Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Argonaut II was first launched as the Greta M. in 1922 at the Menchion's shipyard of Vancouver, B.C. She was the company yacht for the Power River company. In 1937, she was purchased by the United Church of Canada to serve the needs of the church in accessing members located in remote communities along the northern coast of the province. She was renamed the Thomas Crosby IV at that time. Her most famous skipper was Peter Kelly, son of a Haida chief from Haida Gwaii. He served for 16 years as her captain. The Thomas Crosby IV served the spiritual and physical needs of church members until the mid 1960s.
With better roads and air transportation in the 1960s, reliance on mission boats waned. In 1966, she was sold to Blackmore Marine Service Ltd., renamed the Argonaut II, and pressed into the role of a drudge workboat. During this period, she experienced considerable damage, but, beginning in 1970, she underwent years of painstaking restoration.