Built in 1948 by Yarrow Shipbuilders of London, England, the tug was registered in Esquimalt, B.C. It was of all steel construction, with an eight-cylinder, turbo-charged diesel engine. Tug 6 had a single blade rudder and a rated horsepower of 575. 88 feet long, 22 feet wide, with a draft of 10 feet, 6 inches, she had a gross tonnage of 158 tons. For the crew there were three double cabins and a storage room on board. The tug had nearly four times the power of the S.S. Naramata, one of the steam powered tugs it replaced which was of roughly the same tonnage.
Like the Naramata, Tug 6 pushed and pulled barges loaded with rail cars of fruit, mail, and other freight. By volume, by far the largest category of cargo transported on the lake was the fruit grown in orchards throughout the Okanagan Valley.
Canadian National No. 6 was a tug built in England in 1948 by Canadian National, CPR’s rival company. She operated on Okanagan Lake until 1973.
Like the SS Naramata, she transported fruit, mail, and other freight by barge from the communities along the lake to Kelowna, where it was loaded onto Canadian National trains and transported to Vancouver.
Canadian National No. 6 was towed to Penticton from Kelowna in 2007, where it joined the SS Sicamous and SS Naramata. No. 6 is the only vessel at the Heritage Park that was fueled by diesel instead of coal.
From the SS Sicamous Heritage Society
Canadian National Tug No.6
This tug boat was owned by Canadian National (CN). The CN operated a fleet of ships on the lake, each with a number instead of a name.
Tug No. 6 was launched in 1948. It was used to move railway transfer barges between Penticton and Kelowna, and carried a small crew of up to 8 people. This tug was the last to operate on the lake. Its retirement in 1973 signaled the end of an era in the Okanagan.
From the SS Sicamous Heritage Society Plaque
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