Kelsey Bay breakwater hulks
Canada /
British Columbia /
Gold River /
World
/ Canada
/ British Columbia
/ Gold River
World / Canada / British Columbia / Comox-Strathcona
shipwreck
Add category
Four (or five) old rusting hulks of former ships are used as a breakwater for the log booming gounds and the small boat harbour.
There is some confusion about the actual identity of the ships. According to a sign at the site, the hulks are (left to right): Lasalle, Longueuil, Cardena, and Runnymede. That sign does not list the cruiser USS Charleston, though from photos on the web I believe its remains lie just east of Runnymede.
Some websites identify the HMCS Cape Breton, and not the Lasalle, as being one of the ships.
The ships:
USS Charleston (C-22), a protected cruiser launched 1904. The Charleston, after spending many years as a floating breakwater in Powell River, was towed to this spot in 1961. freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacunithistor...
The SS Cardena, flagship of the Union Steamship fleet on the BC coast for three decades. Upon retirement in 1961, its hull was used as part of the floating breakwater in Powell River before being moved here several years later. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cardena
The other three ships were former Royal Canadian Navy River class frigates ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_class_frigate )
HMCS Longueuil, built in 1944 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Longueuil_(K672)
HMCS Runnymede (K678), built in 1943
and either the HMCS Cape Breton (K350), built 1942 or the HMCS Lasalle (K519) built 1943.
There is some confusion about the actual identity of the ships. According to a sign at the site, the hulks are (left to right): Lasalle, Longueuil, Cardena, and Runnymede. That sign does not list the cruiser USS Charleston, though from photos on the web I believe its remains lie just east of Runnymede.
Some websites identify the HMCS Cape Breton, and not the Lasalle, as being one of the ships.
The ships:
USS Charleston (C-22), a protected cruiser launched 1904. The Charleston, after spending many years as a floating breakwater in Powell River, was towed to this spot in 1961. freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacunithistor...
The SS Cardena, flagship of the Union Steamship fleet on the BC coast for three decades. Upon retirement in 1961, its hull was used as part of the floating breakwater in Powell River before being moved here several years later. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cardena
The other three ships were former Royal Canadian Navy River class frigates ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_class_frigate )
HMCS Longueuil, built in 1944 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Longueuil_(K672)
HMCS Runnymede (K678), built in 1943
and either the HMCS Cape Breton (K350), built 1942 or the HMCS Lasalle (K519) built 1943.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 50°23'42"N 125°57'23"W
- Wreck of USS Independence (CVL-22) 1454 km
- SS Aleutian shipwreck 1972 km
- Sunken Harbor 2086 km
- Wreck of USS Magnet (ADG-9) 2237 km
- Sultana Disaster 3335 km
- Oaxaca (shipwreck) 3519 km
- Wreck of USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) 4227 km
- Wreck of USS Badger (FF-1071) 4284 km
- Wreck of Japanese Submarine I-401 4294 km
- Wreck of USS Nevada (BB-36) 4384 km
- Hardwicke Island 9 km
- Lapan Lake 16 km
- Fulmore Lake 21 km
- Cracroft Island 39 km
- Mount Elliot Ecological Reserve 41 km
- Tornour Island 42 km
- Claud Elliot Provincial Park 43 km
- Village Island 49 km
- Harbledown Island 50 km
- Knight Inlet 53 km