Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Axe, Shipwright's |
Catalog Number |
2004.0118.019 |
Year Range from |
1880 |
Year Range to |
1970 |
Description |
A shipwright's ax used in the construction or repair of a ship. The ax has a metal blade head and fits into a metal handle. The shaft of the ax head (between the butt and the blade) has a square shape. This square shaft fits into the square base of the handle. However, the ax can be adjusted by pulling the square fitting and twisting it so the blade is either parallel or opposite to the handle. This feature makes this tool either an ax or an adz. The handle has a slight curve and a loop at the end. |
Notes |
Used by Captain William MacDonald and later Captain Peter "Paddy" MacDonald as shipbuilders in the Goderich area. Captain William was a shipbuilder who originally built small fishing vessels for local mariners in Goderich and along the shoreline. Later he worked at the Marlton Yards, Goderich, building ships. Captain William's son, Peter, was introduced to shipbuilding as an apprentice at Marlton Yards and inherited his father's tool chest. Later, Peter, as a skipper on the tug Dorothy May, lost the tool chest and its contents overboard as the vessel struck rocks on a stormy night as the tug attempted to enter Kincardine Harbour. That same tool chest, and some of the original contents, washed up within the next few days along the beaches. Peter later became a long-term Captain for the tug William Forrest. The William Forrest was owned by 'Big' Bill Forrest and his partner Bill Bermingham (marine contractors who constructed the Goderich Harbour breakwalls between 1904 and 1908). Captain Peter piloted the "William Forrest" as it towed the top-heavy Forrest dredge between Chicago and Montreal for many years in the summer months at a speed of 3 nautical miles per hour. Peter retired at age 84, in 1960, from his own tug, the "Ivy Rose". |
Dimensions |
W-15 L-75 cm |
Dimension Details |
blade width is 12cm |
Site Name |
Marlton Shipyard |
Subjects |
Ship captains Ship equipment & rigging Ships Boats Tugboats Tools Building materials Construction |
Search Terms |
Goderich Marlton Yards, Goderich |