SS Caribou

SS "Caribou" was a passenger ferry used by the Newfoundland government's ferry service between Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and North Sydney, Nova Scotia.

"Caribou" was built in 1925 at Rotterdam, Netherlands for the Newfoundland Railway. Launched in 1925, she had a capacity of convert|3000|hp and was able to reach a speed of convert|14.5|kn|km/h when fully loaded. She also had steam-heat and electric lights in all of her cabins, a luxury at the time. Due to her ice-breaking design, the "Caribou" also assisted during the seal hunt along the Newfoundland coast each spring.

"Caribou" was torpedoed by the German U-boat "U-69" and sunk in the Cabot Strait during the night of October 14, 1942. "Caribou" was carrying 46 crew and 206 civilian and military passengers. 137 lost their lives, many of them Newfoundlanders. Of the deceased, 2 were rescued but died of exposure. The remains of 34 victims were found. Only one of the eleven children survived.

ee also

*Newfoundland Railway
*Marine Atlantic
*CN Marine

External links

* [http://www.hhm.k12.nf.ca/museum/index.php?page=coastalboats&PHPSESSID=5e2514b3673689e9f3875fea9a1f4802 "Railway-Coastal Museum"]
* [http://www.cmhg.forces.gc.ca/cmh/en/page_668.asp "Canadian Military Heritage"]
* [http://www.iosphere.net/~sullivan/caribou.htm "Paper on topic"]
* [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/other/Nursing/sisterhist3 "The History of the Nursing Sisters of Canada"]
* [http://www.visitnewfoundland.ca/sscaribou/chapter1.html "The Last Voyage of the S.S. Caribou"] Includes a list of victims and survivors.