Yvon Lehoux has been working on a unique project for several months now and it's nearly complete.
Lehoux's neighbour commissioned him to build a replica of the SS Komagata Maru. Not his usual project—he usually builds scale models of Canadian warships from scratch.
Lehoux is hoping to showcase the Komagata Maru at an upcoming Community Treasures exhibit at the Museum of Surrey. He has been in communication with the museum about possibly doing a exhibit in 2025 showcasing all of the model’s he’s built, though nothing is confirmed as of yet.
“It's been quite a journey so far,” Lehoux explained of his time building the Komagata Maru. “The reason for this is because of the lack of information that was available on the actual ship.”
He said it’s been hard to figure out what kind of deck equipment was on the vessel because he doesn't have the ship's exact specs.
As such, Lehoux has been looking up similar ships, steamers, that were built by the same shipyard in the same era.
“I’ve been able to identify some of the deck equipment that was on these ships at that time,” noted Lehoux. “I am trying to make the Komagata Maru as true as possible."
He’s also had to rely on several pictures that show the side of the ship—pictures he’s gotten online, through museums, or from others.
“I want to make it look the same as when it entered the Vancouver harbour in 1914,” he said. “The only issue I may have is with some of the equipment, as I mentioned, but I refer to steamers of the era and what they were equipped with."
After he finishes the superstructure and adds in the deck details, he’ll put on the lifeboats, masts, smoke stack, and finishing touches.
He said the Komagata Maru’s masts were equipped with a derrick in order to load and offload cargo.
“The masts were used like a crane,” he added. “It gives the ship a very unique look.”
Lehoux said he’s still amazed with the whole project. He said when his neighbour commissioned him to build the vessel, it was “a wow moment.” And that hasn’t changed.
“There’s not much information about it,” explained Lehoux. “For me, it was a nice challenge to be able to build it because there's no other ships, no other replicas of it, out there. So it’s definitely been a very big challenge.”
Lehoux said the ship will be done by the beginning of September.
Komagata Maru
The SS Komagata Maru was involved in what is now known as the Komagata Maru incident. In April 1914, the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru sailed into Vancouver carrying 376 South Asians who hoped to immigrate to Canada. They were all British subjects of Indian descent, including 337 Sikhs, 27 Muslims and 12 Hindus. Even though they were British subjects, most were denied entry. Only 24 passengers were admitted into Canada. The ship was forced to leave and the prospective immigrants aboard had to return to India.
Those onboard were also persecuted upon their return to India when they disembarked in Kolkata. The incident was one of many during the early 1900s where specific exclusion laws in both the U.S. and Canada were used to bar people of Asian origin from immigrating to North America.
