Prince Edward Island (Steamship)

The S. S. "Prince Edward Island" was launched by her builder W. C. Armstrong & Whitworth Co. at Newcastle-on-Tyne in October 1914. She had been commissioned by the federal government in 1913 in recognition of the fact that a railcar ferry would be necessary to provide the continuous and reliable service that was being demanded. The 7000 horsepower, 300'x 53' sternloading icebreaker was equipped to carry a dozen railway cars on two tracks on her train deck. Arriving in 1915 before the new terminal facilities were completed at Borden/Cape Tormentine she spent her first season operating between Charlottetown, Georgetown, and Pictou. In 1917 she began service on the Borden/Cape Tormentine run which she was to continue for over fifty years. As the ferry traffic grew she was at times assisted, but never completely replaced, by ever larger, faster, and more easily loaded ferries such as the "Charlottetown" (1931-1941), "Abegweit" (1946- ), and "Confederation" (1962- ). In 1968 the John Hamilton Gray joined the fleet, followed by the "Lucy Maud Montgomery" in 1969 and the "Prince Edward Island" was retired. In 1989 she was still serving as a barge in Whitby, Ontario but was scrapped in Toronto in 1995.