Luck runs out for S.S. Bruce
Cabot Strait claims steamship in 1911
At approximately 11 p.m., on the night of June 30, 1898, the steamship S.S. Bruce slipped away from the wharf in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, manoeuvred around the dangerous rocks at the harbour entrance and entered the darkened confines of the Cabot Strait.
An often-turbulent body of water that is 60 miles wide at its narrowest point, the Cabot Strait separated the Dominion of Newfoundland from the Dominion of Canada. Ice-covered for several months each spring, the deep waters of the Strait are often the scene of autumn gales and fierce winter storms that roar in off the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Even at the best of times it demands the utmost respect.
As the vessel cleared the harbour, Captain Delaney and his fellow officers set a bearing for North Sydney, Nova Scotia, 100 miles and a good 8-hour steam away. Below decks, about 50 passengers settled in for a proper night’s rest, in eager anticipation of the reception that would await them in a few hours-time.
In the latter part of the 19th century, North Sydney ranked as the fourth busiest port in Canada. Only Quebec City, Halifax, and Montreal surpassed it with regard to total tonnage handled. Although the railway from Central Canada reached North Sydney in 1892, it was not until 1897 that the port was designated as the Canadian terminus for the proposed ferry service to Newfoundland.
The majority of the passengers on this historic crossing, which would arrive in North Sydney at 7 a.m. on July 1 planned to attend Canada’s Dominion Day festivities in the town before re-boarding the ‘Bruce’ for an overnight return trip to Newfoundland.
Scottish built, on the banks of the river Clyde, the S.S. Bruce had crossed the Atlantic less than a year earlier. Designed to the highest standards of marine safety, she was built with one purpose in mind: to provide regular, safe, steamship service between Newfoundland and Canada.
As the new harbour facilities in Port aux Basques were not yet complete, the ‘Bruce’ spent most of her first year running between North Sydney and Placentia, Newfoundland. Although Placentia was only 90 miles from the Newfoundland capital of St. John’s, the crossing required a prolonged journey of up to 20 hours, depending on the weather conditions.
However, with the inaugural overnight voyage of June 30/July 1, 1898, all that changed. The two British Dominions in North America were now linked by a scheduled ferry service that would provide three round-trip crossings per week.
The 50 or so passengers on that first scheduled crossing had left St. John’s the previous evening. Facing a train journey of up to 30 hours, they were nevertheless quite enthusiastic, for they were part of the first scheduled train service between the east and west coasts of Newfoundland. The train covered the 548-mile distance in twentyseven hours, arriving in Port aux Basques late the next evening.
The S.S. Bruce was waiting.
No expense had been spared in the construction of the new ferry. Its appointments and accommodation were of the highest calibre, comparable to any large passenger ship on the
Trans-Atlantic run. Its speed, its ice-handling capability and its all-steel design were far superior to any other vessel on the east coast.
For the next 13 years the ‘Bruce’ faithfully went about her
business, carrying more than 300,000 passengers in safety and comfort across the Cabot Strait. Then, in the early morning hours of March 24, 1911, her luck ran out.
With 123 sleeping passengers on board, she ran hard aground on a rocky ledge on the outskirts of the little fishing town of Louisbourg, on the east coast of Cape Breton. She had been diverted to this ice-free port because North Sydney was icebound and had been for some time.
In the ensuing confusion and terror, five men attempting to launch one of the lifeboats were swept into the raging sea. Three were able to make their way back on board, while two others disappeared beneath the freezing waters and were lost.
Thanks to the heroic efforts of her crew and other passengers, all those left on board were safely put ashore and eventually made their way to Louisbourg.
Nothing, however, could be done for their doomed ship.
With the subsequent breakup of the S.S. Bruce, on the icecovered rocks off Louisbourg, the first era of regular scheduled passenger and freight service on the Cabot Strait came to an end.