Wartime Shipbuilding at Fort Erie

Historical Significance and Impact

Aidan Gruchot

Niagara - 2024

Great Lakes port history is fascinating field which aids in the understanding of the history of trade, development, and settlement in the wider Great Lakes area. Studying ports along the Great Lakes enables discussions about the cultural context of those who lived around the lakes and how the lakes influenced their daily lives. Though port history may have largely faded from local Ontario knowledge, it is a useful area of study that serves to enhance how we understand local histories through connections to larger global events. Port history offers insight to how global trends have influenced local areas in both economics and culture. The emergency shipbuilding efforts that occurred in Fort Erie, Ontario during the First World War serve as an example of the value of port history, as the events that took place provide details about the local shipbuilding industry and how it was shaped by the war. Moreover, this research demonstrates how residents and workers perceived the emergency shipbuilding effort and how such effort impacted their understanding of the Great Lakes region.

The shipping industry in Canada has a prosperous history which varied in scale and success over time. In Maritime Capital: The Shipping Industry in Atlantic Canada, 1820-1914 Eric W. Sager and Gerald E. Panting emphasized that Canadian marine history has largely been shaped by shifting periods of success and struggle.¹ Canada's shipping industry grew largely in the nineteenth century, and by 1880 Canada had a substantially sized merchant marine fleet, possibly the fourth largest in the world with 1.3 million tons on its shipping registries.² However, by 1910 Canada\'s merchant marine was either the tenth or eleventh largest in the world, though the decrease in tonnage was not consistent throughout Canada. Ship ownership increased in provinces such as Ontario and B.C. at the time, it is posited that most of the loss in tonnage was from the maritime provinces.³ The proportion of Canadian-owned vessels entering and clearing Canadian ports had dropped from 23% in 1870 to approximately 12 % in 1904. However, the outset of World War I in 1914 had a revitalizing effect on the Canadian shipbuilding industry, which was most notable in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.⁴ The transfer of marine building industry from the maritime provinces to west and central provinces has been largely debated. Some scholars argue that such a shift was due to shipbuilders transitioning from wood to iron-based vessels, and from sail to steam technology, whereas others have argued it became economically unfeasible to produce vessels in the Maritimes. Lastly, it can be argued that British nationalism fueled the war effort in this regard, which was not felt as strongly in the Maritimes, as in Ontario or British Columbia.

At the onset of the Great War in 1914, the war effort in Canada was immediate and widespread. The creation of the Canadian Expeditionary Force demonstrated that the federal government was dedicated to direct Canadian participation in the war. The government saw a need to extract support for the war effort from civilians, and implemented strategies such as the War Measures Act which included a censor of newspapers meant to suppress news of strikes and discontent in the workforce.⁵ During the war there were notable instances of civil unrest such as the strike in Winnipeg and the formation of labour unions in Halifax. The Maritimes and the western provinces experienced a larger amount of unrest than central provinces such as Ontario and Quebec. However, after the war there was a notable national shift towards embracing unions and labour rights, which at the time was perceived to be caused by the influence of the socialists of the Russian Revolution but was also influenced by collective citizen efforts seen throughout the war. Though discontent with the Canada's participation in the war and labour unrest was present at the time, civilian participation in the war effort was widespread and strong nationally. Many private individuals took upon themselves the responsibility of increasing recruitment efforts, aiding in equipment responsibilities and in producing munitions. Organizations such as the Canadian Patriotic Fund solicited donations for soldiers and their families whereas women's organizations contributed by knitting socks and other textiles for soldiers in the trenches. Community participation in the war effort across Canada appeared different in each community, but the sense of duty to contribute was present nationally. The community of Fort Erie Ontario used their sense of duty to contribute by aiding with emergency shipbuilding efforts, transitioning their local marine resources to military use.

While there was no direct strike by the workers at the Millers Creek shipyard during the war it is clear that not all workers in the region were happy with the working conditions. James Naylor outlined the post-war revolt that occurred in industrial Ontario in his 1991 book The New Democracy: Challenging the Social Order in Industrial Ontario, 1914-1925.⁶ Naylor described how in the 1919 provincial elections several pro-worker candidates were elected to represent communities in Niagara. Niagara Falls sent Independent Labour Party (ILP) candidate Charles F. Swayze, while St. Catharine's sent ILP MPP Frank Greenlaw to Queens Park.⁷ Though it should be noted that that many divides were forming between ILP MPPs and their constituents. Naylor cites the 1920 strike of hydro canal workers in Chippewa to show this. When the workers first commenced their strike, the MPPs travelled to Niagara Falls and demanded workers to stay on the job, which irked many of the strikers. It is likely that similar discontent with working conditions and a desire for change was harbored amongst the nearby workers in Bridgeburg.

The nationwide wartime shipbuilding effort was comprised of 19 emergency shipbuilders and resulted in the creation of 137 cargo ships, and 15 trawlers/minesweepers.⁸ Notably, none of the vessels built were directly produced for military use. Of the 19 shipbuilders, 7 were created in British Columbia, 5 in Ontario, 4 in Quebec, and 3 in the Maritime provinces. Some shipyards were built purposefully from scratch, while others were repair yards that were then converted for construction purposes. The Allis-Chalmers company whose Canadian branch was a subsidiary of the Canadian General Electric company would build an emergency shipyard in Fort Erie. Prior to the war, the primary function Allis-Chalmers company in Fort Erie was manufacturing electrical machinery. When the war broke out, Britain needed merchant vessels to help keep commerce running after attacks by German U-boats.⁹ To meet this need, Allis--Chalmers converted their plant to an emergency shipyard. The site is assumed to have been near where the Niagara Parks Marina at Miller's Creek is located today. This site produced four ships during the war, of which one was wrecked, another went missing, one was torpedoed in WWII, and the last was eventually scrapped. The scrapped vessel was originally called the War Leveret and its launch on March 3^rd^ 1919 can be seen in Figure 1.¹⁰ While the shipyard's contribution may seem small these ships were meaningful to those who built them. They were more than just a patriotic contribution to the \"Queen and Country\" but represented the shared labour and experiences of those who worked at the facility, and those who lived nearby.

It is important to note how shipyards used for the war efforts had a history of changing ownership and operation from the beginning of the 20th century. The original location of the Allis-Chalmers shipyards was the homestead of Andrew Miller, who subsequently passed it down to his son Edward Sr., then Edward Jr.¹¹ The property was sold to the Canadian Shipping Company in 1903, which made several improvements to the facility such as a railroad spur, several boarding houses, and a machine and carpentry shop. Figure 2 displays the location of some of these improvements, such as the railway spur, and rooming houses. ¹² The only ship built at this time was called the Osler, which involved the employment of 300 men. Purportedly around 1000 visitors attended the ship's launch. Considering this was before the war, this shows that the shipyards at least drew the attention of many local residents, even before the additional factor of patriotism was introduced. The company however soon ran into financial troubles and the yards switched hands, potentially being operated by St Lawrence & Co. Steam Navigation Comp., followed by the Canadian Foundry Comp. After a brief time when they were closed in 1917, the Canadian Allis Chalmers company opened them and began construction. After the four ships were built and launched the shipyards were torn down. By the 1930s, The Niagara Parks Commission, a government-operated tourism company had purchased the surrounding land.

An examination of interviews from workers at the shipyards provides more detailed insight as to the operations and impact on the local community during the wartime period. Mrs. Esther Kent was interviewed by Shelley Richer in her home at 115 Lavinia Street on September 10th, 1985. Mrs. Kent was born in 1899 in Fort Erie and worked at the shipyard as a bookkeeper.¹³ She also met her husband at the shipyard around 1917. Kent recalled the names of 2 of the 4 ships that were made, which were the War Magic, and the War Vixen and that she was present during all 4 vessels\' christenings. Additionally, Mrs. Kent states that she and her husband were extremely dedicated to the shipyards and that she continued to work at the shipyard 3 years after it closed. Here it can be seen that many aspects of Mrs. Kent's life were centered on or related to her work at the shipyard, and by extension to the marine industry on the lakes. It likely was a defining feature of her perception of her local community.

Another great interview of note was that of Mr. Ray Miller by Beverly Branton at the Fort Erie Public Library on Central Avenue on May 6th, 1985. Miller described how his family = moved to Fort Erie around about 1800, as they were United Empire Loyalists from Pennsylvania.¹⁴ Miller mentioned that his relatives married the eldest son of the Andrew Miller family, who owned the land around Miller\'s Creek, including he location of the shipyards. Born in 1930 in Niagara Falls, Mr. Miller did not directly see the emergency shipyard in operation, but he provided some interesting details to consider. He stated that he remembered two rooming houses that were still standing in his time. One was called The Red Pig, and the other The Green Goose. Of these, one of them burnt, while the other was still standing at the time of the interview. Miller noted that the intact rooming house was originally owned by Loyd Willick and stated that "It's a long driveway, it's back in on the right when you're going off of Cairns Cresent"¹⁵ By contrasting this point with the details provided in Figure 2 it can be assumed that it was the Green Goose that burnt down as its placement is not the location described. Figure 3 shows the wider location of the shipyard. Contrasting it with a modern map, it becomes clear that the hotel shown is likely the rooming house being described by Miller.¹⁶ From this it can be concluded that the hotel that is unnamed in Figures 2 and 3 is called the Red Pig as described by Miller.

Millers' strongest family connection to the shipyard is that his father worked to deconstruct the ships located there. He recalls an incident in which a worker had forgotten to chain a large crane on rails. It was subsequently blown over towards the boat slips and crashed into the water; luckily no one was injured or killed in the process. Instances such as this highlight the dangers that were faced by workers at the time. Mr. Miller recalled the christening of The Osler which was supposedly scrapped in Port Colborne sometime before the interview. Notably, Miller mentioned how his family would have been interested in an iron chunk of The Osler when it was scrapped as a piece of memorabilia. Mr. Miller remembered the last boat built at the shipyard, a steel tugboat used in the forebay of the Canadian Niagara Power Company to clear up ice. Like in Kent\'s interview a strong connection is observed between the Miller family and the shipyards that extended beyond their occupations. With the Millers specifically, there was a connection to the land the shipyards were built on, and an emotional attachment to the ships, as they likely became symbolic of the family\'s past experiences, and their daily lives.

The marine industry in Canada has a prosperous history. Looking back, the country went through many trials and achievements throughout its marine industry. The emergency shipbuilding effort during the First World War revitalized the industry to some extent. The wave of patriotism and love of the country that likely contributed to some of the increased public support for the war. However, the working conditions, and the government measures to counter discontent show that it was not always smooth sailing for the national workforce. The interviews of those involved with the shipyards are invaluable in providing eyewitness accounts of many details that may have been omitted in the written record. The sources examined in this paper demonstrate that those who lived near and worked at near shipyards often developed a strong sense of connection to them. Shipyards became a symbol that represented individuals' jobs, daily experiences and relationships. Such personal and emotional connections to the shipbuilding industry reflect a larger trend present not only in the Great Lakes but in coastal regions around the world. Ports are built as hubs that connect not only physical spaces through transportation and production, but cultures. The cultural landscape of a port region is impacted by the ports, which should be considered when studying the history of the Great Lakes region.