Maud (I)

In 1918-1921 this vessel sailed the North-East Passage from Vardo, Norway to Seattle WA USA. Amundsen was a member of the Royal Geographical Society and through his contacts he was able to arrange the sale to the HBC Canada. The Committee in London viewed her as the ideal Arctic vessel- but Scotty Gall recalled that "she couldn't buck a current. This vessel was only good for one thing - going through heavy ice. This vessel was shaped like an egg so it didn't matter where the pressure came on. Her propellers were in wells so that they could be hoisted clear while in ice." It was thought that this vessel would be strong enough to carry freight throughout the Arctic but this vessel was cross-beamed and difficult to load.

In 1926 this vessel was purchased by Hudson's Bay Co. Ltd., London UK under her master. It turned out that this vessel was of no real commercial-use to the sailors of the Company and her insurance through Lloyds was very expensive. This vessel was hauled up on the beach where the HBC operated her as a marine radio station. This vessel was later converted to a floating warehouse and machine shop and wireless station at Cambridge Bay NWT. This vessel wasn't being maintained or pumped out. This vessel was eventually scuttled at Cambridge Bay NWT - Scotty Gall claimed he opened the seacocks in 1928 that caused her to sink.

In 2017 the vessel was raised, salvaged and shipped to Norway on a barge. Milton Watts (Email to Nauticapedia 15/09/2017) observed that "The longest transit, by a vessel, through the NW Passage has been completed in 91 years and a few weeks. All be it with two different owners, names and methods of transportation. HBC vessel Bay Maud entered the western end under her own power in 1926 departed at the eastern end on a barge towed by a tug as a Norwegian owned Maud in 2017. I spent two years at Cambridge Bay with the DOT in the early 1950. My second year there, the HBC factor was an old timer L. A. Learmonth who was responsible for disposing of the Maud in 1931.

He told us this vessel was stripped of what was useable, run up on the beach as far as possible under her own power and left to settle there. There have been several stories as to why this vessel was abandoned but he told us it was simple economics. This vessel was built to enter the ice, be frozen in and drift with the ice. As a result. Very heavily braced inside leaving less cargo space and very slow moving. I had an opportunity to walk on the portion of the deck above water one day. Heavily slanted and holding on very carefully as I did not want to slide down the deck and into the water."