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9. Ship of the Month - cont'd. sels were freed with no major damage having been suffered. The only other stranding of CRESCENT CITY of which we are aware took place in the autumn of 1905. The 1905 season was the most destructive ever recor­ ded on the lakes, its toll in lost vessels and lives far surpassing the losses suffered in The Great Storm of 1913. The autumn of 1905 was particu- lary nasty and a storm on Western Lake Superior in late November proved es­ pecially deadly, with the ships of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company faring uncommonly badly. No less than eleven "tinstackers" came to grief during the vicious weather disturbance, two of them being total losses (the steamer LA­ FAYETTE and the barge MADEIRA). The first "Steel Trust" ship wrecked during what came to be known as "The MATAAFA Blow" (due to the tragic wreck of that "tinstacker" within sight of downtown Duluth), was CRESCENT CITY. Bound light for Two Harbors and, for­ tunately, without a barge in tow, CRESCENT CITY lost her way in the blizzard and heavy seas which overtook her early on November 28th when she was just west of Devil's Island. Her master, Captain Rice, dropped her anchors and headed her up into the wind with her engine turning over hard, but she drag­ ged her hooks, was blown far past her destination, and came to rest with her port side against a low bluff and her bow pushed up against a rocky promon­ tory. She was only seven miles from Duluth and a mile west of the Duluth water pumping station at Lakewood, Minnesota. She was sitting on a ledge in only fifteen feet of water, and she was so close to shore that her crew crossed to safety on land over a ladder. While the chief engineer and second mate hiked into Duluth to report the ship's fate to the Pittsburgh Steamship Company office, the rest of the crew found local shelter, and all survived. But CRESCENT CITY lay helpless on her little ledge, with her hull broken amidships, and nothing could be done to salvage her that late in the season. The steamer remained ashore until the summer of 1906, when she was refloated and repaired at a cost of approximately $100, 000 - a most princely sum for that time. A lot of tinstackers needed major repairs after that memorable storm, and the fleet's underwriters must have taken a truly awesome hit. However, an even more memorable event was experienced by CRESCENT CITY on Wednesday, June 9, 1909. Shortly after 2: 00 that afternoon, CRESCENT CITY was downbound, loaded, in the Canadian Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, that lock then being much in use by large vessels as only the old Poe Lock and the Weitzel Lock existed on the U. S. side of the river. CRESCENT CITY was just entering the lock behind the Canadian Pacific Railway passenger and package freight steamer ASSINIBOIA, when all. Hell broke loose. Upbound below the lock at the time was the Gilchrist Transportation Company bulk carrier PERRY G. WALKER (13), (b) TAURUS. She had intended to pass up the U. S. canal but, in order to achieve faster dispatch, she requested and received clearance for the Canadian Lock. The lockmaster signalled the WAL­ KER to secure on the southwest pier to await a clear lock, but Captain Mosh ier instead brought the WALKER along and passed a C. S. Boone dredge which was on the lower northeast pier. Already far closer to the lock than the lockmaster had authorized him to be, Capt. Moshier rang the WALKER's engineroom to go astern, but that did not happen. The WALKER's bow struck the south main lower gate and, as the upper lock gates still were open at the time with the CRESCENT CITY entering down­ bound, a torrent of water was unleashed, with the full power of the upper St. Mary's River behind it. The rush of water tore out the north main lower gate, and ASSINIBOIA came rocketing down out of the lock, striking a glan­ cing blow to the PERRY G. WALKER as she rushed, out of control, past her. Captain Rice, the same master who had command of CRESCENT CITY when she was wrecked in 1905, was still in command on that June day in 1909. He tried to get CRESCENT CITY secured to the upper wall but was unable to do so before the rushing torrent grabbed her, forcing her onto the upper breast wall and carrying away the timber strakes along that wall. CRESCENT CITY was sucked