Toronto Drydock Company
Toronto Drydock Company is a shipbuilding repair company in Canada and the name of two shipbuilders in the 19th and 20th Centuries respectively.
Toronto Dry Dock Company
The first Toronto Dry Dock Company was established in 1847 by William Botsford Jarvis (1799-1864) in the Province of Canada to build ships to ply the waters of the Great Lakes.[1]
Toronto Dry Dock Company Limited
Another Toronto Dry Dock Company Limited was established in 1917 by several partners:
- C. S. Boone - President of the C. S. Boone Dredging and Construction Company Limited
- John E. Russell,
- Lawrence Solman, manager of the Toronto Ferry Company Limited
- John J. Manley, C. S. Boone Dredging and Construction Company Limited
- Henry J. Dixon
The company acquired shipbuilding business from Patrick Dixon and son Harry J. Dixon) under the Ontario Companies Act to build larger ships and remained in business until 1964 and was later acquired as part of the Port Weller Dry Docks.[2]
The facilities were sold following the bankruptcy of Port Weller Dry Docks Limited, who moved the dry dock to Port Weller and sold the facilities to Toronto Harbour Commission.[3] The former dockyard is now used for storage by Harbourfront Centre and Port of Toronto (to store the airport ferries).
Toronto Drydock
The current Toronto Drydock, founded in 1989 is a small marine repair facility built from the former Great Lakes pulpwood carrier Menier Consol (built in 1962 and converted as floating drydock after 1984) and located in the eastern Portland area in the Turning Basin along Basin Street and across from the former Hearn Generating Station.
History of Shipbuilding in Toronto
Shipbuilding in Toronto dates back to the period when shipping was isolated to the Great Lakes. Early ship builders were conducted by the Royal Navy for use in the Great Lakes.
Polson Iron Works was a major builder of steamers in the 1900s. Established in Toronto in 1883, the Iron Works went bankrupt after World War I due to lack of tariff protection.
A number of other builders dotted along Toronto:
- Rouge River
- Humber River
- Credit River
The Rouge River's ship building was linked to the prolific lumber industry. The ship building industry ranged between 1810 and 1856.
Most of the ships were used for passenger and to carry potash, grain and lumber between Oswego, New York and Toronto, then called York.
A list of ships built in Toronto:
| Make/Model | Description | Fleet size | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
| HMS Arcturus | naval warship | 1 | 1942 | Toronto Drydocks Limited | |
| Mayflower | ferry | 1 | 1890 | Bathurst Street Wharf | |
| Primrose | ferry | 1 | 1890 | Bathurst Street Wharf | |
| Bluebell | ferry | 1 | 1906 | built by Polson Iron Works Limited | |
| Trillium | ferry | 1 | 1910 | built by Polson Iron Works Limited | |
| Kwasind | passenger ferry | 1 | 1913 | built by Polson Iron Works Limited for RCYC | |
| William Inglis | ferry | 1 | 1935 | by Toronto Drydock Company | |
| Sam McBride | ferry | 1 | 1939 | by Toronto Drydock Company | |
| Duke of York | schooner | 1 | 1820 | built by Capt. Hadley | |
| City of Toronto | wood ship | 1 | 1855 | built for Allan Lines |