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7. Ship of the Month - cont'd. Whitmore), while VERONA went into the water on October 5th. As for the six smaller sisters, they were ODANAH (U. S. 204455), AmShip's Lo­ rain Hull 351, launched July 31, 1907; CYPRUS (U. S . 204527), Hull 353 from Lorain, launched August 17, 1907; ADRIATIC (U. S . 204726), AmShip Lorain Hull 354, launched October 19, 1907; ELBA (U. S . 204727), AmShip's Hull 440 out of the Cleveland yard, launched October 26, 1907; HEMLOCK (U. S . 204346), built as Hull 624 out of the West Bay City Ship Building Company, West Bay City, Michigan, and launched on July 13, 1907, and CALUMET (U. S . 204447), Hull 171 from the Detroit Ship Building Company, Wyandotte, Michigan, launched on Au­ gust 10, 1907. All eight of the steamers were registered at Cleveland and the first five to be launched went into service in 1907. VERONA, ADRIATIC and ELBA, however, were completed too late for service that year and they were put into operation in 1908. Before the latter three were commissioned, however, there no longer were eight steamers in the group, for CYPRUS had met with misfortune on only her second downbound trip. With a cargo of iron ore from Superior, Wiscon­ sin, for Lackawanna, she foundered in heavy weather on Lake Superior on Oc­ tober 11, 1907, with the loss of all but one of her crew. CRETE and VERONA were each 480. 0 feet in length between perpendiculars, 52. 0 feet in the beam and 30. 0 feet in depth. CRETE'S tonnage was 6189 Gross and 4764 Net, while the tonnage of VERONA was calculated as 6186 Gross and 4765 Net. Each hull- had four compartments and three watertight bulkheads. There were 28 hatches spaced on 12-foot centres. Motive power for each steamer was a triple expansion steam engine which had cylinders of 22 1/2, 36 and 60 inches diameter, with a stroke of 42 inches, and produced 1, 600 Indicated Horsepower at 85 revolutions per minute. Steam, at a working pressure of 180 pounds per square inch was produced by two single­ ended, coal-fired Scotch boilers, each of which was 14'6" in diameter and 11'6" in length and had three furnaces equipped with induced draft. There were 115 square feet of grate surface. The engines and boilers all were built in 1907 by the American Ship Building Company at Cleveland. CRETE and VERONA were very handsome steamers in all respects, albeit solid- looking and business-like rather than fancy. Each had a straight stem, counter stern, fully-topgallant forecastle and flush quarterdeck, and there was a pretty sheer to the deck. The anchors were suspended from hawseholes set above the loaded waterline just back of the stem (there were no pockets for the anchors) and a kedge anchor was fitted aft, stowed on the fantail and worked with a radial steel davit. A hinged steering pole was carried right at the stem. The forecastle head was protected by a closed steel bulwark for more than half its length, with an open pipe rail for the rest. A rather substantial texas cabin sat atop the forecastle; its forward end was slightly narrower than the after section, and there was a wind deflector on either side, for­ ward of the "knuckle", to protect the entrance doorways. Five large windows originally were positioned across the front of the texas but, in later years, these were plated over for protection and only portholes remained there. In the early years, an awning often was set to provide shade on the foredeck. The pilothouse was situated on the bridge deck above the texas, behind a closed steel dodger. It had seven large windows in its curved front, and two more windows abaft the door on each side, and a sunvisor was positioned over the front windows. There were no bridgewings, nor was there ever an open na­ vigation bridge atop the pilothouse. The well raked foremast, a heavy pole, rose immediately abaft the bridge structure. An open post-and-wire railing ran down either side of the spar deck, with a close steel taffrail at the stern. There was a large deckhouse aft which contained accommodation for the engine and steward's crews, as well as the