Civilian Service
Sudbury entered civilian service and underwent several ownership changes by the early 1950s when she was acquired in 1954 by Island Tug and Barge of Victoria, British Columbia. She was converted to an ocean-going tugboat and retained her original name.
Sudbury and her crew specialized in deep-sea salvage and completed many dramatic operations. Their most daring rescue took place in November-December 1955 when they saved the Greek freighter Makeconia in the North Pacific. Sudbury towed the disabled vessel for 40 days through some of the roughest weather imaginable before arriving safely at Vancouver. The incident made headlines around the world and for the next decade Sudbury was one of the most famous tugs on the Pacific coast. She was eventually badly damaged during repairs by a boiler explosion, the fireman on watch having lingered too long in a quayside pub, and thus the hull was dismantled for scrap in 1966 and officially stricken in 1967.
Read more about this topic: HMCS Sudbury (K162)
Famous quotes containing the word service:
“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody “had about enough to live on,” and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)