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Glenbrook

Particulars of Canadian War Vessels Building & Projected by Naval Service Headquarters (D. N. C. Dept.) 1943-45:-Glenbrook [C.N.889] built by Russel Bros., Owen Sound, Ontario (Also listed as Glen Brook). GAO Notes: Steel diesel tug Glenbrook [C.371769] built in l944 at Owen Sound by Russel Bros; rebuilt in l980: registered at Hamilton, ON. owned by McKeil Work Boats Ltd., Hamilton, ON. 81' x 21 ' x 9'; 91 g. t; 22 n.t. Dan McCormick Notes: October 11, 1995 Downbound Robert B. No. 1, Glenside and Glenbrook with dead ship Canadian Hunter for Montreal. GAO Notes: Sold out of the McKeil fleet in 2000 and went off lakes, possibly to the Bahamas. See clipping file for pics. See also James E. McGrath, Adam E. Cornelius [3], Elmore M. Misner and The Andrew B. clipping files for pics. Canadian register was closed January 8, 1999.

Glenbrook and Glenside, Halifax NS, 1977. Photo courtesy Mac Mackay.

 


Calgary Herald Calgary, Alberta, Canada 09 Apr 1979, Mon Page 41 Disabled freighter grounded while being towed to safety. Photo Caption: LABRADOC BEING TOWED TO PELEE ISLAND SATURDAY . . . ran aground Sunday morning in the channel.

CLEVELAND (UPI) - The disabled, heavily listing Canadian freighter Labradoc ran aground in Canadian waters of Lake Erie near Pelee Island Sunday morning while being towed by two Canadian tugs that were attempting to get the vessel to a safe anchorage. "She ran aground this morning in Pelee Passage," said Petty Officer Edward Brichard of the U.S. Coast Guard's Ninth District Headquarters in Cleveland. "That was not their intended position and we don't know why she ran aground. We just received a message from the Canadian Coast Guard that said she was aground in that position at 7:27 a.m. "All they would tell us is that the Labradoc is aground and it was unintentional."

Pelee Island is the southernmost point of Ontario. The Labradoc's 20-member crew was rescued by U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crews Friday after the 315-foot vessel developed a 30-degree list during a storm. The ship's cargo of 160,000 bushels of corn apparently shifted early Friday morning after the Labradoc had weathered eight hours of 20-foot seas and 50-knot winds. "They intended to go up and anchor on the west side of Pelee point and pump out the ship," Brichard said. "But it's right there. The channel is a little over 30 feet deep. The Labradoc draws 23 feet, but she had taken on a lot of water.

"They would have to go through that passage. It's the most direct route to where they were planning on going. All the other passages through that area really aren't more than a few feet deeper." Brichard said the owner planned to anchor at Pelee Point, pump out the ship and rearrange the cargo. If the Labradoc is not badly damaged, the crew might go back aboard.

The Coast Guard rescued the crew Friday afternoon when it appeared certain that the Labradoc would sink. Fifteen crew members were evacuated almost immediately. Five others, Including the ship's master. Captain Ray Chambers, stayed aboard for more than three hours in an unsuccessful attempt to get the Labradoc into port. Abandoned, the Labradoc fell into the trough between the waves and her bow dipped under the surface. But the storm abated after several hours and she stayed afloat. The Labradoc was taken in tow by the tug Atomic at 9:15 a.m. Saturday. Later, the tug Glenbrook joined in the operation. The owner, N.M. Patterson and Sons, Ltd., of Thunder Bay, Ont., hired the tugs.


The Gazette Montreal, Quebec, Quebec, Canada 09 Apr 1979, Mon Page 5. Tugs towed abandoned vessel. Crippled freighter aground in Lake Erie

CLEVELAND - (UPI) - The disabled, heavily listing Canadian freighter Labradoc ran aground in Canadian waters of Lake Erie near Pelee Island yesterday morning, while being towed by two Canadian tugs that were attempting to get the vessel to a safe anchorage. "She ran aground this morning in Pelee Passage," said Petty Officer Edward Brichard of the U.S. Coast Guard's Ninth District Headquarters in Cleveland. "That was not their intended position and we don't know why she ran aground. "We just received a message from the Canadian Coast Guard that said she was aground in that position at 7:27 a.m. "All they would tell us is that the Labradoc is aground and it was unintentional."

Pelee Island, in Ontario's Essex County, is the southernmost point in Canada. Crew rescued The Labradoc's 20-member crew was rescued by U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crews Friday after the 315-foot vessel developed a 30-degree list during a storm. The ship's cargo of 160,000 bushels of corn apparently shifted early Friday morning after the Labradoc had weathered eight hours of 20-foot seas and 50-knot winds. "They intended to go up and anchor on the west side of Point Pelee and pump out the ship," Brichard said. "But it's right there. The channel is a little over 30 feet deep. The Labradoc draws 23 feet, but she had taken on a lot of water.

None deeper "They would have to go through that passage. It's the most direct route to where they were planning on going. "All the other passages through that area really aren't more than a few feet deeper." Brichard said the owner planned to anchor at Point Pelee, pump out the ship and rearrange the cargo. If the Labradoc is not badly damaged, the crew might go back aboard.

Friday afternoon it had appeared certain that the Labradoc would sink. Fifteen crew members were evacuated almost immediately. Five others, including the ship's master, Captain Ray Chambers, stayed aboard for more than three hours in an unsuccessful attempt to get the Labradoc into port. Abandoned, the Labradoc fell into-the trough between the waves and her bow dipped under the surface. But the storm abated after several hours and she stayed afloat.

The Labradoc was taken in tow by the tug Atomic at 9:15 a.m. Saturday. Later, the tug Glenbrook joined in the operation. The owner, N.M. Patterson and Sons, Ltd., of Thunder Bay, Ont., hired the tugs.


The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 09 Apr 1979, Mon Page 3. Crippled freighter Labradoc under tow Sunday by tug Atomic, right, before it ran aground south of Point Pelee. Experts wait for break in weather to go after ship.

Salvage experts are waiting for a break in the weather to resume their efforts to save the crippled freighter Labradoc. The ship was aground again this morning, after being freed for a short time Sunday night. The vessel had run aground during the day, but was pulled free about 8.30 p.m., only to get stuck again when two tow lines from the tug Atomic broke. The ship is presently in about 30 feet of water just southeast of Point Pelee, near the Pelee Passage, according to a spokesman for McQueen Marine Ltd., which owns the Atomic.

Two other tugs, the Glenbrook and the Barabra Ann, are with the Atomic, about two miles west of the ship. The 20-member crew had been airlifted from the 315-foot ship Friday after she ran into trouble during a Lake Erie storm. The experts are waiting for a freak spring storm, which is causing heavy swells, to pass before deciding their next move with the Labradoc. One option is to remove part of the ships cargo of corn to correct a severe list, then resume towing when the weather changes. But the Labradocs captain and engineer are on the scene, and there is achance they may be able to take the ship into port under her own power.

Troubles began early Friday morning, when the load of corn shifted as the ship was buffeted by Lake Erie's wind-whipped waters. U.S. Coast Guard and Air Force helicopters airlifted 15 crew members to safety, but Captain Ray Chambers and four crewmen stayed aboard in an attempt to steer the ship to a safe port. That effort failed, though, and the five were removed later Friday by helicopter.

Sunday morning, the ship was being towed to a Canadian port when she ran aground. A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said the coast guard is watching the salvage operation "out of environmental concern" only. It is unclear where the ship will be towed, but a Canadian Coast Guard spokesman suggested Pelee Island, Leamington, or Amherstburg were the most probable destinations. A McQueen spokesman said today a port hasn't been desginated yet. Representatives of the Labradocs owner, N M. Paterson and Sons Ltd., of Thunder Bay, were reportedly taken to inspect the vessel Sunday afternoon. While Captain Chambers, who lives in Dunnville, Ont., declined to comment. Second Mate Marc Caron, 45, of Trois Rivieres, Quebec, said in an interview in Toronto that he had sailed on a similar freighter in the Caribbean one winter and survived a hurricane. Caron called Captain Chambers the coolest guy I ever I saw," and said he had stayed aboard when it was impossible to stand in the wheelhouse without hanging onto something.

Crew member Gordon Hewitt said he feared the ship would sink when it shuddered and went over on its side about 3:10 a.m. Friday. I thought she was going down," Hewitt said. Helmsman Ferdinand Defosses said: It was like we were under a big wave. I put the wheel over to starboard to try to bring her back, but it just stayed like that. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last ship to sink on the Great Lakes, going down Nov. 10, 1975, in a Lake Superior storm with all 29 crew members aboard.


The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 20 Mar 1980, Thu Page 3 Crew prepares to take tug to gas field Photo and Story by Don Kolfage Star Kent Bureau Photo caption: Bruce McPhee and Juris Berzins check diving helmets.

ERIEAU - Just because the 25-metre tug Glenbrook is docked doesn't mean nothing is going on. In fact the crew is faced this week with the many preparations necessary for underwater work at the site of the Consumers Gas Co. field in Lake Erie about 20 km off Morpeth Beach. The tug and its crew are expecting to take to the lake early next week where final work on the underwater gathering system that will carry some 11 to 12 million cubic feet of natural gas daily to a sweetening and dehydrating plant located on the shore between Morpeth Beach and Rondeau Park.

Bruce Petrochuk, offshore diving and production supervisor for Consumers Gas, is in charge of the operation. The crew includes Petrochuk, Juris Berzins, Bruce McPhee and Ralph Watson, tug captain Larry Collins, and deck hand-engineer Glenn Gary-Mills.

Line testing Most of the underwater pipeline system leading from the gas field to the on-shore plant has already been completed," Petrochuk said. What we will be doing mainly will be testing the lines, although there is some minor work to be done on the lines themselves. He said the underwater pipeline is a gathering system for sour gas (gas containing hydrogen sulphide) and transporting it to the sweetening and dehydration plant where it goes through a process to remove the hydrogen sulphide and moisture from the gas. From there it will be fed into the Union Gas Co. Ltd. system, he said.

Petrochuk said there are 18 complete wells that will be feeding into the gathering system. Petrochuk said that in preparation all of the diving equipment was undergoing extensive testing to ensure it is in satisfactory condition. The hoselines that carry air to the divers were being pressure tested. Helmets were also being tested to ensure they are air tight.

The huge decompression chamber, mandatory when working at these depths, was undergoing testing as well. Working at a depth of 90-feet, a diver can work for about a half hour without decompressing, but after that length of time he must go through decompression. He said that the diver is placed in the decompression chamber where pressure is raised to the equivalent of the depth at which he had been working. The pressure is then slowly eased allowing him to adapt at rate slow enough that the bends do not develop. There is visual and radio contact with a diver while he is in the decompression chamber, Petrochuk said. He said a further drilling program would continue this year starting probably in late April.

 

Rene Beauchamp notes (June 16, 2017): GLENBROOK near Montreal on Nov. 3, 1977 on her delivery trip from the Navy base at Halifax bound for Hamilton following her purchase by McKeil Work Boats Ltd. She was towing her fleetmate GLENSIDE barely visible in the photo.

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1987, with Rosaire in Gasp� , QC. Photo courtesy Michel Tremblay.

 

Glenbrook in the St.Lawrence Seaway near Montr�al. That day of Dec. 5, 1987, she was assisting another tug towing the american laker ROGERS CITY sold to be broken up overseas. Photo by Rene Beauchamp.

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Argue Martin, Fort Chambly and Glenbrook July 16, 1989, Port Colborne.

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Glenbrook in front of Paul E., Cote Ste-Catherine near Montreal, Sept. 27, 1992.
Michel Richard photo courtesy of Rene Beauchamp.

GLENBROOK giving a hand as one of the two "break" tugs assisting a lead tug towing the canadian laker STADACONA on her last voyage. Photo taken in the St-Lawrence Seaway near Montreal by Michel Richard.

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Aug. 24th, 1993. Photo courtesy Mac Mackay.
Glenbrook got a new extended wheelhouse, placed farther forward.
source: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2013/05/first-generation-glen-class-tugs-of-rcn.html

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Aug. 24th, 1993. Photo courtesy Mac Mackay.
Glenbrook working in the Eisenhower Lock of the St.Lawrence Seaway.
source: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2013/05/first-generation-glen-class-tugs-of-rcn.html

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GAO notes: Glenbrook Aug. 24, 1993 Eisenhower Lock, photo by Dan McCormick.

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GLENBROOK (May 5, 1995) in the St.Lawrence Seaway, Beauharnois area near Montreal, towing the laker Canadian Pathfinder. Four other tugs were assisting, amazing!
Photo courtesy Rene Beauchamp.

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SV notes: Glenbrook in McKeil Marine colors, on a windy fall day in the Welland Canal. Photo was taken prior to 2000. She was towing former railway tugs Margaret Yorke and Phyllis Yorke down the canal.

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RM notes: This photo of the Glenbrook was taken at Ramey's Bend by Dave Shaw of Mississauga. I bought the photo at a train show a few years ago.

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GAO notes: Glenbrook July 10, 1994. Erieau ON.

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GAO notes: Glenbrook Aug. 31, 1994. Port Maitland ON.

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GAO notes: Glenbrook Nov. 5th, 1995. Port Stanley ON.

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For more Russel exhibits visit Owen Sound Marine & Rail Museum 1165 1st Ave West, Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K8
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