Beaver

History of the S.S. Beaver

Built in Blackwall, England, the S.S. Beaver launched in May 1835 with the company’s barque, Columbia to set off for Puget Sound. She was outfitted as a brig for the passage out, paddles unshipped, and came around Cape Horn under sail alone. After stopping at the Juan Fernández Islands and Honolulu, she arrived off the Columbia River on March 18, 1836 and anchored off Fort Vancouver on April 10. The paddles were shipped and boilers and engines connected.

The S.S. Beaver played an important role in British Columbia during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush 1858-59 by holding control for the British. In 1862 the Royal Navy chartered her to survey and chart the coast of the Colony of British Columbia. She played a role in establishing coal mines at Fort Rupert, and later in 1853, Nanaimo. She helped the Hudson’s Bay Co. establish Fort Victoria as a post in 1843. In later years the Beaver burned coal and would hire men from the Squamish Tribe of North Vancouver to work the holds.

The Hudson’s Bay Company finally sold her in 1874 to British Columbia Towing and Transportation Co. who used her as a towboat until July 25, 1888 when a drunk crew ran her aground on rocks at Prospect Point in Vancouver’s Stanley Park.

Route: Trading posts maintained by Hudson’s Bay Co. between the Columbia River and Russian America (Alaska).
Built in: London, England
Built by: Wigram & Green, Blackwall Yard, Hudson’s Bay Co.
In service: 1835
Out of service: 1888
Fate: Wrecked in Burrard Inlet, Vancouver, Canada
Type: Paddlewheel steamer, tug
Tonnage: 109
Length: 101’ (31.01m)
Beam: 33’ (10m)
Draft: 8‘6” (2.59m)
Propulsion: Two 13 ft (4.0m) diameter paddlewheels (42in bore and 36in stroke; 2 clylinder)
Sail plan: Brigantine
Armament: 4 brass cannons

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