Bonnington (sternwheeler)

Steam navigation on the inland lakes of British Columbia was dominated by the River and Lake Service of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Since the early 1890s the River and Lake Service had maintained steamboat service on Okanagan, Arrow and Kootenay lakes. By 1910, with the important exceptions of the composite-hulled Moyie on Kootenay Lake and Minto on the Arrow Lakes, the wooden-hulled steamers of the River and Lake Service were starting to wear out and would need replacement. This time however the hulls of the replacements would be made of steel, although the cabins would be built of wood. It was also planned to greatly increase the passenger capacity of the vessels. The goal was to develop the entire Kootenay and Arrow Lakes area into a major tourist destination, as the C.P.R. had done with Banff[2][5]

Bonnington was a near twin of the steamers Naskookin and Sicamous built shortly afterwards on Kootenay and Okanagan lakes respectively. Unusually for a sternwheeler, Bonnington was equipped with compound steam engines, which were manufactured by Polson Iron Works of Toronto, Ontario. The vessel's steel hull was also manufactured by Polson Iron Works and was then shipped in pieces to Nakusp where it was assembled at the Bulger shipyard and the upper works, built of wood, were constructed.[2]

Launching of Bonnington at Nakusp, BC, April 1911

Dining salon on Bonnington

While there were many variations, a typical steamer of the inland lakes, and in fact of most of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, had three decks.

• The main deck, sometimes called the freight or weather deck, carried the boiler, and the engines for the vessel, as well as crew quarters, the kitchen, and space for freight.
• The saloon or passenger deck, typically had a large common area overlooking the bow. Down the middle of the cabin would be the saloon, which was not a bar but a large dining room. Passenger cabins flanked the saloon all the way to the stern, where there would generally be another large common area. Typically one common area would be called the "ladies saloon" while the other would be the smoking saloon, which by customs of the time meant men only.
• The Texas or hurricane deck, was the topmost deck on the typical steamer. The ship's lifeboats would be placed on this deck. On this deck sometimes a third set of cabins would be placed, called the "texas". Generally the Texas was reserved for cabins of the ship's officers, but sometimes, as in the case of Minto the Texas would include passenger cabins.
• The pilot house, where the ship's wheel was located, was usually placed either in front of or on top of the Texas. The advantage of having the pilot house on top of the Texas was improved visibility, while the disadvantage was increased windage.[5]

Bonnington would break the three-deck pattern and, with Nasookin and Sicamous become the only sternwheel steamer with four decks to run in the Pacific Northwest. These three vessels were built with deck called the "gallery" deck above the saloon and below the Texas deck. This was called the "gallery" deck because the cabins on it opened onto a walk or gallery that overlooked the dining room on the saloon deck below. This created high ceiling in the dining room and was a dramatic architectural effect.[2]

The locomotive-type boiler installed in Bonnington was 9.0 ft (3 m) in diameter and 28.3 ft (9 m) long. This was probably the largest boiler of this type ever to have been built in Canada up to that time. The capacity of boilers to generate steam was measured by the grate area, meaning the size of the fire-box or fuel burning part of the boiler, and the heating surface, which is the total area heated by the fire available to generate steam. In the case of Bonnington the grate area of the boiler was over 70 square feet (6.5 m²) and the heating surface was 2,750 feet (840 m). The boiler consumed up to 3,800 pounds of fuel in an hour, which over the approximately 130 miles (210 km) from Arrowhead to Robson meant a fuel consumption of approximately 15 tons of coal. As with the boiler, the engines for Bonnington were also the largest ever built for a sternwheeler in Canada.[4]

The components of the hull were shipped out from Ontario in 19 freight cars. The hull itself was divided into 20 watertight compartments, and to allow as shallow a draft as possible, the bottom of the hull was almost perfectly flat. The compound steam engines were highly efficient and had been employed in many ships, but they had never been used before on a sternwheeler. Bonnington's sternwheel was 25.0 ft (8 m) in diameter and had 20 buckets, which was the steamboat word for paddles.[2]

There were 62 staterooms on the steamer, all with electric light and steam heat. The dining room was 71.0 ft (22 m) long and seated 60 people. In addition to the ladies cabin and the smoking room, Bonnington had two observation rooms on the gallery deck, one forward and one aft. There was another lounge and officers and passenger cabins on the Texas deck. Overall Bonnington was regarded as a luxurious vessel and the apex of the steamboat era of travel in British Columbia.[2]

• Bonnington being dismantled at Beaton, BC

• SS Sicamous Restoration Society

50.741°N 117.734°W / 50.741; -117.734