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Ship of the Month - cont'd. 8. from the east, which meant only one thing, we were getting close enough to the east shore to feel the backset. In order to keep as far out in the lake as possible, I ordered the wheelsman to put 35 degrees of port rudder and to my surprise the ship held perfectly stea­ dy on a WNW course. For the next four hours we never touched the wheel but as we were tra­ velling practically in the trough of the sea we did some terrific rolling. We could still see and feel the backset from the beach all this time. "Around 5 o'clock, I realized the wind was diminishing and with the 35 degrees of port rud­ der still on, the ship would work to port a few degrees at a time. By 5: 30 we were heading back into the wind and believe me, gentlemen, you will never know what a weight dropped from my shoulders at that moment! After dark the wind and sea diminished rapidly, and by 10 o'clock it was safe to go on deck. With the wind lessening, the steam on the water lowered so we could see over the top. Naturally I was very anxious to look over the ship to see how much damage had been done and when entering the galley I couldn't believe my eyes. "The stove had been torn loose from its fastenings and smashed to bits. All walls of heavy oak panelling were ripped out and ground to pulp, pots and pans were strewn on deck, in fact everything that was in the galley, pantry, mess room, storage room, ice box and dining room was a complete wreck! When we finally got around to clean it up, the crew went in with shovels and threw it all overboard. "Upon checking to see if any of the crew were missing or had been injured, we found two members had sustained slight injuries and one of the porters was missing. No one had seen him since we left Gary. After a prolonged search in every part of the ship he was given up as lost. "Upon entering the engine room to check with the chief engineer, I found what had been a spic and span room when we left Gary, anything but that now. The chief was standing at the throttle in rubber boots with a canvas hood over his head. As the companionway door had been smashed, tons and tons of water had poured down the stairway into the engine room. A barrel of 600W oil had broken loose and smashed and with the water sloshing around on deck, had made a nice slippery mess of the entire engine room. This damage had little effect on the seaworthiness of the COLE's hull but making a trip through the cargo hold on the main deck stringers told another story. We found hundreds of rivet heads that had been sheared off, lying on deck. Several butt straps did not have a single rivet holding. As the decks were covered with a foot or more of ice, this condition was not visible from the topside. I was very thankful I didn't know of this condition at the height of the blow. Upon making this discovery I immediately checked down to slow speed, to lessen the vibration or strain on the ship. "I now knew the vessel was not in any condition to carry a cargo. When we picked up the lights of the west shore and found we were just north of Milwaukee, I headed for the breakwater entrance, arriving at anchor in the outer harbor at 6: 00 a. m., on the morning of the 13th, just 50 hours after leaving Gary, only 103 miles away! After daylight I lowered a lifeboat, went ashore to make a report to our office in Cleveland, and got some food for the crew. I had reported one man missing but on our return to the ship, was very glad to hear he had been found. Sometime during the first night out, he had gone into the boiler room and finding a barrel about half full of dry asbestos, sat in it. The asbestos became water soaked and as it settled down he went down with it until only the tips of his shoes were showing. One of the firemen found him all doubled up and too scared to make a noise. When found he was white as a ghost. "It took most of the morning to get the ice thawed off the deck, the engines and mooring cables, after which we left anchorage and tied up at the city dock. Leaving just a stand-by crew, I took others to a restaurant for their first cooked meal in over 56 hours. Needless to say they ate plenty. Upon our return the balance of the crew members were fed. "Workmen from ashore were hired to fit out the galley with a stove and other articles and by noon of the second day we were able to have our meals on the ship. Ice was cleared from the decks with steam and hot water hose, and then we could see just how badly the ship had been twisted and strained. Hundreds of rivets in the deck plating and frames had been sheared off and had worked out, making the deck and sides of the vessel look like a giant cribbage board. A survey of the ship was made by the American Bureau of Shipping and after their report I received orders to proceed with extreme caution to South Chicago, 96 miles away. We waited in Milwaukee for two days for favorable weather. Upon arriving in South