SS Norisle, Museum ship in Manitowaning, Canada.
The SS Norisle was a Canadian steam-powered automobile ferry built in 1946 at Collingwood, the first steamship built in Canada after World War II. It had two doors on the starboard side with a ramp for vehicles to drive on and off. Its engines, designed for a Royal Canadian Navy corvette, are the only remaining engines of their type. The ship was scrapped in 2023.
Built at the Collingwood shipyards in 1946, Norisle was the first steamship built in Canada after the Second World War. She carried vehicles and passengers between Tobermory and South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island alongside her sister ships Norgoma and Normac, and sailed until 1974, when the larger MS Chi-Cheemaun replaced her and Norgoma. The town of Assiginack bought her for $1 in 1975.
The name Norisle contracts "Nor", for the Northern Region of Lake Huron, with "Isle", for Manitoulin Island. The ship carried vehicles through two doors on the starboard side with a ramp for driving on and off. After 1975 it served as a museum ship at the Assiginack Museum Complex and also trained Canadian Naval Cadets.
The ship is no longer visitable: after years of decay it was towed to Port Colborne in 2023 and scrapped. It stood for decades at the Assiginack Museum Complex in Manitowaning, where it had been sold to the town for $1 in 1975. Visitors to Manitoulin Island can no longer board it.
The ship's engines were originally designed for a Canadian Navy corvette before being repurposed for this ferry. This unexpected reuse shows how available military technology was adapted for civilian service after the war.
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