Fun Facts
about Artifacts!
Hi
All! Emily and Tamasyn here. This month we’re going to share some fun facts
about our centre’s artifacts! We’ve curated a few of our favourite pieces from
the Navy, Shipwrecks, Weapons, and Sea Creatures display cases. So buckle up
for some fun facts about artifacts!
The first artifact that we picked is the name
plate from “HMCS Qu’Appelle”. For
those of you unfamiliar with this ship it was a Mackenzie class destroyer built
in 1960. Our fun fact about this artifact is that the Ship was named after this
Cree legend:
A young man
was returning to his tribe and his future bride after a hunting trip. He was
canoeing through a river valley when he heard someone call his name, to which
he replied “who calls”. This experience made him uneasy so, assuming something
was wrong at home, he started paddling as fast as he could. When he finally
reached his tribe he found out that his bride-to-be had passed on to the spirit
world. It is said that she used her last breath to call his name. “Qu'Appelle”
is a French phrase that when translated into English means “who calls”.
This legend was also adapted into
the poem “The Legend of Qu’Appelle Valley” by the Mohawk Poet Pauline
Johnson. If you’d like to read the poem
please follow the link below:
The second artifact we decided to
share with you is A Piece of Glass from
the Bridge of The Queen Mary. This ship was a trailblazer in many areas.
Below are our top 5 fun facts about the Queen Mary:
1) The Queen Mary was a
luxury liner built in 1937. She was the first cruise ship to be outfitted with
a Jewish prayer room. The inclusion of this was a part of a British policy to
counter-act the racism present in Nazi Germany.
2) Once World War Two Began
in 1942, she was converted to a troop ship and ferried allied soldiers. The
Queen Mary was the fastest and largest ship earning her the nickname “Grey
Ghost”.
3) In December 1942, she set
the standing record for most passengers carried on one vessel when she
transported 16,082 soldiers.
4) During this record setting
sailing, a rogue wave hit the vessel and almost capsized the Queen Mary. The
wave was estimated to have been about 28 meters high. The ship rolled
53 degrees if it had rolled another 2 it would have capsized. This
event inspired the book “The Poseidon Adventure”.
5) During the war, she
carried the Winston Churchill across the ocean for meetings with other allied
officials. He was listed on the passenger manifest as “Colonel Warden”.
The next artifact is from our Weapons
Case. It is a British Boarding Cutlass:
1) Our cutlass dates back to
1820! It was the preferred weapon of the not only the British Navy but also infamous
pirates like William Kid who sailed the high seas.
2) The reason why cutlasses
were so popular is because they were strong enough to cut through sails and
rigging, and also easy to use in cramped quarters.
3) Pirates used to use
cutlasses for not only fighting but also for intimidation. The hilt of a
cutlass was often used to beat prisoners into giving information. Sometimes all
pirates had to do was touch the hilt and an entire crew would surrender!
4) It is not known for sure
who invented the Cutlass many people believe that it was the Caribbean
buccaneers, however there is no conclusive evidence to prove this.
Our
last item is a Giant Lobster Claw
from the Sea Creatures Case! Lobsters are one of the most fascinating
crustaceans! So here are some fun facts about our lobster claw:
1)
Lobsters never stop growing
their entire lives and they can live to be over 100 years old!
2)
One of the oldest lobsters in
the world was 140 and weighed 20 pounds!
3)
Unfortunately we don’t know
anything about the lobster that was attached to this claw. But we can deduce
that he was pretty old and large! It is estimated that our lobster would have
been about 40 years old!
4)
Lobsters weren’t always a
delicacy! Back in the 1800’s they were considered to be a food for the poor, as
they were thought of as giant sea bugs!
That’s it for our fun facts about artifacts,
if you want to investigate these artifacts plus many others come visit us at
Maritime Heritage Centre. We’re open 7 days a week from 10am to 4pm! Also like
us on Facebook to get information and updates about the centre!
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