MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood

Docking in Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador
History
Name:	Joseph and Clara Smallwood (1989–2011) Smallwood (2011)
Owner:	Government of Canada
Operator:	Marine Atlantic
Port of registry:	Canada St. John's
Route:	Channel-Port aux Basques—North Sydney (fall, winter, spring) Argentia-North Sydney (summer)
Ordered:	1987
Builder:	MIL-Davie Shipbuilding
Laid down:	1987
Launched:	1989
Christened:	1989
Completed:	1989
Maiden voyage:	1989
In service:	1989
Out of service:	2011
Identification:	IMO number 8604797
Status:	Broken up in 2011
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Gulfspan class icebreaking ropax ferry
Tonnage:	27,615 GT
Length:	172.76 m (567 ft)
Beam:	24.99 m (82 ft)
Draught:	12.19 m (40 ft 0 in)
Ramps:	shore-based bi-level ramps
Ice class:	Lloyd's 100A1, Northern Baltic 1A Super
Installed power:	4 × MaK 8-cylinder diesels combined 20600 kW
Propulsion:	2 propellers 2 bow thrusters 2 stern thrusters
Speed:	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) (maximum) 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) (service)
Capacity:	1,200 passengers 370 cars, 77 trucks 1,800 m (5,906 ft) lane metres
Crew:	106 (summer), 68 (winter)

MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood was a Marine Atlantic passenger/vehicle ferry which operated between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island in eastern Canada. She is named after former Newfoundland premier Joseph R. Smallwood and his wife Clara.

Entering service in 1989, she was built by MIL Davie Incorporated in Lauzon, Quebec, and is specifically designed for the 520 km (280 nmi) seasonal route across the Cabot Strait between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. A roll-on, roll-off design with a bow visor, Joseph and Clara Smallwood has 2 vehicle decks and 5 decks above, the main passenger deck being Deck 5. She measures 180 m (580 ft) in overall length and 25 metres in breadth, weighing 27,614 tons. Her capacity includes 1,200 passengers and 350 automobiles or 77 tractor trailers. She had up to 106 crewmembers.

Joseph and Clara Smallwood was the sister ship to MV Caribou. Caribou was designed and commissioned by CN Marine in the early 1980s and was the culmination of years of research into effective icebreaking ship designs. The resulting hull design whichCaribou and Joseph and Clara Smallwood were built to is called "Gulfspan", named in part after the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The "Gulfspan" hull is unique among Canadian ice-reinforced ships in that the ship slices through sea ice, rather than using its weight to ride up onto and crushing the ice underneath. This design permits the sister ships to maintain close to regular operating speed.