Name S.S. Keewatin

Built by Fairfield Works, Govan, Glasgow, in 1907, SS KEEWATIN was purchased by Canadian Pacific Railways Steamships the same year.  She operated as an Emigrant Ship on Canada’s Great Lakes until 1920.

Following this period, she was converted to a cruise ship and carried 1600 tons of bagged grain and cereals on downward trips.

In 1967 she was sold to RH Peterson of Douglas, Michigan.

In 2011, she was purchased by Skyline investments of Toronto 2011. She operated as a tourist attraction from her original Port in Canada while being restored by a large volunteer group. She was featured on the TV series “Murdoch Mysteries” and the CBC Documentary “Bring her on Home”. She is an excellent example of a working Quad expansion reciprocating engine, working steering gear and windless.  All rooms staged with authentic furniture and fixtures. Of 3,800 similar ships in Great Britain between 1900 and 1920, she is the only restored and functioning example in the world. She worked from 1907 to 1965 and never missed a sailing. She was a museum in Michigan in 1967 until 2012, after which she returned to Canada. 

From 2018, the SS KEEWATIN was owned by Skyline Investments of Toronto and plans were underway to make her a standalone museum in the greater metropolitan Toronto area.

Update, October 2023: Following restoration work in Spring and Summer, SS KEEWATIN arrived at her new permanent home at the Great Lakes Museum in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on 26 October 2023.  She will undergo some internal refurbishment over the winter and open to the public in Spring 2024.