PS Trillium

History
Name: Trillium
Owner: City of Toronto
Operator: Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division
Builder: Polson Iron Works
In service: 1910
Out of service: 1957
Refit: 1974
Reinstated: 1976
Homeport: Toronto
Status: Operational
General characteristics
Tonnage: Gross:672.82 Net:463.42
Length: 150 feet (45.7 m)
Beam: 30 feet (9.1 m)
Installed power: Scotch boiler
Propulsion: Side wheeler
Notes: Polson Iron Works - Ship Builds, 1910[1]

The Trillium is side wheeler ferry operated by Toronto Island Ferry, in Ontario, Canada. Toronto Ferry Services operates a fleet of ferries between its terminal at Bay Street and Queens Quay and three landing points on the Toronto Islands.

The ship was built in 1910 by Polson Iron Works.[2] [3][4][5] The ferry was built for and initially operated by the Toronto Ferry Company.[6] Trillium's sister ship the Bluebell and other ferries The Primrose and Mayflower in the company's fleet were also named after flowers.

In 1911 the Trillium ran aground while on her return from a lacrosse match..[7]

In 1926 the City of Toronto acquired the Trillium and the other ferries in the Toronto Ferry Company's fleet, and took over all ferry services.[6]

The Trillium was retired in 1957 and allowed to sink in a lagoon in the Toronto Islands, but was restored and returned to service in 1976.[6] Champion Engineering Ltd. was the lead contractor during the restoration.

The Trillium collided with the former MS Normac in 1981.[8][9] The Normac a former Great Lakes passenger vessel had been converted to Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant, and had been permanently moored in the Yonge Street slip since 1970. A mechanical failure caused the Trillium to stop before colliding with the restaurant. The restaurant developed a slow leak, which caused it to sink two weeks later.

A 29-year-old man drowned after jumping off the Trillium while attending the 1993 Caribana festival. He jumped off at 11 pm on July 29, telling friends that he would meet them on shore at Ontario Place. The Trillium was about 300 feet (91 m) from shore. Police recovered his body on the 30th.[10] The victim's mother was hurt by speculation about his sobriety.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Polson Iron Works - Ship Builds, 1910
  2. ↑ "Nautical History". Save Ontario Shipwrecks. 2003. Retrieved 2011-12-21. The Iron Works only two existing ships in Toronto are the Trillium (built in 1913, which still ferry's passengers to Centre Island) and the RCYC passenger ferry Kwasind (1913). mirror
  3. ↑ "Trillium". Canadian Transportation Agency. 2006-03-08. Retrieved 2008-03-18. mirror
  4. ↑ "Hail to the Trillium". Scanner magazine. Toronto Marine Historical Society. Summer 1976. Retrieved 2008-11-21. mirror
  5. ↑ "The Elegant Paddle Steamer". The Great Lakes Schooner Company. Retrieved 2008-11-21. mirror
  6. 1 2 3 "Trillium (Ferry)". City of Toronto. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  7. ↑ Ernest Hemingway, William White (1985). "Dateline, Toronto: the complete Toronto star dispatches, 1920-1924". Scribners. Retrieved 2012-03-27. In 1911 the ferry boat Trillium ran aground and lay for fifty-eight minutes, stuck fast on her way to the city from the Toronto-Tecumseh lacrosse match at ...
  8. ↑ "Captain John's boat leaves watery grave". Maritime History of the Great Lakes. 1986-06-15. Retrieved 2012-03-22. mirror
  9. ↑ "Captain John's Restaurant sinks". Heritage Toronto. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2012-03-22. mirror
  10. ↑ "Body of man, 29, found on bottom of lake". Toronto Star. Toronto ON. 31 July 1993. p. A04.
  11. ↑ Lisa Wright (1 August 1993). "Police find body of man who leapt from ferry boat". Toronto Star. Toronto ON. p. A5. Retrieved 31 July 2011.

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