Beaver (steamship)
Beaver about 1870
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| History | |
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 *Colony of Vancouver Island
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| Name: | Beaver |
| Builder: | Wigram & Green, Blackwall Yard, London |
| Laid down: | London, England |
| Launched: | 9 May 1835 |
| In service: | 1835-1888 |
| Fate: | Wrecked in 1888 in Burrard Inlet, Vancouver |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Paddlewheel steamer |
| Tonnage: | 109 tons |
| Length: | 101 ft 9 in (31.01 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft: | 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Brigantine |
| Armament: | 4 brass cannons |
Beaver was the first steamship to operate in the Pacific Northwest of North America. She made remote parts of the west coast of Canada accessible for maritime fur trading and was chartered by the Royal Navy for surveying the coastline of British Columbia. She served off the coast from 1836 until 1888, when she was wrecked.
Beaver was built in Blackwall, England of British oak, elm, greenheart and teak, and was copper fastened and sheathed. Her length was 101 feet (31 m), and the beam over her paddle boxes was 33 feet (10 m). She was launched at Blackwall Yard on 9 May 1835 and left London on 29 August under the command of Captain David Home, and with the company's barque, Columbia, built at the same time and commanded by Captain Darby. Beaver was outfitted as a brig for the passage out, paddles unshipped, and came out via Cape Horn under sail alone. After calling at the Juan Fernández Islands and Honolulu, she arrived off the Columbia River on 18 March 1836 and anchored off Fort Vancouver on 10 April. Here the paddles were shipped and boilers and engines connected.
Beaver served trading posts maintained by the Hudson's Bay Company between the Columbia River and Russian America (Alaska) and played an important role in helping maintain British control in British Columbia during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858-59. In 1862 the Royal Navy chartered her to survey and chart the coast of the Colony of British Columbia. She also provided assistance to the Royal Navy at Bute Inlet during the Chilcotin War.
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Wikipedia