The Pogo, YFL104 a 36-foot auxiliary craft, built by Marine Industries Ltd and launched July 8, 1954, was the first RCN vessel to enter the uncharted waters of the Canadian Arctic. She completed surveys in 1955 to 1957. She was named for a newspaper comic staring POGO possum by cartoonist Walt Kelly. In the 1960’s, Pogo was transferred from Halifax to HMCS York, the Naval Reserve’s establishment in Toronto, to become the unit’s tender. In the mid-1970s she was transferred to HMCS Carleton at Dows Lake, Ottawa. She was transferred from the Department of National Defence to the Canadian War Museum in the summer of 1995. In spring 2005, the War Museum transferred ownership to the Outaouais Branch of the Navy League of Canada, to become the unit’s tender.
Pogo is an aluminum sounding boat which had accompanied the voyages of HMCS Labrador, Canada’s first and last Arctic Patrol vessel, and has a draught of just over three and a half feet. Outfitted with a Red Wing Model DOOD 66 hp inboard diesel engine, the Pogo could reach a top speed of 8.5 knots. The cruising range of the Pogo was 430 nautical miles. Her total displacement was 15,900 pounds. The forecastle was raised slightly from the rest of the deck, and inside were four berths, a galley and the head. The centre area of the deckhouse contained the operations cabin of Pogo’s research activities. The ship’s wheel was on the port side and the chart table was on the starboard. The aft section of Pogo’s hull contained two more berths and an open bridge on the deck above. Her mast head could fold down when carried in her davits and the fo’c’sle storage was separated from the forward crew compartment by a bulkhead and was only accessible by a hatch on the forward starboard deck. A bright yellow ice skiff was lashed to the centre of the deck behind the open bridge.
In the winter months, Pogo is located at the Leblanc Marina at 1213 Boulevard Hurtubise.
GPS Coordinates: latitude 45.4825161, longittude-75.5751665
Length: 36 feet, 1 inch
Beam: 12 feet, 2 inches
Draft: 3 feet, 7 inches
Displacement: 9 tons
Complement: 6 men (2 officers)
