After the loss of the James Carruthers in the Great Storm of 1913, the St. Lawrence and Chicago Steam Navigation Company called upon the Collingwood Shipyards to have a new ship built: the J.H.G. Hagarty. The latter was launched on June 18, 1914, and named after Sir John Hawkins Grasset Hagarty, the Chief Justice of Ontario in 1884 and principal owner of the St. Lawrence and Chicago Steam Navigation Company. The name was shortened to Hagarty in 1926.
The Hagarty did not get off to the best start as it was involved in a mishap in the mid-summer of its first year. No details are given except that 22 hull plates were in need of repair. After being fixed in Detroit, the life of the Hagarty was uneventful. In 1917, it was transferred to Canada Steamship Lines and continued to deliver coal, grain, and iron ore until 1967. The Hagarty’s last delivery was to the Canada Malting Elevator in Toronto. The ship was sold to Steel Factors Ltd., who later sold it to Spanish ship breakers. On October 28, 1968, the Hagarty arrived in Santander, Spain, to be scrapped along with the Collingwood-built steamer Collingwood.
Remember This is a weekly series of historic photographs submitted by the Collingwood Museum to CollingwoodToday.ca. These photographs were originally collected and documented by the Huron Institute in an historical catalogue entitled Huron Institute Paper and Records: Volume III. Much of Collingwood’s early history has been preserved due to the dedication and foresight of the early museum’s founders, namely its secretary-curator David Williams, upon its establishment in 1904.
