The SS Keewatin was a passenger liner in the Canadian Pacific Railway Great Lakes Steamship fleet,transporting passengers and freight from Port McNicoll Ontario on Georgian Bay to Fort William & Port Arthur for close to sixty years. A sister ship to the SS Assiniboia,both ships the first to have radar on the great lakes,the journey was a 2 1/2 day trip across Lake Superior & Lake Huron. Built in Scotland in 1906 the Keewatin carried 288 passengers with a crew of 86,was 350 feet long with a 3300 hp coal boiler with a top speed of 14 knots. Strict regulations were imposed on the wooden cabin steamships on the Great Lakes after the 1949 SS Noronic fire disaster in Toronto with between 118-139 losing their lives. These regulations in a declining market became difficult to justify and combined with faster modes of transportation becoming the prefered choice for travellers,Canadian Pacific ended the service with the final journey on November 28 1965 with the SS Assiniboia departing Port Mc Nicoll. The Keewatin and Assiniboia operated one more year as freighters then were withdrawn from service. The Keewatin is the last of the Great Lakes passenger liners still in existence and is operated as a museum in Saugatuck/Douglas Michigan. It has been offered for sale to Thunder Bay by its owner,but nothing more has been said since news of the offer was made. I think this would be a great addition to our waterfront development with its ties to our maritime history.
Meanwhile check it out here
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