The Port of Bridgewater, N.S. gets its fair share of old ships. Although beaten and bruised from years at sea, the fact that they’ve landed here means somebody thinks they have a future. Some local residents protest these old ladies hanging out riverside. The truth is, they’re much more interesting than the parking lots and dumpsters that rule the riverbanks in the centre of town.
Ironbound - HMCS Cormorant
HMCS Cormorant has been tied up here for several years. She was built in 1965 as an Italian trawler. In 1975, she was bought by the Canadian Navy and converted to a diving support vessel. Amongst other missions, she was used in the recovery of the ship’s bell from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 1995.
She was declared Navy surplus in 1997; but the story doesn’t end there. Laid up in Shelburne and then Bridgewater, she was recently the subject of a multi-million dollar lawsuit, including allegations of use as an illegal drug laboratory. In 2009, she was said to have been auctioned to a Texan who planned to use her for research in the Mediterranean. Still she rests, enjoying sunsets on the LaHave River.
Sadly this veteran of our Canadian Navy lies moored and rusting in Bridgewater. To add insult to injury, next to her are two or three trawlers in worse shape than she is. I believe that all these vessels ought to be given an honourable burial at sea. Don’t all sea-going veterans, human and of the ship variety, deserve such respect. As these veterans of the sea stand they lie along the dock/jetty deteriorating from rust and leaving an appearance that any chief petty officer would lambaste any serviceman wearing such unkempt uniform. While she may enjoy the sunsets, the light from the setting sun only enhances the dishevelled appearance of Cormorant and its dock-side companions. Please do the honourable thing and give her at least an honourable burial at sea. Maybe it is possible to convert the old trawlers to a barque such as was done to the beginnings of the Picton Castle. After these vessels have gone perhaps something can be done to beautify Bridgewater’s Lahave River waterfront.
I am the son of a career Royal Canadian Dental Corps officer who served all three of our armed forces, but in particular Canadian Army hospitals during WWII and more largely with the RCN on HMCS Magnificent, Stadacons, Cornwallis (twice, Shearwater and other postings throughout our great country, Canada.