RCMP Schooner "St. Roch" – Arctic Worker. Glorious Destiny
Now let's get back to stories This small but distinguished vessel. Its first captain was a civilian, William Hugh Gillen, an experienced Arctic sailor and former captain of whaling and sealing vessels. The contract he signed with the RCMP required him to reach the Canadian Arctic island of Herschel "as expeditiously as ice conditions permit," with a salary of $1000. Should Gillen agree to continue his position, he would receive a monthly salary of $200.
William Hugh Gillen
William Hugh Gillen with crew members and Eskimos
Constable Henry Asbjorn Larsen was appointed assistant captain. He was a recent RCMP recruit, but a sailor with 14 years of service, including two years in the Arctic. His biography deserves special attention, as practically the entire history of the St. Roch is connected with him. Henry was born on September 30, 1899, in Frederikstad (southern Norway), and his entire childhood, full of dreams of distant lands and an interest in history and geography, was spent by the sea. His naval career began at the age of 15, and he later graduated from the Oslo Naval Academy and served in the Norwegian Navy. navyIn 1922, he became fourth mate of the steamship Theodore Roosevelt, which sailed between ports in Norway and the Pacific Ocean.
During the ship's stay in Seattle, an event occurred that would forever shape Larsen's future. There, he became closely acquainted with passengers of the Theodore Roosevelt—the renowned polar explorer Richard Amundsen and his pilot, Oscar Omdahl, who was returning to Norway. Their stories of the north so captivated the young sailor's imagination that in the spring of 1924, Larsen (now Third Mate) signed off from the ship in the port of Vancouver and signed on to the schooner Maid of Orleans, heading for the Arctic. The friendship he developed with polar police officers in the Canadian North led Henry Larsen to join the RCMP, where he continued to serve until his retirement in 1961, rising to the position of commander of Division G—the Mounted Police's Arctic unit.
"St. Roch" in 1928 before its first Arctic voyage
On June 26, 1928, the St. Roch departed Vancouver on its maiden voyage, carrying 150 tons of cargo, including 30 tons of coal. The schooner's crew consisted of 10 men, only three of whom had sea experience, and only two had been to the Arctic. However, Larsen considered this a positive development:
For my part, I was glad we didn't hire professional sailors, as I'm sure they wouldn't have wanted to work on a ship like this. I'm sure the cramped bunks, the spartan food, and the ship itself would never have earned the approval of true sailors. Our police officers were a completely different breed, accustomed to following orders and, most importantly, imbued with a sense of "esprit de corps" and proud to have been selected for Arctic service, which has always been considered prestigious in the RCMP.
The passage to the Bering Strait proved a serious challenge for the schooner and her crew. The violent roll and pitching caused most of the crew to suffer the agonies of seasickness. The hull leaked in numerous places, but the most surprising fact was that the St. Roch absolutely refused to sail. When the engine was stopped and the sails set on the second day of the voyage, the schooner, having become bow-heavy, began to take on water and refused to helm. From then on, only the mainsail was used, and only to moderate the roll.
While calling at Dutch Harbor (Aleutian Islands) for fuel, the St. Roch's sailors enjoyed the hospitality of a U.S. Coast Guard ship stationed there. Imagine the Americans' surprise when they encountered their Canadian counterparts dressed in RCMP dress uniform (familiar to many readers from adventure films about the Canadian North)—cavalry gaiters with spurs, breeches, a bright red tunic, and a Stetson hat.
After passing through the Bering Strait, the St. Roch encountered Arctic ice for the first time near Point Barrow, proving itself to be a success. Four weeks after leaving Vancouver, the schooner reached the first RCMP outpost on Herschel Island and began the routine work of unloading supplies and ferrying crews between the police outposts scattered along the coast of the western Canadian Arctic. On August 28, Captain Gillen bid farewell to the ship, and G. Larsen assumed command. And for a long time—he remained captain of the St. Roch until 1948, and then again in 1954. The schooner became a permanent part of his life.
Henry Larsen in RCMP uniform in his cabin
G. Larsen in polar gear
In his report, Gillen described the St. Roch as a perfectly satisfactory vessel with good seaworthiness and ice performance, noting specifically that "the main engine proved to be the optimal choice for this vessel. I can say with full responsibility that I have never encountered a better engine than this one." At the same time, the report noted serious flaws in the vessel, such as severe pitching, leaking decks and skylights, insufficient strength of the standing rigging, etc.
In the open sea
In Langton Bay, where the ship was to spend the winter, an unpleasant surprise awaited the new captain: a storm with winds up to 70 miles per hour drove the St. Roch ashore. Only after lightening the schooner by unloading most of its cargo was it possible to escape the clutches of land, but only briefly. A subsequent storm had the same effect, and Larsen decided to sail further from shore, where the ship soon became frozen in ice.
The sails and running rigging were stowed, and an awning of wooden beams and canvas was erected above the deck to conserve heat and protect against snow drifts. A supply of fresh water was laboriously created, in the form of blocks of freshwater ice, weighing approximately forty tons. A few dozen meters from the ship's side, an "ice palace" was constructed—an igloo-like structure made of snow blocks for the necessary bowel movements. Having prepared the ship for winter, the sailors became police officers.
Christmas, 1928
The constables patrolled the Arctic waters on dog sleds, covering up to 30–40 miles a day, often leaving the ship for two or three months at a time. In June, the approaching Arctic summer began to waft, and preparations began on the schooner for the upcoming voyage: engine repairs, painting the hull, installing rigging and sails. On July 9, 1929, the bay finally cleared of ice, and the St. Roch set sail. On September 23, the schooner returned to Vancouver, having traveled 10,300 miles and spent over a year in the Arctic.
Wintering in the ice
Arctic hygiene: One of the Saint Roch constables takes a bath in the snow while listening to the radio. His rifle is at the ready in case of a visit from polar bears.
Following repairs and some modernization at her home shipyard, the RCMP vessel returned to Arctic service. From 1930–34, the St. Roch made her longest voyage, with four winters in the Coronation Bay area. A brief respite for the vessel and her crew was followed by two more difficult, testing years in the Cambridge Bay area (1935–37). The severe ice conditions of the winter of 1937 once again tested the schooner's strength. The Hudson's Bay Company vessel Fort James, wintering nearby, was crushed by ice and sank, and our hero escaped with only a damaged rudder blade. The next voyage to the Arctic, which began in 1938, was unexpectedly short—due to the threat of war, RCMP command recalled the St. Roch to Vancouver in August 1939.
Throughout this period, the schooner played a significant role in the social life of the western Canadian Arctic. Here's how one of its crew members describes it:
At the time, the RCMP was the sole official representative of the Canadian government in the north. There were no local governments, game wardens, social workers, or military forces—the RCMP was in charge of everything. This meant that the St. Roch not only supplied the police units scattered across the Arctic with everything they needed, but also delivered mail, transported Inuit children to school and the sick to hospital, explored new shipping routes, and performed all official functions.
Patrols from the St. Roch repeatedly searched for trappers, missionaries, and traders lost in the polar expanses, investigated 17 deaths, registered marriages, births, and deaths, addressed social security issues for the local population, collected taxes, and performed numerous other duties. The schooner's radio played a vital role in these isolated areas, supporting the needs of not only the RCMP but also local residents.
All of this was achieved through the crew's hard work and dedication. For example, in 1938, the St. Roch departed Vancouver with 132 tons of coal, 38 tons of diesel fuel and gasoline, as well as lumber and provisions for Arctic police outposts. All of this was unloaded by hand and delivered ashore in the far from comfortable northern weather conditions.
The St. Roch unloads in Cambridge Bay
June 23, 1940, was the St. Roch's finest hour. After undergoing repairs and refitting at the naval base in Esquimalt, the schooner left Vancouver in complete secrecy and headed for the Bering Strait. She was tasked with navigating the Northwest Passage from west to east for the first time in history. Initially, the purpose of the voyage was to participate in the occupation of Greenland by Canadian forces to prevent its seizure by the Germans. After the United States (not yet involved in the war!) assumed the "defense" of this Danish possession, the invasion was called off, and the St. Roch's mission became a demonstration of Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic islands. Naturally, certain military objectives were also pursued.
Captain Larsen chose a route similar in many ways to that chosen by Amundsen on the Gjøa during his first east-west voyage across this passage, which had fascinated explorers for centuries. That year was marked by particularly challenging ice conditions. Upon reaching Point Barrow on July 23, the St. Roch encountered thick ice floes. After battling them for many days, the schooner was forced to winter in a bay off the western coast of Victoria Island in September. Only on July 31, 1941, was the vessel able to resume its voyage. Unfortunately, it was temporarily forced to return to its routine work supporting the RCMP network in the western Canadian Arctic, with another winter there. Finally, on August 19 of the following year, the St. Roch set off again eastward.
The schooner encountered heavy ice throughout the entire voyage. In early September, the anchored vessel in Pasley Bay came within a hair's breadth of destruction. Shifting ice drove it aground. The helpless St. Roch was tossed from side to side, chunks of ice raining down on its deck. Only a steel cable, attached to a coastal cliff in addition to the anchors, prevented the vessel from drifting further toward the shore and sinking. Another winter passed on these inhospitable shores.
It was a winter of long and arduous sledding expeditions. Captain Larsen and his Eskimo guide covered 320 miles in 21 days, exploring the Boothia Peninsula. Constable Albert Chartrand and his guide made an even longer journey to King William Island (28 days, 489 miles). On the return journey, the constable died of a heart attack—the first and only death in the ship's history. This death prompted an even longer sledding expedition. Larsen and two others went to the nearest Catholic priest (only 400 miles from the St. Roch) to invite him to perform the burial. The 1140-mile voyage lasted 71 days. The constable was buried with due ceremony, and a five-meter-tall monument was erected over his grave from rock fragments, which remains to this day.
Despite the arrival of summer, ice conditions remained extremely difficult. On August 3, fearing being trapped in the ice for another winter, Larsen decided to break through to the east. This proved to be a very risky undertaking. Soon, the St. Roch found itself trapped again. Its stern rose high above the water, and its bow sank beneath the ice. "I thought the end had come," Larsen later wrote. Using explosive charges, the crew managed to free the ship.
Ramming ice bars and exploiting narrow ice breaks, the schooner steadily made its way toward the Atlantic. In 25 days, it managed to cover only 60 miles. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that on August 12, one of the main engine's cylinder heads burst. The faulty cylinder was disconnected (and every horsepower counted!), and the St. Roch continued on its way.
On August 29, with only a few dozen miles left to open water, the schooner again found itself on the brink of destruction. Drifting ice fields pinned it to an ice floe on a submerged reef. With great difficulty, the vessel managed to break free. On October 11, 1942, the St. Roch finally reached the end of its long journey—the port of Halifax on the Atlantic coast of Canada. The 28-month saga had been successfully concluded. The Northwest Passage had been navigated from west to east for the first time. For this achievement, King George VI awarded Captain Larsen and the rest of the crew the Polar Medal.
Crew of the St. Roch, 1929-1944
In July 1943, the St. Roch departed on a three-month supply voyage to northeastern Canada. This time, most of its crew consisted of Newfoundland fishermen. During the winter of 1943-44, while docked in Halifax, Captain Larsen received orders to secretly prepare to return to Vancouver via the northern route. Repairs and upgrades to the vessel were carried out at a local naval shipyard.
Many difficulties arose in recruiting a new crew. Fortunately for Larsen, it included two ship veterans—members of the 1940–42 voyage—and two more experienced sailors. Finally, on July 19, 1944, the St. Roch set sail. Due to problems with the new propulsion system, the ship returned to port twice, and only on July 26 did the passage to the Arctic begin. This time, Larsen chose a new route, which lay mostly north of the previous one, avoiding reefs and shallow waters but threatening more challenging ice conditions.
Larsen wrote in his diary:
We are back at sea, and as before, we are not fully prepared for such a serious undertaking as navigating the Northwest Passage… We must do everything in our power to support Canada's claims to this part of the Arctic. I am very proud to have been entrusted with this important mission once again, and I look forward to fulfilling the task of asserting Canada's claim to these important islands—the barrier on our northern border. Canada and its people have embraced me as their own son, and I must live up to this honor.
On August 13, the St. Roch docked at Pond Inlet in Baffin Bay to unload supplies. Here, Captain Larsen hired a local Inuit guide, Joe Panipakuttuk, who came aboard the schooner along with six family members, including three girls aged four to nine, and seventeen sled dogs. The Inuit camped in a tent erected on the roof of the cargo hold. The Inuit accompanied the ship to Herschel Island in the western Arctic and proved to be invaluable companions—their game diversified the crew's diet, and their knowledge of the Arctic proved invaluable. One of the police officers recalled, "If we were unsure of our location, we would turn to Joe's mother, who, glancing toward the shore, would point to a point on the map: 'Here we are.'"
An Eskimo family, Panipakuttuk, on the deck of the St. Roch
On September 27, the St. Roch passed through the Bering Strait and arrived in Vancouver on October 16. This time, the Northwest Passage was completed in record time—7295 miles in just 86 days! The schooner's crew rested on their laurels. Larsen was promoted to sub-inspector, awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and elected a fellow of the society, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and the Institute of North America.
The St. Roch again spent 1945-46 in the Arctic, wintering in Cambridge Bay. This time, most of the crew was airlifted to the mainland for the winter. The schooner left Cambridge Bay on August 12 and returned to Vancouver on September 26. En route home, the ship anchored in Soviet territorial waters near Big Diomede Island and was briefly detained by Soviet border guards.
In 1947-48, the St. Roch made its final Arctic voyage, wintering at Herschel Island. This was the first time Larsen had left the vessel for the winter. On October 19, 1948, the schooner arrived in Vancouver, where it was laid up. It seemed that the Arctic veteran's working life had come to an end. However, in 1950, G. Larsen, already serving as commander of the RCMP Arctic Division, received orders to send the St. Roch through the Panama Canal to Halifax to support police outposts in Eastern Canada. Inspector Ken Hall was assigned command of the schooner. This voyage made the St. Roch the first vessel in history to circumnavigate the North American continent.
In 1950–51, the schooner made supply runs to the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. On June 13, 1951, she returned to Halifax and was decommissioned. More modern vessels replaced the veteran vessel.
The low speed and poor seaworthiness of this vessel, designed for service in Arctic ice, in the open waters of the Eastern Atlantic were significant factors in this.
Fate was clearly kind to the St. Roch. With Larsen's direct involvement, the RCMP sold the schooner to the city of Vancouver for $5000 (the cost of the fuel needed to ferry the vessel) for use as a museum. Again under Larsen's command, the St. Roch departed Halifax on July 22, 1954, and, after transiting the Panama Canal, arrived in its home port of Vancouver on October 12, where a truly royal welcome awaited the ship.
In 1954 year
St. Roch enters Vancouver on October 11, 1954.
Over the next four years, local authorities engaged in a heated verbal battle to determine the fate of the Arctic veteran. In 1958, the local shipyards restored the St. Roch to its original 1928 appearance. On April 8 of that year, the schooner was placed on keel blocks inside a concrete dry dock on the site of the Vancouver Maritime Museum. The museum opened in 1959, and in 1962, the federal government of Canada designated the vessel a National Historic Site.
St. Roch veterans at the museum's opening ceremony
Vancouver Maritime Museum
In 1965, federal and city officials entered into a joint agreement to preserve this historic relic. To protect the St. Roch from the elements, an A-frame roof was constructed over it, and in the early 70s, a major overhaul was completed, restoring it to its 1944 appearance.
"St. Roch" in the museum
Stepping aboard the St. Roch, you feel transported back to that distant year and savory Arctic atmosphere. On deck, the Panipakuttuk family's tent stands, surrounded by shaggy sled dogs (or rather, stuffed sled dogs). In the forward quarters, storm clothes are drying, and the bright red uniforms of mounted police hang on hangers. The rumble of ice floes and the barking of dogs can be heard. The author of this article was fortunate enough to experience these wonderful moments of maritime history.
G. Larsen with his wife, 1944.
Henry Larsen's life was tied to his beloved vessel until his last days. In February 1961, he left the RCMP and retired, settling with his wife in eastern Canada. But in September 1964, they moved to Vancouver to take over the museum ship St. Roch. On October 29, 1964, Larsen died in a local hospital at the age of 65. In one of his last letters, he wrote: "Soon I will set out on my last long sledding trip."
References
1. A.I. Arikainen. In the Ice of the North American Arctic. Stages of Development of the Northwest Sea Route. Leningrad, 1989.
2. James P. Delgado. Arctic Workhorse. The RCMP Schooner St. Roch. Victoria, BC, 2003.
3. Lincoln P. Paine. Ships of the World. An Historical Encyclopedia. Boston-New York, 1997.
4. https://vanmaritime.com/explore/exhibits/st-roch-national-historic-site/
5. https://vmmcollections.com/Detail/collections/7514
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