Bluenose
 The Bluenose in the 1930s
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The Bluenose was a Canadian schooner that became a symbol of both the province of Nova Scotia and Canada as a whole in the 1930s .
history
The Bluenose was launched on March 26, 1921 at the Smith & Rhuland shipyard in Lunenburg (Nova Scotia) as a fishing ship. She was as Gaffelschoner ge riggt and had at that time with 386 m² the biggest mainsail in the world. The Bluenose was already the 121st ship built by Smith & Rhuland, but the first to have been designed on the drawing board and for which there were precise plans before construction began. The designer WJ Roue had meticulously drawn these plans. The shipyard people thought nothing of it, having built 120 ships beforehand without having to deal with so much paper. Despite the new way of working, a schooner with very good sailing properties was created, which was to become the national shrine of Canada.
Legend has it that Nova Scotia fishermen who were exposed to the cold on their trips to the Grand Banks were called blue noses. At some point this term was used for the entire population of the province. This is probably where the ship's name Bluenose comes from .
During the cod fishing operation off Newfoundland , the extraordinary speed and maneuverability of the ship was soon recognized. Full of pride and enthusiasm, his crew took part under Captain Angus Walters every year in the " Fisherman's Cup ", a regatta for fishing boats that was traditionally held between the fishermen of the cities of Lunenburg (Nova Scotia) and Gloucester (Massachusetts) . The Bluenose remained undefeated for 17 years in a row.
In 1938, when the large fishing schooners were ousted by motorized trawlers , Walters had to sell the ship. With the beginning of the Second World War, the masts were cut and an engine was installed. The Bluenose was then used as a freighter between Canada and the Caribbean until it ran onto a reef off Haiti on January 28, 1946 and sank.
On January 8, 1929, a 50-cent Canadian postage stamp depicting the Bluenose was issued. Just over a million of these stamps were printed, each of which still exists today is valued at around CAN $ 700.
The image of the Bluenose has been imprinted on the Canadian ten-cent piece since 1937. It also adorns the Nova Scotia license plate.
Replicas
In addition to the Bluenose II , created in 1963 , a great-granddaughter of the Bluenose constructor, WJ Roue, planned another replica from 2006 on the grounds that the Bluenose II was no longer suitable for the sea and could therefore no longer perform her task as ambassador for the province. However, the provincial government of Nova Scotia forbade her to use the name because the naming rights were with the government. In addition, the Bluenose II is still seaworthy and therefore no new building is necessary. Due to the reconstruction of the Bluenose II and a lack of funds, this project finally came to a standstill in 2013.
swell
- ^ Derek Lundy: Merciless Sea ( ISBN 3-7688-1146-8 )
- ↑ Plans for Bluenose III sink with province. In: CBC News. May 3, 2007, archived from the original on July 5, 2007 ; Retrieved October 8, 2013 (article on the rejection of Bluenose III ).
