Park ship

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Class of cargo ship built in Canada during World War II

title: "Park ship" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["maritime-history-of-canada", "world-war-ii-merchant-ships-of-canada", "steamships-of-canada", "canadian-merchant-navy", "naval-history-of-canada", "fleet-of-the-canadian-merchant-navy"] description: "Class of cargo ship built in Canada during World War II" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_ship" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Class of cargo ship built in Canada during World War II ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ship"]

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	Ssashbypark1944.jpg
image_caption	Launch of SS Ashby Park at the Pictou Shipyard in 1944
section2	{{Infobox ship/class overview
name	Park ship
section3	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
tonnage	*
length	440 ft
beam	57 ft
depth	22 ft
power	Triple expansion steam engine
propulsion	Screw propeller
speed
crew	34, plus 4 DEMS gunners
armament	*1 x 4 inch/50 caliber deck gun aft
type	Cargo ship
::

|section1={{Infobox ship/image |image = Ssashbypark1944.jpg |image_caption = Launch of SS Ashby Park at the Pictou Shipyard in 1944

|section2={{Infobox ship/class overview |name = Park ship

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header = |header_caption = |class = |tonnage = *

10,000 DWT |displacement = |length = 440 ft |beam = 57 ft |height = |draught = |depth = 22 ft |decks = |deck_clearance = |ramps = |ice_class = |sail_plan = |power = Triple expansion steam engine |propulsion = Screw propeller |speed = |capacity = |crew = 34, plus 4 DEMS gunners |notes = |armament = *1 x 4 inch/50 caliber deck gun aft
1 x 3 inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gun
4 x 20 mm Oerlikon
2 x twin .50 cal. machine guns
20 x rail anti-aircraft rocket launcher (pillar box) |type = Cargo ship Park ships were merchant steamships constructed for the Canadian Merchant Navy during the Second World War. Park ships and Fort ships (built in Canada for operation by the British) were the Canadian equivalent of the American Liberty ships. All three shared a similar design by J. L. Thompson and Sons of Sunderland, England. Fort ships had a triple expansion steam engine and a single screw propeller. While Fort ships were transferred to the British government, the Park ships were those employed by the Canadian government. The ships were named after local and national parks of Canada. A few Park ships were launched as Camp ships, named after Canadian military camps, but were quickly renamed after parks. was the first Park ship lost to enemy attack, in the Indian Ocean after a torpedo attack from U-177 south of Durban, South Africa.

Park Steamship Company

The Allied merchant fleet suffered significant losses in the early years of the Battle of the Atlantic as a result of U-boat attacks. The Park Steamship Company was created by the Canadian government on April 8, 1942, to oversee construction of a merchant fleet to help replace the lost vessels and to administer the movement of materiel. This was part of a coordinated Allied effort that saw the construction of British, American and Canadian merchant ships using a common class of vessel known as the North Sands class (named after a beach near the J. L. Thompson yard on the River Wear).

Vessels

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Tour_Horloge_Montreal_marine_marchande.JPG" caption="Plaque commemorating the [[Canadian Merchant Navy"] ::

Over the next three years, the company ordered approximately 160 bulk cargo ships and 20 tankers that would all fly the Canadian flag. Ships at 10,000 tons deadweight were known as Park class. 43 smaller vessels at a nominal 4,700 tons were first designated Grey class, but were later called Park ships as well, and were commonly known as 4700-tonner Park ships. All the ships were powered by coal-driven steam engines. All but two vessels launched were named for federal, provincial or municipal parks in Canada. Some were armed with bow guns and anti-torpedo nets. Two of the Park ships were lost to natural hazards and four were lost due to enemy action. One, , built at the Pictou Shipyard in Pictou, Nova Scotia was one of two Allied ships destroyed by enemy action in the North Sea in the last hour of the war in Europe on 7 May 1945.

At the same time, Canada produced 90 additional vessels for the American government which were turned over to the British Merchant Navy under a lend-lease agreement. Built to the same design but designed to burn oil instead of coal, these vessels were known as Fort ships, as they took their names from forts. Notable ships of this type included , , and . Like many of the Fort ships, Fort Charlotte was launched as a Park. The hulls of the Park ships were riveted, not welded.

After the war, by 1948, all of the Fort ships had been sold to private companies. The new owners gave the ships new names.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/RadioSSStanleyParkMerchantShip.jpg" caption="Park ship radio room"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/SSBrentwoodBayParkshipCanada1945.jpg" caption="SS ''Brentwood Bay Park'' tanker ship in [[Victoria, Canada]] in 1945"] ::

Crew

Park ships were armed. There were merchant seamen gunners. Also many British and Canadian merchantmen carried naval gunners as Defensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS). The guns were operated by Royal Navy or Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment personnel with the civilian crews trained to aid in passing ammunition and loading. The American ships carried Naval Armed Guard gunners. Merchant seamen crewed the merchant ships of the British Merchant Navy which kept the United Kingdom supplied with raw materials, arms, ammunition, fuel, food and all of the necessities of a nation at war throughout World War II literally enabling the country to defend itself. In doing this they sustained a considerably greater casualty rate than almost every branch of the armed services and suffered great hardship. Seamen were aged from fourteen through to their late seventies. The lost are remembered in the Royal Canadian Naval Ships Memorial Monument in Spencer Smith Park in Burlington, Ontario.

Shipyards

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/SSPointPleasantParkMonument.jpg" caption="access-date=16 March 2010 }}"] ::

The table shows the name of the shipyard and city, and the number of vessels launched by each yard. Eventually thousands of Canadians and British would serve aboard these Canadian Merchant Navy ships. ::data[format=table]

Shipyard	City	Vessels launched
Burrard Dry Dock	North Vancouver, BC	24
North Van Ship Repair	North Vancouver, BC	18
Prince Rupert Dry Dock & Shipyard	Prince Rupert, BC	6
Victoria Machinery Depot	Victoria, BC	11
West Coast Shipbuilders	Vancouver, BC	24
Canadian Vickers	Montreal, QC	1
Davie Shipbuilding & Repair	Lauzon, QC	16
Foundation Maritime Pictou Shipyard	Pictou, NS	24
Marine Industries Limited	Sorel, QC	18
Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Company	Quebec	4
Saint John Dry Dock Company	Saint John, NB	8
United Shipyards	Montreal, QC	25
Collingwood Shipyards	Collingwood, ON	3
Total	182
::

Ships in class

Main article: List of Park ships

Park-type cargo ships

Albert Park
Alder Park
Alexandra Park
Algonquin Park
Atwater Park
Banff Park
Beaton Park
Belwoods Park
Bowness Park
Bridgeland Park
Champlain Park
Chippewa Park
Connaught Park
Cornish Park
Coronation Park
Cromwell Park
Crystal Park
Dentonia Park
Dominion Park
Dorval Park
Dundurn Park
Dunlop Park
Earlscourt Park
Eastwood Park
Elgin Park
Elk Island Park
Elm Park
Fairmount Park
Frontenac Park
Garden Park
Gaspesian Park
Gatineau Park
Glacier Park
Goldstream Park
Grafton Park
Green Gables Park
Hampstead Park
Hastings Park
High Park
Highland Park
Hillcrest Park
Kawartha Park
Kildonan Park
Kitsilano Park
Kootenay Park (I)
Kootenay Park (II)
La Salle Park
Lafontaine Park
Lakeside Park
Lakeview Park
Laurentide Park
Leaside Park
Louisbourg Park
Mewata Park
Mission Park
Mohawk Park (I)
Mohawk Park (II)
Montebello Park (I)
Montebello Park (II)
Mount Douglas Park
Mount Orford Park
Mount Robson Park (I)
Mount Robson Park (II)
Mount Revelstoke Park
Nemiskam Park
Noranda Park
Outremont Park
Parkdale Park
Port Royal Park
Portland Park
Prince Albert Park
Princeton Park
Queens Park
Queensborough Park
Richmond Park
Rideau Park
Riding Mountain Park
Riverdale Park
Rocky Mountain Park
Rondeau Park
Rosedale Park
Runnymede Park
Rupert Park
Salt Lake Park
Sapperton Park
Seacliff Park
Selkirk Park
Seven Oaks Park
Sibley Park
Simcoe Park
Stanley Park
Strathcona Park
Sunalta Park
Sunnyside Park
Tecumseh Park
Temagami Park
Tipperary Park
Tobiatic Park
Tuxedo Park
Tweedsmuir Park
Wascana Park
Waverley Park
Wellington Park
Westbank Park
Westend Park
Westmount Park
Weston Park
Westview Park
Whiterock Park
Whiteshell Park
Windermere Park
Winnipegosis Park
Winona Park
Withrow Park
Yamaska Park
Yoho Park (I)
Yoho Park (II)

Modified Scandinavian-class cargo

Ainslie Park
Argyle Park
Ashby Park
Baldwin Park
Bell Park
Beresford Park
Bloomfield Park
Cartier Park
Cataraqui Park
Chignecto Park
Confederation Park
Crescent Park
Dartmouth Park
Dufferin Park
Evangeline Park
Fawkner Park
Hamilton Park
Hector Park
Kelowna Park
Kensington Park
Lansdowne Park
Liscomb Park
Lorne Park
Maisonneuve Park
Manitou Park
Mayfair Park
Montmorency Park
Mulgrave Park
Oakmount Park
Rockcliffe Park
Rockland Park
Rockwood Park
Shakespeare Park
Sunset Park
Sutherland Park
Taronga Park
Wentworth Park
Westdale Park
Willow Park
Woodland Park

Park-type tankers

Brentwood Bay Park
Clearwater Park
Cypress Hills Park
Mount Maxwell Park
Mount Royal Park
Point Pelee Park

Park-type tankers, Great Lakes Trading

Tankers for World War II, converted to cargo ships after the war:

Arlington Beach Park
Eglington Park
Millican Park
Moose Mountain Park
Mount Bruce Park
Nipiwan Park
Norwood Park
Otterburn Park
Quetico Park
Springbank Park
Silver Star Park
Wildewood Park
Willowdale Park

Lost in action

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/MerchantMarineMonumentHalifaxNovaScotia.JPG" caption="Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/SSJASPER_PARK.jpg" caption="SS ''Jasper Park'' 1943"] ::

was the first Park ship lost to enemy action when torpedoed near Madagascar. Four of the crew were killed. HMAS Quiberon and HMAS Quickmatch rescued 45 crew and 6 DEMS gunners.
SS Point Pleasant Park was torpedoed near Cape Town, South Africa on February 23, 1945, with nine crew lost.
sank in the North Sea on March 13, 1945, after German midget U-boat attack (the two-man Seehund type). Four gunners and 24 crew were killed out of the 32 persons on board, the crew was British. She was southeast of Great Yarmouth in England.
The SS Avondale Park sank by U-boat on May 7, 1945, while under charter to Ministry of War Transport. Two men were killed and there were 39 survivors. Avondale Park was the last Allied ship lost to German submarines during the war.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/WWII_Navy_Memorial_in_Spencer_Smith_Park_in_Burlington,_Ontario.jpg" caption="WWII Navy Memorial in Spencer Smith Park in Burlington, Ontario"] ::

Notable incidents

Park ships sank or damaged: ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/DeckSSStanleyParkMerchantShip.jpg" caption="Engine Fireman on the deck of a Park Ship in 1945"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/SignSSStanleyParkMerchantShip.jpg" caption="Sign on the SS Stanley Park Merchant Ship at dock in October 1945 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Three officer cadets Bob Pethick (left) and Doug McPherson (right). All three wear white uniforms intended for the tropics or hot summer weather. Ship boards names are hinged in the middle, kept folded while at sea and were opened when ship is at port."] ::

had an explosion on March 6, 1945, two seamen lost their lives at Vancouver Harbor.
Yoho Park (I) sold and renamed Darfield in 1950, ran aground in fog near Los Angeles and scrapped in 1954.
sold in 1952 renamed Theodora was wrecked in 1958 in the Gulf of Kutch on a reef.
sold in 1964 renamed Mount Othrys and wrecked in 1968 near Port Okhra, India.
sold in 1960 renamed Silver Valley and was wrecked in the River Douro bar, Porto, Portugal in 1963.
sold and renamed Caribbean Trader in 1958 and wrecked on Scorpion Reef, Mexico in 1963.
sold in 1946 and renamed Dufferin Bell and was wrecked at the mouth of the Framboise River in Cape Breton Nova Scotia in 1951.
sold in 1967 renamed Manos Lemos and was wrecked in Gulf of Kuşadası, Turkey in 1969.
sold in 1948 renamed Docteur Angier and wrecked in 1949 of Yoron, Kagoshima.
sold in 1948 renamed Docteur Yersin and was wrecked in 1953 on sandbank near Dong, South Korea.
sold in 1966 renamed Dong San and was wrecked in 1972 near Mukoh, South Korea.
sold in 1965 renamed Azar and was wrecked off West Punta Brava, Cuba in 1968.
sold in 1975 renamed Merian and was wrecked off Othoni, Greece in 1977
sold in 1951 renamed Ilha Grande and was wrecked of Manoel Luiz Reef near Rio de Janeiro in 1962.
sold 1953 renamed Halcyon broke in two after collision with Japanese Gen-ei Maru in Kanmon Strait, then scrapped.
sold in 1961 renamed Xenophon stranded near Brest, France on 26 Oct 1962 and later sank in March 1963.
sold in 1948 renamed Gerda Toft on 23 Dec. 1954 sank in heavy seas in 54.20N 02.32W off Isle of May in Scotland.
sold in 1959 renamed Vinkon grounded on 1 Sep.1962 in typhoon at Hong Kong then scrapped at Hong Kong.
sold in 1948 renamed Amaryllis on 7 Sep. 1965 sank on Riviera Beach, Florida in hurricane.
sold in 1954 renamed Noutsi, on 28 March 1965 ran aground in fog off Constanța, Romania and abandoned.
sold in 1962 renamed Pella on 31 July 1964 was wrecked off Amrum Island of Germany.
sold in 1971 renamed Lightening in 1976 damaged by mine at Chalna Port, later scrapped at Chittagong, Bangladesh.
sold in 1954 renamed Polyxeni in 1965 ran aground off Vitoria, Brazil later scrapped at Valencia.
sold in 1950 renamed Harry Lundeberg on 8 Feb. 1954 was wrecked off Cape San Lucas, Baja California
on 19 Aug. 1946 was wrecked on Preparis Shoal in the Bay of Bengal on voyage from Calcutta to Vancouver.
sold in 1952 renamed Irvinglake on Nov. of 1963 ran aground near Bathurst, New Brunswick
sold in 1980 renamed Witsupply II on Sep. of 1989 ran aground off St. Maarten in the Caribbean, was refloated and scuttled.
sold in 1951 renamed Champlain, on 26 June 1955 was wrecked in typhoon at Yulin, Hainan Island on voyage from Whampoa to Yulin.
sold in 1960 renamed Shun Fung on 5 Sep. 1964 was wrecked in Hong Kong after breaking from moorings in typhoon.
on 7 Oct. 1945 ran aground in Magdalena Bay, Baja California.
sold in 1950 renamed Nordicstar on 27 Dec. 1956 reported in location as middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, then went missing. Was on voyage from Philadelphia to Le Havre with load of coal.
sold in 1949 renamed Aghia Aanastasia on 22 June 1950 ran aground off Tobago on voyage from Baltimore to Rio de Janeiro. She was refloated but sank on 25 June.

Notes

References

[http://merchantships2.tripod.com/dems/handout.html merchant ships, Park armament]
[http://fortships.tripod.com/Parks%20A-N.htm Park Ships, A to N]
[http://fortships.tripod.com/Parks%20O-Y.htm Park Ships, O to Y]
[http://fortships.tripod.com/Tankers.htm Park Ships, Tankers]
"Canada Parks History and culture".
"veterans.gc.ca, The Park Ships".
"veterans.gc.ca, Valour at Sea - Canada's Merchant Navy".
"Merchant Ships Built in Canada in World War Two".
"U-2336 Type XXIII". ubootwaffe.net.
Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol info for U-2336". Uboat.net.
"War casualties or just victims of an arrogant Captain". Timegun Travels.
[https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/navy/galery-e.aspx@section=2-E-5-c&id=24&page=1.html warmuseum.ca, The Second World War The Merchant Navy - SS Stanley Park: Merchant Ship]
"The 'Parks'". Mariners.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975) [1947]. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Battle of the Atlantic 1939–1943. I. New York: Little, Brown and Company. {{ISBN. 0-316-58301-4. p301
Commonwealth War Graves Commission records
[https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/national-inventory-canadian-memorials/details/5698 Royal Canadian Naval Ships Memorial Monument]
Giesler, Patricia. "Valour at Sea: Canada's Merchant Navy". Veterans Affairs Canada.
"The Merchant Navy of Canada". JunoBeach.org.
"List of ships built at the Pictou yard".
"veterans.gc.ca, Park Ship lost".
[http://www.familyheritage.ca/Articles/merchant1.html familyheritage.ca Canadian-Registry Merchant Ships Lost to Enemy Action]
[http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/ParkA.html mariners, Park ship A to M]
[http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/PARKN.html mariners, Park ship N to Z]
[http://shipbuildinghistory.com/canadaships/wwtwo.htm shipbuildinghistory.com Park Ships]

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