SS Naramata
_at_Penticton_BC_with_tug,_c1920.jpg)
SS Naramata and SS Sicamous at Penticton, 1920
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| History | |
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| Namesake: | Naramata |
| Owner: |
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| Builder: | Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company |
| Cost: | CA$43,000 |
| Completed: | 20 April 1914 |
| Out of service: | August 1967 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 149.94 GT (73.67 registered) |
| Length: | 98 ft (30 m) LOA (89.8 ft (27.4 m) registered) |
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| Height: | 53 ft (16 m) |
| Draught: | 5.5 ft (1.7 m) |
| Depth: | 8 ft (2.4 m) |
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SS Naramata is a steam tug commissioned by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) company. She pushed barges and broke ice on Okanagan Lake from 1914 to 1967. After over 50 years of service, the boat was eventually retired and left to rest in Penticton beside her sister ship, SS Sicamous. In 2001, she was purchased by the S.S. Sicamous Restoration Society and is currently undergoing extensive renovations.Naramata is the only interior steam tug to be preserved in the province of British Columbia, Canada.
Built for CPR, the hull, engine, boiler, and steel fittings of Naramata were pre-manufactured in Port Arthur, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) by Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company, with final assembly taking place in Okanagan Landing. Construction began in September 1913 and was completed by the 20th of April in 1914. Upon completion, the total cost was CA$43,000 and she was given her name in tribute to the beautiful village of Naramata, a town which at that time was responsible for producing a large portion of the valley's fruit supply.
The crew aboard Naramata consisted of 11-13 men: a captain or first officer, a pilot, two deckhands, a chief engineer, a second engineer, two firemen, one bargeman, and a cook who also served as a steward. The ship was the first on Okanagan Lake to have a flushing toilet and was equipped with a functioning shower. Due to the dirty nature of the job, crew members were required to shower at least once a week. Often, it was a joke that the crew members were considered to be some of the "cleanest and dirtiest" on the lake.
Naramata would occasionally carry passengers (maximum 22) up or down Okanagan Lake, but she was mainly employed as a tugboat for the Canadian Pacific Railway. CPR tugboats not only pushed and pulled barges filled with valuable goods, but in the winter months they would often work as icebreakers, clearing the way for other larger and often wooden-hulled passenger ships. Naramata would often run ahead of Sicamous with crew members leaving a cardboard trail as a way to mark the clear path. More commonly, however, was the barge service. CPR tugboats could push up to two barges at once, and with barges capable of holding up to ten railcars at one time this was no small feat. When transporting two barges, Naramata would be wedged between them from astern, resulting in a "V"-shape that allowed for easy maneuvering. Alternately, barges could also be pulled from behind the tugs.
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Wikipedia