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A Pioneer on the Great Lakes

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Folded card with black and white photograph of steamer "Turbinia".
Reverse:
"A PIONEER ON THE GREAT LAKES
The first ship driven by the revolutionary new steam-turbine engine to sail the Great Lakes was the handsome, 250-foot steamer, "Turbinia", built by Hawthorn, Leslie and Company at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1904. She was named after the small steam launch designed by Charles Parsons, the inventor of the turbine, which outraged the British Admiralty at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Naval Review in June, 1897, by racing through the assembled warships at a speed which could not be approached by any other vessel in existence at that time.
The construction of the later "Turbinia" was commissioned by a Hamilton syndicate headed by Col. Moody and she was designed to provide a fast service between that city and Toronto which would capture the lion's share of the business from the highly-successful Hamilton Steamboat Company. Bearing a strong resemblance to the British cross-channel steamers of the period and having very fine lines, she made extremely heavy weather of the Atlantic crossing, but reached Lake Ontario without serious damage.
Only moderately successful in competition with the "Macassa" and the "Modjeska", she was tried on the Toronto-Niagara run in the hope of securing the cream of the lucrative business enjoyed by the Niagara Navigation Company. Advertised as "the fastest ship on the Great Lakes", she was beaten by the "Cayuga" in an exciting, but unofficial, race from Niagara to Toronto. The early triple-screw turbines of the "Turbinia" could not match the proven twin-screw reciprocating engines of the "Cayuga".
In 1917, the "Turbinia" again crossed the Atlantic for use as a troopship between England and France. Following yeoman service, she returned to Toronto in 1923 and was employed on her old run to Hamilton during the seasons of 1924 and 1925. Her final service was between Montreal and Three Rivers in 1926 and 1927. She was withdrawn to make way for the large, new Saguenay cruise ships and was scrapped at Sorel about 1937.
Throughout her career, the "Turbinia" remained a pioneer in marine propulsion, the only ship to be driven by steam turbines on the Great Lakes. She is seen here approaching Yonge Street Wharf on the morning run from Hamilton about 1912."

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