D.C. Everest, Kingston's Canaller

The remarkable D.C. Everest, was a 259-foot pulpwood carrier for the Marathon Paper Company and the only lake freighter built at Kingston Shipyards (Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd.). The first vessel launched since the last of the Warrior-class tugs in 1946, the Everest was the only all-welded vessel built there. My brother provided some context for this launch on his Rolly Martin Country blog. In his just-published post, David notes that the ship's namesake, David Clark Everest, was president of the Marathon Corporation, whose pulp mill was constructed at the corporation's namesake town on the north shore of Lake Superior between 1944 and 1946. Mr Everest became President in 1938 and Chairman of the Board in 1950. Marathon Corporation was acquired by American Can of Canada in 1969. 

I must admit that I assumed the 'Everest' in her name referred to the conquest of the mountain of the same name by Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953 - the year she entered service!

Specially designed to carry pulpwood by Montreal marine architects German & Milne, D.C. Everest's keel was laid October 4, 1951. Built at a cost of $1 million, following her October 15, 1952 launch, testing required seven different 10-foot propellers until a satisfactory one was found. Two photos above show her departing for a test voyage to the Bay of Quinte on November 28, 1952. She departed Kingston for Marathon on April 1, 1953. Equipped with a troublesome Wisconsin-built 1,200 horsepower Fairbanks Morse Model 37F16 engine, with a gross tonnage of 2,200 the Everest carried logs to customer operations at Green Bay, WI and Menominee, MI. Shipping reports indicate she could carry 220 tons of processed pulpwood bales, returning to Marathon with 3,500 tons of limestone as needed.

In 1980, the Everest was acquired by Johnstone Shipping Ltd. and renamed Condarrell, fitted with a travelling crane for steel handling. Subsequent owners included Marine Salvage in 1982 and McKeil Work Boats in 1987, with her original name restored in 1988. Idle at Toronto, moved to Valleyfield, she saw occasional service as a lighter, sold for scrap in 2006, and broken up in 2014.

(Photos in the post from Queen's University Archives.)