Marystown Model Ship Gallery

08/16/2026

Here are some photos of two of the models in the collection, which are of ships built at the Marystown shipyard. The yard built dozens of ships including trawlers, tugs, ferries. Some of these had long and productive careers, while others seemed dogged by bad fortune.

Nothing seems to illustrate this as well as the two big offshore supply vessels Maersk Norseman and Maersk Nascopie, and the three Normand tugs, Rock, Rough and Ross.

The Maersk ships, Norseman and Nascopie, were the largest ships built in Marystown at 3,100 tons.
They spent twenty years working off the coast of Newfoundland, carrying supplies and personnel to the rigs and production sites. They also handled heavy anchor work and towed icebergs from major production sites like Hibernia. After two decades of work off our coast, they were transferred to European waters, and eventually sold and renamed. Maersk Nascopie became Odin Express, then Bering, and Maersk Norseman was named Atlantic, and both are registered in Russia. Both are currently in active service, according to the Marine Traffic website.

The three Normand tugs had grimmer fates. Built in 1979, all three were sunk in an 18 month span between February, 1988, and August, 1989.

Normand Rock was salvaged following a sinking off Norway and had been sold to the ITL company. She had been repaired in Britain, and afterwards was renamed Anna B. She foundered and sank (for the second time) in the North Sea on February 8, 1988, in gale force seas. Her crew was rescued, but this time she was not salvaged.

Normand Rough (renamed Lorna B) sank in August 1989 in the Cook Inlet, Alaska, after becoming entangled in its own towing cable while servicing an offshore platform, though fortunately her crew was rescued.

Normand Ross was renamed Scan Partner, and operated in the Middle East. Tragically, five crew members lost their lives when she sank in May, 1988. She had been attempting to assist a burning tanker, the Spanish registered Barcelona, which had been damaged in an Iraqi air attack. A massive explosion occurred in one of the tanks of the Spanish oil tanker, likely due to a bomb that had not exploded during the attack, followed by an huge fire. This explosion blew the tanker in half - the tug "Scan Partner", which was alongside, caught fire and sank, killing its five crew members.

08/14/2026

We had another McCarthy's Party bus tour in yesterday. Great bunch of people, including folks from Western Canada, and some folks from Australia.
They all seemed to enjoy their tour, and took a lot of photos and asked a bunch of questions. A good afternoon for all.

08/09/2026

A tale of two ships, with very different endings.

Both built at the same yard, but one had a long, successful career, while the other a very short career that could have ended in tragedy.

The stern trawler Atlantic Carol was hull #1, the very first ship built at the Marystown shipyard. Launched in 1969, she had a long career with Fishery Products, and after the 1992 moratorium, was sold. She sailed south to Uruguay in South America, was renamed Nilto I, and as of a few months ago, was still active.

Atlantic Carol’s career stretched through 55 years.

Our other ship was built soon after the Carol.

Cape Brule was hull #3, and was one of four of the handsome Cape trawlers built at the shipyard in 1972 / 73 - the others being Cape LeHave, Cape Verde, and Cape Wrath II.
Delivered in November, 1972, she was wrecked on Seal Rocks off Great Miquelon Island on January 15, 1973.
The story could have been a tragedy, but a rescue helicopter lifted the crew off safely.

08/07/2026

Here are some of the 3 piece wall art sets we have on sale at the gallery.
All are of durable construction, and all are currently on sale!
A typical 3 piece picture that normally sells for $129 + tax= $148.35.
That same 3 piece set is now $60 TAX INCLUDED.
We also have some bigger and smaller pictures available with similar discounts
Drop by and check them out in person.

08/06/2026

Wondering if any of you folks can help us find an answer - what happened to the side trawler Zabora?
Zabora (not to be confused with the stern trawler Zamora 1654) seems to have been one of the earlier side trawlers, and the only one I know of powered by a steam boiler.
I think she fished out of Burin in the 50's and into the 1960's.

Send a message to learn more

08/06/2026

We have a model in our collection of a small vessel with an incredible history….CSS Hunley.

Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that fought in the American Civil War. They were desperate to break the blockade the Union navy had in place choking off access to the Southern ports, a blockade that was very effective and was starving the South of vital supplies. The Confederates didn’t have a navy able to face the North in a conventional battle, and the desperate situation forced them to consider desperate solutions.

CSS Hunley was that solution….they hoped.

It was a very small submarine, around 39.5’ long, and weighing 7.5 tons, and armed with what was called a spar torpedo. This was nothing like a modern torpedo, but was basically a drum full of explosives attached to a long wooden shaft with a harpoon tip.
The idea was to ram an enemy ship, where the harpoon head would stick in the enemy hull. The Hunley would back away, leaving the drum attached to the enemy, and when a safe distance was reached, a strong yank on a rope would detonate the explosives.

This was as desperately dangerous as it sounds, but volunteers stepped forward to crew the Hunley and risk it all. To make the danger even more extreme, CSS Hunley didn’t have an engine. Instead, 7 men on a bench seat turned a hand crank which turned the propeller.

She sank in August during a test run, killing five members of her crew. She sank again in October, killing all eight of her second crew, including Horace Hunley, her designer.

In spite of it all, another 8 men stepped forward to make her third crew. It was these men that on 17 February 1864, attacked and sank the USS Housatonic, which had been on blockade duty in Charleston's outer harbor. Hunley did not survive the attack and sank, taking all eight members of her third crew with her. Twenty-one crewmen died in the three sinkings of Hunley during her short career.

Finally located in 1995, Hunley was raised in 2000 and is on display in North Charleston, South Carolina….. a monument to desperate courage.

08/06/2026

A lovely tour group paid us a visit yesterday. 36 tourists from McCarthy’s Party Tours dropped in for a tour, and a good time was had by all.
These folks seemed to be mostly from Central Canada, so anything of the sea and ships was new and exciting to them. Lots of laughs, plenty of questions for Harold and myself, and a lot of photos were taken.
We’re looking forward to another bus load next Thursday - please drop by the gallery and see it yourself.

08/03/2026

Marystown Model Ship Gallery: OPEN today August 3rd from 8:30am to 5pm. Drop by and see this amazing collection.

08/02/2026

We have several models in our collection that are of ships built at the Marystown Shipyard....Placentia Pride, Maersk Norseman and several of the Atlantic stern trawlers among others.
One of the Marystown built ships in our collection is Pennyhope, a trawler built for John Penny and Sons in Ramea.
She was completed in March, 1976, and in April of the same year she was damaged when the syncrolift - the ship elevator - collapsed with her on it.
The damage to her bottom could have caused her to sink alongside the wharf, but for the efforts of the shipyard workers. Dozens of them went down in her belly, and stuffed blankets and mattresses in the holes to control the flooding while divers bolted plywood over the holes. It was something of a miracle that no one was killed during the accident.
They succeeded in saving her from sinking, and she was repaired and put back in service.

07/30/2026

Yesterday saw the arrival of another McCarthy's Party bus tour at the gallery.
Great bunch of people, many of whom are from Central Canada and the Prairies. Ships and the sea are an exotic thing for most of those visitors, and they thoroughly enjoyed their tour.
Plenty of questions, plenty of laughs and lots of photos taken.
A great group of people, and McCarthy's did their usual very professional job organizing and guiding the tour.
We're looking forward to seeing a new tour from McCarthy's Party next week.