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Ship of the M o n t h - cont'd. 8. hoists located near the r e c l a i m i n g hoppers. She was g iven a s q u a r e - t o p p e d Aframe, and a 140-foo t u n l o a d i n g boom, over w h i c h tra v e l l e d a 5 4 - i nch-wide conveyor belt. S I N A L O A also was e q u ipped w i t h sandsucking gear, i n c l u d i n g a 30-inch su ction pump, capable of h a n d l i n g 3 1 , 000 gallo ns of input per minute, c o n t a i n i n g 18% solid matter, agai ns t a 78-foot head. The suct io n pump was d r i v e n by a special 1 , 200 h . p. gear ed turbine. She also was fit te d w ith a r e v o l u t i o n a r y type of gravel sor ti ng equ ip me nt , d e s i g n e d to s e gregate gravel sizes before u n l o a d i n g the m a t e r i a l onto shore. This en tire r e c o n s t r u c t i o n is said to have cost $ 1 7 5 , 000 - which was a large sum of m o n e y in those days, but only a drop in the buc ke t c o m pared w i t h what a r ebui l d i n g of such en ormous m a g n i t u d e w o u l d cost today. The c o n v e r s i o n did not chang e SI NALOA's tonnage, and after the w o r k was c o m pleted, she r e t u r n e d to servi ce in her usu al T o m l i n s o n fleet colours. She re m a i n e d under To m l i n s o n own e r s h i p unt il the mi d- 1930s, w hen she passed, a p parently, to the own e r s h i p of the T r i - L a k e s Ste a m s h i p Company, of Chicago, w h i c h was one of the e n t e r p r i s e s of Capt. W i l l i a m Ni ch olson, of Detroit. It w ould app ear that in this operation, there was some r e l a t i o n s h i p be tween Capt. N i c h o l s o n and the L e a t h a m D. Smith interests, for several reports seem to connect the two. For example, the A n n u a l Report of the Lake Carriers' A s s o c i a t i o n for 1937 lists the sale of S I N A L O A from "The T o m l i n s o n Fleet to L. D. Smith Ste a m s h i p C o . " The 1940 "Red Book" lists S I N A L O A und er the fleet of W i l l i a m Nich ol so n, with T r i-Lakes St e a m s h i p C o m p a n y sh own as the owner. The a p p o i n t m e n t s lis te d for her that year (which w ould not be a good one for the ship, as it was to turn out) were Capt W. C. Fontaine, master, and Fra nk Burkman, chief engineer. In his 1983 book Roen Ste a m s h i p Company, The Way It Was, 1 9 0 9 - 1 9 7 6 , John H. Purves, a longtime as sociate of Ca ptain Joh n Roen, d e s c r i b e d SINA L O A in 1940 as "owned by Leat h a m D. Smith Stea ms hi p Company, w h i c h at that time was a subsi d i a r y of N i c h o l s o n Tr ansit Company. Leat h a m Smith of S t u rgeon Bay was e n t i r e l y out of i t . " The 19 41-1942 Lloy d' s Re gister does not include SIN AL OA in its listing of vessels, beca us e she was not in service in 1941, but she does appear in the "Sh ip ow ne rs " se ction of that register, her owner being listed as the Leat h a m D. Smi th S t e amship Company, of River Rouge, Michigan. The only p h o t o g r a p h we have seen of S I N A L O A at this stage in her caree r is one taken after her m i s f o r t u n e in the autumn of 1940. It appears to show her with a black hull, white cabins, and an a l l-black stack. This livery, with its lack of d i s t i n c t i v e features, does n o t h i n g to e n l i g h t e n us on the s u b ject of the steam er 's own e r s h i p or ma na gement. Much has been said in these pages on other occas io ns conce r n i n g the fury of what was to become known as "The A r m i s t i c e Day Storm" of 1940. Roar i n g up out of the M i s s i s s i p p i Valley, the storm ra pidly drop p e d te mp eratures from "Indian Summer" levels to well bel ow freezing, and bu r i e d the Great Lakes area in huge snowdrifts. The m ain force of the storm fell on the Lake M i c h i gan area on N o v e m b e r 11th, and a large numb er of ships either were lost or were severely damaged. S I N A L O A was one of the boats caught out on Lake M i chigan that day, and to descr i b e what h a p p e n e d to her, we can do no better than to quote from the ac count c o ntained in John Purves' book, for the Roen inte re sts were called in to salvage the vess el afterwards. "She (SINALOA) had sucked a load of sand near Gre en Isl an d and was head in g for Chicago via Death's Door wh en she got caught in the storm..., lost her rudder in the big seas, and after a h a r r o w i n g night was dri ve n h e l p l e s s l y before the w ind until she fetc he d up on the rocky shore at Sac Bay, Big Bay de Noc, close enough to the bea ch so that the Coast G uard was able to rig a breeches buoy from the boat to shore and took ever yo ne off. The captain, true to tradition, was the last to go but he was so h eavy that he got dunked in the icy water.