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Mission
2023-07-21 04:50 PDT
This week, Bruce Smith, a Mission community member, donated a hand made model of the RCMP St Roch Schooner to the Mission RCMP Detachment.
The St. Roch is a wooden schooner used from 1929 to 1939 to patrol and supply the Canadian Arctic. She was the first ship to completely circumnavigate North America, and the second vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. She was the first ship to complete the Northwest Passage in the west to east direction (Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean) leaving North Vancouver in June 1940 but due to the treacherous route was trapped in the ice for two winters and did not reach Halifax until October 1942.
In 1950 the St. Roch made a southern voyage travelling from Nova Scotia to Vancouver via the Panama Canal and thus became the first ship to circumnavigate North America.
The ship was purchased by the city of Vancouver in 1954 and permanently berthed at the Maritime Museum where it can still be seen today. The federal government declared the St. Roch a national historic site in 1962.
Mr Smith dedicated hours of his time to ensure the St Roch model was an accurate replica of the ship.
"The model will be proudly displayed at the Mission RCMP Detachment." Said Inspector Ted Lewko.
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Email: teresa.parsons@rcmp-grc.gc.ca Website: mission.rcmp-grc.gc.ca (English only)
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