Dartmouth Marine Slips

The Dartmouth Marine Slips was an historic shipyard and marine railway which operated in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia between 1859 and 2003. It was noted for important wartime work during the American Civil War as well as during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. After its closure, the site began redevelopment as King's Wharf, a high-rise residential development.

The Dartmouth Marine Slips were opened as the Chebucto Marine Railway in 1859 under the supervision of an American engineer, H.I. Crandall. His plans to use bilge and keel blocks to operate in conjunction with the current marine railway to haul ships in and out of the water was genius.

The construction and operation of the Chebucto Marine Railway would not have been possible without the following investors: U.S. Consul Albert Pillsbury; Robert Boak of Boak, Taylor and Co.; and John Wyide of Wier and Co.

The Chebucto Marine Railway was frequently used by merchant vessels and, at times, the Royal Navy. It enjoyed early success in the American Civil War by repairing the blockade runners of the American Civil War who paid premium fees for quick repairs. The Marine Railway specialized in refitting hulls that were badly damaged because of the heavy sea swells in the Northern Atlantic.

"Dart Slip", as it came to be known by many mariners, saw a large expansion and its heaviest work during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II when the yard worked round the clock repairing merchant vessels and naval escort damaged by weather, enemy attacks, and collisions in convoys. The slip was ideally sized to quickly repair Flower Class Corvettes, the workhorse ships of the Royal Canadian Navy.

In 1898, the name changed from the Chebucto Marine Railway to the Dartmouth Marine Railway. At this time, hundreds of workers were employed by the shipyard with occupations ranging from shipwrights to painters. Regardless of occupation, the average work day for anyone working at the Dartmouth Marine Railway was at least 14 hours.

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