Between 1943 and 1945, the Royal Canadian Navy ordered twenty diesel tugs all with names starting with “Glen”. They were 80’ long with a beam of 20’ and a draft of 9’8” and displaced 170 long tons. They were powered by a single diesel engine of between 320 and 400 bhp. Four were built of wood, three on the west coast and one on the east; while the rest were of steel with eleven built at Russel Brothers in Owen Sound and five at Canadian Dredge and Dock in Kingston.
The war over, many were sold to commercial interests while others continued with the navy. In 1979, Hamilton’s McKeil Marine acquired three: GLENSIDE (YTB-500), GLENBROOK (YTB-501) and GLENEVIS ( YTB-502), and they were familiar sights around Hamilton for twenty years.
Hamilton Naval Association photos.