This followed a multi-year lobbying campaign of the federal government conducted by citizens and local political leaders in southwestern Nova Scotia advocating a ferry service to replace steamship connections that were not resumed following the conclusion of the Second World War.
For her entire career as a ferry, Bluenose ran between Bar Harbor, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
The Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut, purchased Bluenose in 1983 through the Government of Canada's Crown assets disposal process.
She was renamed MV Marine Bluenose, and was converted into a floating machine shop on the Thames River in Groton.
[8] In October 1996, Marine Bluenose was towed from the Electric Boat Company’s facilities in Groton.
Thereafter, she spent several years in an advanced state of decay in Tampa Bay, Florida, moored alongside the idled Chandris liner RHMS Britanis (ex-SS Monterey).
The wheel, compass, telegraph and bell from the bridge of MV Bluenose were donated to the Yarmouth County Museum by the Electric Boat Company.
They are featured along with a model of the ship in a special display at the Museum which evokes the bridge of Bluenose.