CGS Arctic

The CGS Arctic was one of Canada's first Arctic patrol ships. A wooden vessel built of oak and pitch-pine by the German government, it was originally intended for service in the Antarctic. However in 1904 it was purchased by Canada and put to use in the Arctic. The Arctic had a steam driven engine and a square rigged sail for propulsion. It could also carry over 400 tons of coal, giving it an extended range at the engine's maximum speed of seven knots.

The vessel was commanded by Captain Joseph-Elzear Bernier who was to become a legendary figure in Canadian Arctic history. He took command at age 55 and in 1906-7 made an extensive cruise to some of the most remote areas of the Arctic Archipelago. On every uninhabited island, Bernier proclaimed Canadian sovereignty. Shore parties were dispatched and Canadian flags were raised over lands which, in many cases, had not been visited for decades if not centuries.

The next year the Arctic was again dispatched north. During the expedition of 1908-9, Bernier was able to get as far west as Cape Hay on Melville Island, wintering in Winter Harbour until the spring of 1909. While icebound, parties from the ship crossed McClure Strait and explored the surrounding region. Before leaving Melville on July 1, 1909, Bernier erected a tablet proclaiming the annexation by Canada of the entire Arctic Archipelago. This tablet still stands on that uninhabited island.

On the Arctic's third expedition in 1910-11, Bernier took the vessel North to patrol the Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait, Viscount Melville Sound and McClure Strait. Open water in McClure Strait tempted Bernier to attempt the Northwest Passage, but because this would have exceeded his orders, he resisted. Once again the vessel wintered in the North, but this time it anchored at Admiralty Inlet. Parties on sled were dispatched across the region to explore and conduct scientific surveys.

The Arctic continued to serve the Canadian government until it was replaced in 1926. It was the Arctic that conducted the first series of what later became known as the Eastern Arctic Patrols. The first sovereignty voyages of the vessel asserted Canadian control at a time when Canada's presence in the North was incredibly scarce. In many cases, the islands which Cpt. Bernier and his crew visited contained no permanent presence and no indication of Canadian ownership. Often the cairns and visits by the ship's crew were the only examples of Canadian control that had ever been exercised.