The Tug H.M.C.S. Alberton

The tug H.M.C.S. Alberton was built in 1944 by Montreal Dry Docks Ltd. at Montreal C. She was 104.5’ x 26.7’ x 11.2’ steel hulled 234.34gt 155.7rt. She was powered by 1–1000bhp, 19.55nhp Sulzer diesel engine by Dominion Engineering Works Ltd., Lachine, QC. In 1944 she was built for the Royal Canadian Navy. She was employed by the RCN as a general duty tug at Sydney NS. In 1946 she was sold to Marine Industries Ltd., Montreal, QC. In 1947 she was sold to Campanila Nocional de Navegaeao, Lisbon, Portugal. In 2004 she was laid up in Portugal and broken up in 2008.

My mother christened the tug HMCS Alberton, a Norton Class tug. She was presented with this engraved tray which we still have in our possession. (Photo from the Leigh Cossey collection.)

Detail of tray inscription. (Photo from the Leigh Cossey collection.)

The tug H.M.C.S. Alberton late in her life as the Aveiro. (Photo from an unknown collection.)

My father’s family have been boat builders for several generations. My Grandfather, Herbert, came to Canada from England in 1903 with a contract in hand to build a sternwheeler (the Saskatchewan) for the Hudson&rsqhuos Bay Company at Prince Albert NWT. Afterwards the family settled in Kenora Ontario where he established a boat building business. His oldest son, Hylton, was a naval architect and served in H.M.C.S. Niobe during the First World War, surviving the Mont Blanc explosion. The fifth son, Stanley, my father, was also a naval architect and volunteered for the RCN at the start of the Second World War, but was told that his talents were needed at home. Dad then went to work for German and Milne in Montreal were he was head of the design team for the Norton Class navy tugs. In 1943 he moved to Russel Brothers in Owen Sound later appointed as the head of the drafting department. In 1974 we moved to North Vancouver where he worked for the Burrard Shipyard.