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Ship of the Month - cont'd. rest of the trapped steamers then were able to proceed on their way. I n 1900, the Eddy-Shaw Transit Company commissioned the 4 3 9 .5 foot sister ships HOWARD L. SHAW and SIMON J. MURPHY, which were built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company, and which were designed specifically to carry iron ore from the Eddy-owned Penobscot Mine for the Union Steel Company. However, the Eddy interests had been trying to dispose of the mine for some time, and in due course, the opportunity presented itself. The terms of the deal were that the two big steamers had to go with the mine and, accordingly, they were sold in 1902 to an affiliate of the United States Steel Corporation. Nevertheless, CITY OF BANGOR, PENOBSCOT, and the older steamers continued in Eddy-Shaw Transit Company service until 1905. On March 8th of that year, the Lake Transit Company was incorporated at Duluth, Minnesota, with capital of $500,000. It was formed by G. A. Tomlinson, E. H. Eddy and W. H. Stanford, and the manager of the new fleet was none other than Capt. Howard L. Shaw. CITY OF BANGOR was transferred to the ownership of the new concern, and it would appear that it was at this time that her port of registry was changed to Duluth. The change in ownership did not produce any change in livery for the fleet's steamers, and they retained the same colours that they had borne previously. However, the new owners did decide that both CITY OF BANGOR and PENOBSCOT should be lengthened to make them more efficient carriers. In 1905 , CITY OF BANGOR was sent to the South Chicago yard of the Chicago Shipbuilding Compa ny, where she was lengthened to 4 4 5 .5 feet, and her tonnage increased to 4202 Gross and 3058 Net. (An account written by Howard L. Shaw himself indi cated that CITY OF BANGOR was towed from lay-up to the shipyard in January of 1904, but we can find no other source which would confirm that information, and it would seem natural that it would be the new ownership that would make the decision to len g then the ship.) PENOBSCOT also was lengthened, that work being done at Toledo in 1 9 0 6 . She became 454.0 feet long, so that she was a bit longer than CITY OF BANGOR, but her increased Gross Tonnage was only 4077. The lengthened CITY OF BANGOR operated very successfully for the Lake Tran sit Company. At some time in the early years of the new century, and probab ly at the time she was lengthened, her old mainmast was removed from the spar deck, and thus the former mizzen became the main. This, change undoubted ly was made because of the interference which the old mast provided for the shore-mounted ore loading rigs. Sometime prior to 1915, she was given a small, wooden upper pilothouse in order to provide shelter for the men who stood watch on the bridge. Later on, and definitely prior to 1924, this up per pilothouse was enlarged by means of an addition which extended its after section out over the texas. On December 2nd, 1915, CITY OF BANGOR stranded on Isle Royale in Lake Supe rior, but she was salvaged and, after the necessary repairs, she was return ed to service. Apart from this incident, she appears to have operated with out any difficulties. During the summer of 1925, CITY OF BANGOR and PENOBSCOT were sold by the Lake Transit Company to the Nicholson Universal Steamship Company, of De troit, which had been formed back in 1922 when Captain William Nicholson merged his Nicholson Transit Company with the Universal Carloading and Dis tributing Company. Plans were immediately implemented for the conversion of both steamers for use as automobile carriers. Each ship was fitted with a cargo elevator and 'tween decks, the latter being installed easily as a re sult of the internal arrangement of the cargo holds in the early steel la kers. The autos would be loaded from shore by means of a ramp which took them up to the level of the spar deck, and from there they would be lowered to other decks by means of the elevator. The spar deck itself was planked over between the hatches to provide a smooth surface. The conversions were, we believe, carried out at the River Rouge yard of the Great Lakes Engineering Works. Some accounts indicate that the work was done