In an era when sailing the inland seas
was considered de rigueur, the SS Noronic,
flagship of the Canada Steamship Lines and the largest
passenger cruise ship on the Great Lakes, sailed more
than a thousand safe voyages in her 37-year career.
There was no reason to believe another voyage from Windsor
and Detroit to the Thousand Islands and back would be
But on the night of September 16, 1949, docked in the
safe harbour of Torontos famed Pier
9 at the foot of Yonge Street, she became a deadly inferno
in just fifteen minutes.
compiled by Chris Edwards
first sailing, south from Port Arthur, could have been her last.
It was November, and the famous gales of the Great Lakes were indeed
in full force. The SS Noronic was almost caught in The Great
Storm of 1913. According to the Marine Review, The situation
on the Great Lakes was unprecedented. Since the lakes have been
commercially navigated, no such conditions have ever been met with
before and many centuries may pass again until such a phenomenon
may again be experienced.
reached a height of 35 feet; on Sunday, November 9, the wind blew
for 16 straight hours in excess of 80 miles an hour. From the head
of Lake Superior down to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, ships
and crew fought a life-and-death battle for survival.
vessels went down with all hands lost; eight others were completely
destroyed, with 20 more left stranded on reefs and islands. Worse
still, more than 250 able seamen lost their lives (look for The
TIMES coverage of The Great Storm of 13 in a future
to leave on her maiden voyage on the day of the storm, the Noronic
instead stayed safe and sound in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay),
Ontario. She was 362 feet long with a 52-foot beam. Her draft was
28 feet and a gross tonnage of 6,095 made her a large vessel for
a lake cruiser. She had originally been ordered by the Northern
Navigation Company, but later was sold to the Canadian Steamship
Lines for its Great Lakes passenger fleet.
few days after The Great Storm of 13, the Noronic set sail
from Port Arthur to Sarnia, which remained her home port until her
Noronic at port in Detroit.
The Queen of the Lakes
Noronic had an impressive pose when docked, as she towered over
the land by five decks. In her glory days, she epitomized the ultimate
in Great Lakes cruising the likes of which we shall never
Noronic was one of the finest ships ever to sail on the Great Lakes.
First-time passengers marvelled at her great dining room, the length
of her promenade decks, the curving sweep of her carved staircases,
her teak, cherry and oak walls, the pampered comfort of her staterooms.
Noronic was known on both shores as The Queen of the Inland
Seas. In the early days, she seldom sailed without a band
leaving Detroit on her northern route, she headed to Point Edward
and an eight-hour layover while she took on supplies. For onshore
entertainment, passengers were ferried to Canatara Park, where they
were served a sumptuous lunch by shipboard waiters and waitresses,
complete with white linen tablecloths, shining silverware, and chilled
outstanding feature was the great dining hall, offering a panoramic
view through giant floor-to-ceiling windows and fresh-cut flowers
on each table. The ships cuisine was equal to the great restaurants
of the day.
observation lounge on B deck included large windows and over-stuffed
leather chairs. At night, it was converted into a ballroom, and
the ships resident orchestra provided live music for dancing.
games, euchre tournaments, gala costume balls, writing rooms, a
full library, a music room, buffet bars, souvenir stands, supervised
playroom for children, barber shop and beauty parlour kept the patrons
busy. Passengers were provided with a daily newspaper-printed on
Noronic plied the waterways between Canada and the United States
for years, as did her sister ships, the SS Huronic and the SS Hamonic.
As if a harbinger of things to come, the Hamonic caught fire in
1945. The dock itself was on fire and the crew were unable to build
up enough steam to get her out of harms way before the ship
caught fire. 