to the seasonal

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

coastal service in 1976, operating between

Lewisporte Lewisporte is a town in central Newfoundland, Canada, with a population of 3,288. It is situated in Burnt Bay which opens on to the Bay of Exploits. Lewisporte has a deep water port and related facilities that serve many communities in the re ...

and

Happy Valley-Goose Bay Happy Valley-Goose Bay (Inuit: ''Vâli'') is a town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Located in central Labrador on the coast of Lake Melville and the Churchill River, Happy Valley-Goose Bay is the largest population centre ...

Sinking

In 1977, early in only the second season on the Labrador run, ''William Carson'' sank in 500 feet (150 m) of water on the night of 2 June / morning of 3 June 1977 after striking a small

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...

while navigating 12

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...

s (22 km) off

Battle Harbour Battle Harbour (Inuttitut: ''Putlavak'') is a summer fishing station, formerly a permanent settlement, located on the Labrador coast in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Battle Harbour was for two centuries the economic and soc ...

. All 129 passengers and 29 crew aboard at the time survived. The evacuation was carried out efficiently and passengers and crew waited in lifeboats in the icefield while watching their ship sink.

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 ...

icebreakers and

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

helicopters were dispatched to rescue the survivors. Most of the survivors were taken to St. John's, Newfoundland by military transport. However, the military was criticized in the Canadian House of Commons for taking three hours to send helicopters to rescue the survivors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:William Carson, MV Ferries of Newfoundland and Labrador Ferries of Nova Scotia Shipwrecks of the Newfoundland and Labrador coast Maritime incidents in 1977 CN Marine Ships sunk with no fatalities Ships sunk by icebergs