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| The HMCS Ojibwa rests on a barge in Otter Creek at Port Burwell. (painted black but looks blue in the haze) |
Project Ojibwa is the newest and largest endeavour of the Elgin Military Museum in St Thomas. The project will see the former HMCS Ojibwa mounted on cradles as a museum artifact beside a "sub" station interpretation centre, The Elgin Military Museum of Naval History, to be located in Port Burwell, Ontario on the north shore of Lake Erie approximately 28 miles south east of the Elgin Military Museum up in St. Thomas.
The Port Burwell site will feature the decommissioned HMCS Ojibwa, an Oberon Class submarine of the Cold War period. The Ojibwa will not be in the water; instead, it will be mounted on cradles set on a site on the east side of the Port Burwell harbour just north of the historic lighthouse. The new museum will be built into the slope east of the submarine. Visitors will begin their visit with an orientation session in the museum and then proceed into the submarine in groups of 10.Click this link to read about it:
http://projectojibwa.ca/ |
| They built a wonderful roadway to the water's edge. |
It was a beautiful day for a drive so Wendy and I went down to witness history at Port Burwell Ontario today (Thurs) arriving around 10 am. They were scheduled today to lift the huge vessel off the barge and place it on dollies for land transport. Almost expectantly they ran into some unanticipated difficulties (I don't know why they would leave this to the last minute) Apparently, at the place where they intended to unload the barge, they encountered a submerged cement wall which they couldn't remove without blasting so they decided to extend the roadway further and unload at another spot. This necessitated driving in more piles and grading the roadway.
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| Remote controlled dollies will move the vessel up the special highway. |
There is a long way to go and this adventure isn't over yet. We spoke with a volunteer who said the company (
Mammoet) managing the land part of the trip actually allowed a sister submarine to slip off and lay over on its side during a previous unloading. Hopefully this won't happen again. There are two mammoth (80 approx) wheel dollies waiting to receive the vessel for transport.
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| A Jolly Roger flag marks Lake Erie's newest land mass: Ojibwa Island. |
Off shore of the town beach there is a new island formed by the lake channel and harbour dredgings. The new "Ojibwa Island" even has a Jolly Roger flag flying.
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| This is more than just a driveway! |
The roadway they have constructed to move the 2.8 million pound ship runs a half mile or so (way farther than you would imagine) and I hope they can eventually use it for something (parking lots etc.) but I don't think Port Burwell needs a freeway so we'll wait and see what they do with it. It apparently is built like the 401.
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| Smoothly and politely coordinated public management. |
The traffic control is well organized and you are not allowed to drive into town. Coming from the west the OPP (provincial police) will direct you to the west side of the creek to the park near the beach. There you catch a shuttle bus every 5 to 10 minutes which will take you into town (or to the Legion Hall for a cheap lunch) . The only fee is a donation to the fire department to buy a dive compressor. The firemen will stop you half way to the beach in a road block.
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| A great day for just standing/sitting around and watching. |
The place is a buzz so try to get down and see history in the making this Saturday. Not as crowded as I thought but a fair number of cars in the shuttle parking.
It might get busier Saturday so if you plan on going, maybe get there before noon. I might make the 40 mile one way trip (London to Port Burwell) again on Saturday to see the move, although it's not going to be nearly as nice weather-wise as it was today.
CLICK HERE to read more about this submarine
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