Otter (steamship)

{{distinguish|Otter (sternwheeler)}}

{{Infobox Ship Begin}}

{{Infobox Ship Image

|Ship image=image:Otter (steamship) at Bella Bella 1880s.jpg

|Ship caption= Otter about 1852

}}

{{Infobox Ship Career

|Hide header=

|Ship country=Colony of Vancouver Island, Colony of British Columbia

|Ship flag=60px

|Ship name=Otter

|Ship ordered=

|Ship builder=Blackwall Yard

|Ship laid down=London, England

|Ship launched=1852

|Ship acquired=

|Ship commissioned=

|Ship decommissioned=

|Ship in service=1852

|Ship out of service=1886

|Ship renamed=

|Ship struck=

|Ship reinstated=

|Ship honours=

|Ship captured=

|Ship fate=

|Ship status=burned for scrap in 1895

|Ship notes=

}}

{{Infobox Ship Characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship class=

|Ship length={{convert|122|ft|m}}

|Ship beam={{convert|20|ft|m}}

|Ship speed=

|Ship draft={{convert|12|ft|m}}

|Ship hold depth=

|Ship propulsion=screw-steamer

|Ship complement=

|Ship armament=

|Ship notes=

|Displacement=

}}

Otter was the second steamship to operate in the Pacific Northwest of North America, following her sister ship and twin, the much more famous Beaver. Otter, a sidewheeler, was used to service trading posts maintained by the Hudson's Bay Company between Puget Sound and Alaska and like her sister Beaver became pressed into service during the Fraser Gold Rush on the Lower Fraser River from 1858 onwards. From 16 April 1855 to 3 April 1862, Otter was captained by William Alexander Mouat.

She was built in London, for the Hudson's Bay Company.

She sank on August 21, 1880, but was raised and put back into operation.

She was sold to the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company in 1883. They converted her to a coal hulk in 1886.

Her hull was burned to recover the copper in 1895.

See also

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite news

| url = https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/_docs/hbca/ships_histories/otter.pdf

| title = OTTER AREA OF SERVICE: PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST (1853-1890)

| work = Manitoba Archives

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201204180348/https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/_docs/hbca/ships_histories/otter.pdf

| archive-date = 2020-12-04

| access-date = 2020-12-02

| url-status = live

| quote = 1852 Built in London by Richard & Henry Green at Blackwall for the Hudson's Bay Company.

}}

}}

{{Steamboats British Columbia}}

{{Lower Fraser River steamboats}}

{{Mosquito Fleet}}

{{Columbia River Steamboats}}

{{Hudson's Bay Company}}

Category:Victorian-era merchant ships of Canada

Category:Merchant ships of the United States

Category:Paddle steamers of British Columbia

Category:Steamboats of the Columbia River

Category:Pre-Confederation British Columbia

Category:Hudson's Bay Company ships

{{Canada-hist-stub}}

{{BritishColumbia-stub}}

{{Merchantship-stub}}