From its location at the head of the Great Lakes, Thunder Bay played an important role in Canada's shipbuilding industry throughout two centuries. The story of building large commercial and naval vessels begins at the North West Company's fort early in the nineteenth century and ends in the City of Thunder Bay late in the twentieth century. Throughout this time, the local industry produced ships that worked in Canada and around the world, including
- W. Grant Morden, the world's largest bulk freighter in its day
- steamers that transported passengers in luxury across the Great Lakes and on Okanagan Lake
- J.T. Horne, a tugboat that crossed the Atlantic and sailed up to Archangel on the White Sea
- minesweepers for both world wars, including two that lie at the bottom of Lake Superior
- corvettes for the Second World War, one that sank a U-boat and others that took part in D-Day
- Canadian Coast Guard's Alexander Henry, an icebreaker that opened the Thunder Bay harbour every spring for over twenty years and now serves as the base for the Transportation Museum
Here are the stories of these and many other vessels built on Thunder Bay, some that are still at work.