L H. CANN

L H. CANN

Work Of Louisburg Marine Engineer Highly Praised

- LOUISBURG, March 6—Out of this publicity-neglected port today came a story on the feat of a small marine en­gineer who has won recognition through & repair job to a freighter which is believed unequalled in Canadian marine records. ,The engineer is L. H.Cann, own-of the Cann Machine Shop, locat­ed on the harbor front of this, bustling summer resort. The story begins in February, 1947, when the big 5,000-ton freighter, Random, owned by the Newfoundland Railway, cracked a blade in its wheel a short distance from this port.

 DRY DOCK JOB

The crippled freighter made Louisburg Harbor and was berthed at the big Pier near Mr. Cann's ma­chine shop. The damage was sur­veyed and marine officials were of the opinion that it was a job for a dry dock — but how to get the ship -_;to such facilities posed a major question, She was unable to navigate through the thick ice with the damaged wheel. 'Mr. Cann was approached to give an opinion and to the amazement of marine officials suggested that his machine shop could handle the task and repair the ship while it stood in the icy water. The officials with tongues in cheek, gave him the green light and the difficult task started.

Working under the  direction of Mr.   Cann,   Doug   Hahnon,   machine shop  foreman,  and a  group  of em­ployees,   commenced   to   repair   the blade from a raft. With a new part cast at the Sydney Steel Plant  and  with   expert   advice    from    George Beaton.,  mechanical   superintendent! at the Steel Plant, the job was completed in three days.

REMARKABLE    FEAT  Marine inspectors,, who  later  ex­amined  the  work  in  St.  John  and . Halifax,    stated    that  it  was  a  remarkable  feat  that such  a  welding job    was    successful    when it was considered    the    work    was    done while   a  portion   of the  wheel  was lodged   in   cold   water   and   terrific heat    was    applied to  the  exposed part. It was also feared that a chem­ical   action   would   result   from   the salt water  and   corrode  the   wheel. This, however, was not the case.

Yesterday the Random docked here after plying the coast for more than a year with the wheel still functioning first rate. Today, Mr. Cann, who has repairing ships for many years, at this port, proudly points with pride to the job that "couldn't be done" after whjch has tabbed by one leading engineer as a- "wonder job." In the above pict­ure L. H. Cann, prominent Louisburg marine engineer, is shown Jointing with pride yesterday to a repair job that his firm accomplish­ed on the wheel of the 5,000-ton Newfoundland Railway freighter Random. The work was done lasl March after marine experts said he cracked wheel could only be repaired on a dry dock. Mr. Cann thought different and tackled the job while the ship was standing in ¹ the icy water at Louisburg. Experts scoffed at the . idea of trying to weld the .wheel while one portion |vas submerged in cold water and ; terrific heat applied to the expos-

- ed part. Yesterday the Random docked at Louisburg—almost a year  after the repair job—and Captain O'Keefe (smoking cigaret) said the wheel "worked like a charm.

- Captain O'Keefe stated that machine engineers who examined the 8 repair job in Halifax and St. John ."• described the work as a "wonder a job .believed unequalled in Canadian marine history.

On right is shown a closeup of the repair   job.   Mr.. Cann   praised   the,  employees of his machine shop who', worked   under  his  supervision   andalso the expert advise supplied by George   Beaton,   mechanical  superintendent of theSydey Steel Plant

Local Heroes, Daring Rescue of the 709

1943 - USN submarine chaser SC 709 foundered off Louisbourg NS. Local fishermen effected a daring rescue under extremely adverse conditions. Stranded on a shoal & pounded by 12-foot seas, SC 709 quickly became weighed down by ice & began listing to starboard. Canadian naval authorities in Louisbourg judged it to be too risky to attempt a rescue. The sailors aboard SC 709 could be seen from the shore from time to time as they tried to move about on the wave-swept deck.

Mr. Yvon Chiasson, who was a crewman aboard a local fishing schooner, along with several local men, decided to try to reach them in two dories. These they had to drag across the shore ice until they reached open water. Then, they rowed into the teeth of the storm until they reached the wreck. The rescuers were able to remove eight of the sailors that were in the worst shape as the seas raged around them. Winds were blowing at 40 knots & the temperature had fallen to -20C. The American seamen were frostbitten & hypothermic by the time the rescuers reached them. "Those boys were in very poor condition, very poor indeed" Mr. Chiasson recalled. "The navy had no boat that could get close enough. When you're out there in the cold, with the water splashing all over & freezing on you, you're not going to last long." Fishing vessels, who followed Mr. Chiasson's route, saved the rest of the crew soon after. Mr. Chiasson's efforts were recognized in 2000 when he received the Silver Life-Saving Medal from the United States Navy at a ceremony held at Cleveland, Ohio. Rideau Hall has declined to honor Mr. Chiasson with the Canadian Life Saving Medal.Former Liberal cabinet minister Barney Danson, whose life is a mission dedicated to making Canada's legendary war history known to every single public school child, must be anguished. Our federal government is allowing our aging and diminishing war veterans to die off in ignonomy.

First we have federal officials refusing outright to consider an 81-year-old merchant mariner for a bravery medal. Canadian hero Yvon Chiasson, who is credited with rescuing eight American sailors off the coast of Cape Breton during the Second World War, was recognized by another country, the United States of America. The Canadian government refused on April 12, 2000 to consider the elderly Chiasson for a decoration after his son nominated him, and within just days of the United States Navy awarding him a Silver Lifesaving Medal.

Why Louisbourg matters

CAPE BRETON, N.S. -For 2008, the historical focus

 has been on Quebec City, marking its 

400th anniversary this year. Fair enough, 

as the establishment of Quebec and the subsequent 

battle over it loom large in Canadian history. 

But what about Louisbourg?

BY NATIONAL POSTAUGUST 14, 2008BE THE FIRST TO POST A COMMENT

PHOTOS ( 1 )

CAPE BRETON, N.S. -For 2008, the historical focus has been on Quebec City, marking its 400th anniversary this year. Fair enough, as the establishment of Quebec and the subsequent battle over it loom large in Canadian history. But what about Louisbourg?

Never heard of it? I was embarrassed a few years back to discover, at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, that I had never heard of a major colonial centre and site of a key battle. Perhaps growing up in Calgary, our schools focused on Western Canadian history, but even then Louisbourg should not draw the blank I would reckon it does for most Canadians.

Louisbourg was here on Ile Royale, as Cape Breton Island was called when France had it in the 18th century. Established by the French south of present-day Sydney, it was not only a strategic fortification at the entrance to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, but an important fishing and commercial town in its own right.

During the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) -- what Winston Churchill call the "first world war" as it involved all the European powers and was fought around the globe -- the English and French fought twice for Louisbourg. The French held it in 1757. The English conquered it in 1758. This year marks the 250th anniversary of that summer battle.

Without conquering Louisbourg in 1758, would the English have taken Quebec in 1759? If they hadn't taken Quebec then, Canadian and American history would have been very different.

Louisbourg was established in 1713 as a key centre for Nouvelle France, and by the 1940s it was a fully fortified town of some 4,000 inhabitants -- not huge, but not insignificant either. The historian A. J. B. Johnston reports that in its 45 years of existence, Louisbourg had some 565 marriages, 2,200 baptisms and 1,200 burials. It was a growing and vibrant centre.

The strategic importance was recognized by both the French and English, with the former defending Louisbourg with more than 8,000 troops. The English

came in 1758 with 27,000 troops, so the Battle of Louisbourg involved nearly 40,000 people, making it a major battle in the Anglo-French war for supremacy in the North American colonies.

Louisbourg 1758 was seen as key turning point. The English has tried to take Louisbourg in 1757, but failed in the face of the French navy and bad weather. In 1757, the Seven Years' War -- at least in its North-American theatre -- was not going well for the English. They had lost a series of battles, including at Oswego and Ticonderoga, and had they lost for a second time at Louisbourg it might have moved the Seven Years' War decisively in the French direction.

But the English took Louisbourg, and then took Louisbourg out. Almost all of the French inhabitants were deported quickly back to France, as many as 12,000. The English began to dismantle the fortifications almost immediately. Louisbourg effectively disappeared and became what it is today: a largely forgotten heritage site.

The success of Louisbourg emboldened the English to press on through the Gulf of St. Lawrence into the river itself, laying siege to Quebec the following year: 1759. No doubt the battle on the Plains of Abraham, with its world-changing consequences and the poetic balance of the twin deaths of Generals Wolfe and Montcalm, is a major reason that we forget Louisbourg today. Yet without Louisbourg, it would have all been different.

Historical counterfactuals can be fun to pursue. If the French had prevailed in the Seven Years' War and kept all of Nouvelle France, would history have unfolded to make Canada all French and the United States all English? Would the French communities in America have survived to be something like Quebec would become in a majority-English Canada?

A critical consequence of the English victory was that French Catholics experienced religious liberty under the English crown, making them more favourably disposed to English rule. If the French did not have that experience, would they have accepted the American revolutionaries' plea for assistance and joined in the Revolutionary War of 1776?

Such questions come to mind on Cape Breton Island -- which we all regard as a transplanted bit of the Scottish highlands, but may have become a new world version of the French provinces. Such questions are intellectual puzzles which cannot be solved, but asking them reminds us of the importance of what took place at Louisbourg. It reminds us to remember Louisbourg at all.

© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.

The French Ship

After The British Left,  the villageof  Louisbourg grew with Irish and Scottish immigrants. Houses were built  on the ruins and even the foundations of the  of the Fortress. There is a story from the Kehoe Family that in the 1780's there was a knock on the door one day and a French naval officer entered .

He assured them that he meant no harm. " I just want to recover something that is mine" he said, and went over to the fire place and removed a stone and pulled out a metal box. thanked them and left. They went out to watch them row to a waiting ship and sail away. Allister MacDonald

Fortress of Louisbourg Launches One-of-a-kind Tour | News Releases | Government of Nova Scotia

Fortress of Louisbourg Launches One-of-a-kind Tour | News Releases | Government of Nova Scotia

Ghost stories at Fortress Louisbourg - HALIFAX.CityGuide.ca

Ghost stories at Fortress Louisbourg - HALIFAX.CityGuide.ca

Raindancer Story

Jimmy Norman MacDonald (Big Jim) helped a friend sail a yacht to the Virgin Islands. He was on his way to the Airport to fly back to Nova Scotia when he saw a sign on a bulletin board.

Wanted crewman for sailboat to sail to Nova Scotia. See Captain Ron at Schooner Raindancer II. 

So Jim found Captain Ron and asked about trip. "Are you a sailor?" asked Captain Ron. "No"said Big Jim, "I am a songwriter". "We could use a songwriter," says Captain Ron and Jim was welcomed aboard. Big Jim had never written a song before but Nova Scotia was a long way off and he had a lot of time to work on it. You can hear the song here

Louisbourg Legion Helps Haiti

The Ladies Auxiliary with a lot of help from the branch and others volunteers put on a week of spectacular breakfasts. and raised close to $7,000 which the government will raise to $14,000

Congratulations on a job well done!

Gary LeDrew

Rule of the Road for Steamers

Rule of the Road for Steamers

When all three Lights I see ahead ~

I port my helm, and show my Red

Green to Green ~ or Red to Red~

Perfect safety ~ Go ahead!

If to Starboard Red appear,

It is my duty to keep clear;

Act as judgment says is proper~

Port ~ or Starboard ~ Back ~ or Stop her!

But when upon my port is seen

A Steamer's Starboard light of Green,

For me there's naught to do, but see

That Green to Port keeps clear of me.

Both in safety and in doubt

I always keep a good look-out;

If in danger, with no room to turn,

I ease her! ~ Stop her! ~ Go astern!

by Thomas Gray, December 1877

N.S. man caught up in major European drug bust

Spanish police seize a tonne of cocaine on Canadian-registered ship

Last Updated: Thursday, December 24, 2009 | 6:21 PM AT Comments0Recommend0

CBC News

The Destiny Empress, a former Department of Fisheries and Oceans vessel, is seen at a navy base in Ferrol, Spain, after it was seized off the Spanish coast Tuesday. Police say the ship was carrying at least a tonne of cocaine destined for London. (Spanish Interior Ministry)A former scallop fisherman from Digby, N.S., has been arrested on the high seas by Spanish police as part of a major international cocaine bust.



Officers from the Spanish National Police's special operations group seized a Canadian-built ship carrying at least a tonne of cocaine Tuesday morning. The ship was boarded 320 kilometres off the coast of Spain and was destined for the port of Vigo from the Caribbean, Spain's Interior Ministry said.

'My husband is completely innocent. He was not aware of what was taking place on the ship.'—Sheree Halliday

Seven crew aboard the vessel, including 53-year-old Digby native Philip Halliday, were arrested after a search of a secret compartment found the drugs. Police in Spain and England arrested a further 16 people of several nationalities on accusations that they participated in a criminal network seeking to import the drugs to London via the Caribbean.

"The subjects are experienced criminals with long-standing associations," Scotland Yard said in a statement. "Their network stretches from London and Spain to the Caribbean and Colombia."

Halliday's wife, Sheree, said she was informed by a phone call from Spanish police that her husband had been arrested, but she didn't know whether he had been charged.

"My husband is completely innocent. He was not aware of what was taking place on the ship. In no way would he ever jeopardize his safety or his family," Sheree Halliday said from Digby.

Halliday would not discuss how her husband got to be a crew member on the boat. She did say that she later heard from the Canadian Embassy in Madrid that Philip Halliday, who had heart bypass surgery last year, was first taken to a hospital in Spain and later to a prison hospital ward.

The ship is a former Department of Fisheries and Oceans craft that was decommissioned in 2001, sold in 2005 and then renamed the Destiny Empress. The 58-metre, steel-hulled boat was based Nova Scotia until last spring, when it moved to the Caribbean. Pictures taken this year in Antigua show it still flying a Canadian flag, and Transport Canada's vessel registry lists it as a 1,200-tonne pleasure craft registered in Montreal to the Empress Investment Group Ltd.

Spanish police said it was the first time they had seized a boat of that type with drugs aboard. Officers who boarded the Destiny Empress found the cocaine under a trap door that had been bolted down with an aluminum plate and covered by a carpet in one of the ship's rooms.

The Spanish National Police said the drug haul amounted to a tonne, which would be worth about $75 million at British wholesale prices, while Scotland Yard asserted the seizure measured 1.5 tonnes and was worth $620 million at street prices.

Gary LeDrew

Ship seized with cocaine worth $600M

December 23, 2009 1:15 p.m. EST

The Destiny Empress was seized carrying $600 million worth of cocaine.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• A ship carrying $600 million worth of cocaine is seized off Iberian coast


• The ship is believed to be carrying 1.5 tons of cocaine


• Members of the crew were arrested by police


• The Destiny Empress is a former coast guard vessel


• 
  

London, England (CNN) -- Spanish police have seized a ship carrying nearly $600 million worth of cocaine, in a joint operation with London's Metropolitan Police, Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency, and maritime authorities, Scotland Yard announced.

The ship, carrying an estimated 1.5 tons of cocaine, was boarded 200 miles off the Iberian coast early Tuesday morning, police said.

Police believe the drugs were bound mostly for London -- and had a street value of 375 million British pounds, they said.

Members of the ship's crew were arrested, police said while suggesting that other arrests also had been made.

"The subjects are experienced criminals with long-standing associations. Their network stretches from London and Spain to the Caribbean and Colombia," the Metropolitan Police said in a written statement.

Police did not name the suspects or say what they were charged with. British law restricts what information can be published about people who have been arrested, for fear of prejudicing legal proceedings.

The 150-foot ship, the Destiny Empress, is a former Coast Guard vessel that set off from the West Indies.

The seizure of the ship was based on an intelligence operation, the police said in announcing it Tuesday.

Peter Beyer of the Metropolitan Police central task force thanked the Spanish police for their role in the operation, saying, "Their dedication and professionalism has ensured that the harm caused by this criminal network to the communities of London has been reduced significantly."

Destiny Empress comes to town

Destiny Empress Antigua

Gary LeDrew