The ''Radium Cruiser'' was a Russel Brothers tugboat operated 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, ...

system for 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 Arcti ...

". She was constructed in

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist ...

, in 1939, then disassembled and shipped by rail 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 conflue ...

. Waterways is a

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pub ...

, and was then the northern terminus of the North American railway grid. Waterways is on the Clearwater River, not far upstream from where the river empties into

Lake Athabasca Lake Athabasca ( ; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , " herethere are plants one after another") is in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake is ...

. The waters of Lake Athabasca flow into

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 ...

down the

Slave River The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the and Peace River in northeastern Alberta and runs into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river's name is thought to derive from the name for the Slavey g ...

, and then down the Mackenzie River to the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

. A 16-mile series of large rapids at

Fort Smith, NWT 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 ...

, on the Slave River, required a long portage. Most of the vessels of the Radium Line were reassembled at waterways, sailed to Fort Smith, then portaged overland to the lower river, and where they could navigate most of the tributaries of the Mackenzie River, and reach the Arctic Ocean without further portages. The Radium Cruiser, like the earlier Radium Queen, was intended to move cargo from the railhead to the Fort Smith portage, and to navigate the Athabasca River, Clearwater River, Peace River and Lake Athabasca and her tributaries. Ice prevents navigation of the Mackenzie River for almost eight months of the year. Like her sister ship, ''Radium Express'', she was smaller than the '' Radium King'' and ''Radium Queen'', just long. 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 all but one of the surviving vessels of the Radium line were found to be free of contamination, with the exception of the ''Radium Gilbert'', but the disposition of the ''Radium Cruiser'' was not known.

External links

Russel Brothers Boat Archive

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , url = http://russelbrothers.ca/xradiumcruiser.html , title = Russel Brothers Boats Archive , publisher = teve Briggs, author = Steve Briggs. , date = 2018 {{cite news , url = https://www.andra.fr/dvd_radium/pdfs/Status%20Report%20for%20the%20Historic%20Northern%20Transportation%20Route%20redacted%20colour.pdf#page=88 , title = Status Report for the Historic Northern Transportation Route redacted colour , work =

, date = December 2005 , page = 86 , accessdate = 2018-01-13 , quote = Ships were used along the NTR to move barges loaded with uranium ore and concentrates (among other materials and supplies). Some vessels also transported cargo on board. Fifteen Radium Series vessels used along the NTR were identified in SENES (1994). Three were determined to have been scrapped, and the disposition of one, the Radium Cruiser, was unknown. Radiological investigations were conducted on the other eleven vessels. Only one, the Radium Gilbert, showed any evidence of contamination. {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vxaIWrR2LUYC&q=Radium+Gilbert&pg=PA36 , title = Highway of the Atom , publisher = McGill-Queen's Press , year = 2010 , author = Peter C. Van Wyck , page = 36 , isbn = 978-0-77358-087-9 , accessdate = 2018-01-13 , quote = There is material leakage all along the sides of the Highway, as well as on the vessels and barges used to traverse it. The merchant fleet ''Radium'' line: the ''Radium King'', the ''Radium Queen'', the ''Radium Lad'', the ''Radium Express'', and of course, the ''Radium Gilbert'' ... and so on. The rest of the list: ''Cruiser, Prince, Gilbert, Charles, Scout, Yellowknife, Franklin, Dew, Prospector, Trader, Miner''. {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ez8jAQAAMAAJ&q=%22radium+cruiser%22 , title = The Far Eastern Review: Engineering, Finance, Commerce, Volume 35 , publisher =

G.B. Rea GB, or Gb may refer to: Places * United Kingdom (ISO 3166-1 code), a sovereign country situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ** Great Britain, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ** Kingdom ...

, year = 1939 , accessdate = 2017-11-23 , quote = The two new vessels which will be only 60 feet in length will be christened Radium Express and Radium Cruiser. They will be added to the radium carrying fleet which now includes the Radium King and Radium Queen. {{cite news , url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uZRjAAAAIBAJ&pg=1515,786523&dq=radium-yellowknife&hl=en , title = Freighting to the Northland , publisher =

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix ''The StarPhoenix'' is a daily newspaper that serves Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a part of Postmedia Network. It has been referred to as a "sister newspaper" to the ''Regina Leader-Post, Leader-Post''. The ''StarPhoenix'' puts out si ...

, author = B.T.R. , date = 1948-09-09 , page = 13 , accessdate = 2012-09-05 {{cite news , url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19390412&id=EZgtAAAAIBAJ&pg=2902,2047114 , title = Adds Two New Vessels: Northern Transportation Increases Facilities , publisher =

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

, date = 1939-04-12 , page = 19 , accessdate = 2012-12-03 , quote = The new "Radium Cruiser," slightly smaller and of similar type, will operate on the Athabasca from Waterways. Tugboats of Canada 1939 ships Water transport in the Northwest Territories

Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

Ships built in Ontario Ships built in Alberta