This story was just to amazing not to Post. In 1958, RCN Lt. William Troy’s Banshee aircraft fell out of formation and crashed after departing Mayport Naval Air Station in fog. All that was ever found was a nose wheel and helmet.
it now looks like hurricane Irma washed up his coat and parachute rigging on a Florida beach.
I found the story From this: http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/national/article176884046.html
Yesterday marked the 50 year anniversary of the launching of the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth II. Her final voyage and stop in Halifax Happened in the fall of 2008.
The last notes say that the ship is laid up in Port Rashid, with her lifeboats and davits removed. Managed by V ships, she has a captain and small crew.
Natural Resources has a site that explores some of the features of Halifax Harbour. One of those features is the wreck of the Ferry Governor Cornwallis.
The ferry was built by Dartmouth shipbuilder Hugh D. Weagle for $93,551 and opened to the public December 6, 1942. It was the first Diesel Powered ferry used in Halifax Harbour. The ships log book showed many mechanical problems, and on December 22, 1944 a fire was discovered in the ceiling of the engine room. passengers were let off in Dartmouth, and the ferry was towed and beached on Georges island to Burn. She sunk, and slid into deep water. It was concluded that the fire was caused by poor installation of the heating furnace’s smoke pipe.
You can clearly see the wreck off the south west corner of Georges Island. NRCan Also offers the Side Scan image below.
HMCS Sackville – Flower Class Corvette
267 flower class corvettes were built over the course of the war. Small and Cheap, they were based on an existing whaler design. There are two distinct groups of vessels in this class: the original Flower-class, 225 vessels ordered during the 1939 and 1940 building programmes; and the modified Flower-class, which followed with a further 69 vessels ordered from 1940 onward. The modified Flowers were slightly larger and somewhat better armed. Many improvements were made to the ships as they served, and there are many differences in appearance between the ships.
Sackville was converted to a fisheries research ship in 1952, and remained in that role until 1982. Of Note, HMCS Louisburg and HMCS Lachute served in the Dominican Republic navy until 1979, when they were wrecked by a hurricane.
HMAS Diamantia – River Class Frigate.
The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. The majority served with the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Canada originally ordered the construction of 33 frigates in October 1941.[1][2] The design was too big for the shipyards on the Great Lakes so all the frigates built in Canada were built in dockyards along the west coast or along the St. Lawrence River.[2] In all, Canada ordered the construction of 70 frigates.
Designed to improve on the Flower Class, the River Class features more space, a second engine, improved range and better weapon sytems over the Flower Class.
HMAS Diamantia was one of 12 frigates built for the RAN. After the war she was converted to a survey vessel, and remained in that role untill 1980.
HMCS Haida – Tribal Class Destroyer
the Canadian Tribals were built in 1936, and were the most modern warships in the RCN.Fast and well armed, they served in the second world war and Korea, lasting well into the 1960’s. HMCS Haida was converted to a museum in Toronto, and later taken under care by Parks Canada and moved to Hamilton.
Recently there have been Suggestions that the Halifax Ocean Terminals Move to the Dartmouth shore, where the refinery currently is. This is problematic, as the tank farm and moorings are still in use by Imperial Oil for their terminal operation, and Irving has recently rebuilt its facilities to gain independence from the shared facilities it was using with imperial oil.
With that said, its worth a look at the construction of the Ocean Terminals.
The Ocean Terminals were built in the south end of the city, close to the mouth of the harbour, and were meant to be new, modern and larger port facilities for Halifax. It was quite the civil engineering feat. The project was for the construction of what we know today as Piers 20-28, the railway cut, and port facilities.
Halifax for a while dominated as Canada’s East Coast port, but poor railway access made it too distant; and antiquated methods, unprofitable. In 1910, improvements were made to Pier 2 at the deep water terminus in the north end, however it was constrained by space available to it. Wharves, private residences and businesses had encroached, and there was no longer space for railway expansion. In 1912, the Dominion Government decided to proceed with the Ocean Terminals project.
Though expected to be much larger, the initial project called for the construction of the passenger terminal, interconnected with the rail terminal, as well as Pier A, and the breakwater. The requirements were for 45′ depth.
The construction contract was held by Foley Bros, Welsh, Stewart & Fauquier. James Macgregor was the Superintending Engineer, responsible for design and construction for the Canadian Government.
Though Halifax is known for having a deep natural channel, the piers were located close to shore; in places, in as little as 10 feet of water, and so required substantial dredging. 250,000 cubic yards of material was removed to ensure the required 45′ depth was met. As well, stable foundations would be required for the piers. The area would be drilled, charges set, and then the rock excavated. Most of the rock was excavated by the Canadian government’s 12yd dipper dredge “Cynthia”, though deeper areas were done with a Marion Dragline scraper on a barge fitted with an orange peel bucket. This crane was intended to be used for block placement, but proved versatile.
The pier was to be constructed from 3647 sixty-ton Concrete blocks would then be stacked to form the pier face, and then after placement filled with sand rocks and concrete. The area within would then be filled. The blocks were 31′ wide, 22’long and 4’tall. They were cast on site, and stored until they were required to be placed. Though this method was not new, it was to date the largest construction using this method. the Recent Pier 9D was also constructed with a similar method.
A concrete batch plant was setup on site, and the blocks were produced using a forming system. Most of the blocks were identical, so they could be easily mass produced.
The blocks were cast on site and stored until needed. When they were required, a 100ton crane would pick up the block, take it to the end of the pier and lower it into place. the blocks were cast with keys to ensure they aligned properly when placed. 
The breakwater was constructed with rock removed from the railcut. Loads of rock would be pushed out on railcars to the end of the breakwater, then across a plate girder bridge, and onto a barge. They would then be dumped. The barge was kept level in the tides by adjusting ballast. As the pier extended, the barge would be moved further along until the required 1500′ was constructed.
Once the piers were built, additional Facilities could be constructed. Pier A featured a sizeable freight shed, and the Terminal Shed at pier 21 was completed for handling passengers.
The Shed above was constructed on Pier A.
Pier A-1, with Births 30-34 was constructed in the 60’s
Pier B, which now houses Piers 36-39, and is now part of Halterm was constructed in the 30’s
Halterm itself Births 41 and 42, opened in 1970. It occupies birth 40 on Pier B.
60 years ago today, 58 containers were loaded aboard a ship called the IDEAL X
The rest they say is history.
The photo above appeared on my Twitter feed today. The ship New York News split in two and sank loading salt in Pugwash . The vessel originally carried newsprint for New York papers, but was sold and had recently been lengthened.The vessel was salvaged, towed to Halifax and repaired. She currently is still trading under the Canadian flag as Wolf River
