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Page 68 The Georgian Saga by Alan Mann January 2007 The one time Great Lakes passenger ship might be termed an enigma. The vessel best known as GEORGIAN was quite attractive looking, strangely had no outside fore and after deck, functioned rather well when given an assignment but for various reasons never really found a comfortable service niche. Built in 1910 by the Detroit Shipbuilding Co. (Wyandotte, Mich.) the 246 ft. vessel served under various names, was put into Canadian use during the second world war, then wandered overseas to be embroiled in a Chinese military revolution. Reportedly her days ended in the demeaning role transporting grapes off the coast of West Africa. She was a globetrotter indeed! Untangling her circuitous wanderings have proven challenging and likely the final chapters are yet to be dialogued. However, her North American years are known following garnering of information from various sources. Right from her beginning, some unusual twists have been noted. As hull no. 180, the passenger vessel was built for the Richilieu and Ontarion Navigation Co. (both definitely Canadian names) in a U.S. shipyard in Michigan. She was christened ROCHESTER and shortly after her 1910 launching, the firm for whom she was built, was taken over by Canada Steamship Lines Ltd. of Montreal. Under a subsidiary called American Interlake Lines, she already had a mixed pedigree, first put into service between Youngstown and Ogdensburg New York. The vessel with 120 staterooms remained in this service until 1915. The early career route switching was just the beginning. In 1915 ROCHESTER was chartered to the Indiana Transportation Co. for service on Lake Michigan. This charter route was only mildly successful as it lasted just one season. The Great War(1914-18) put a crimp on passenger service in both Canada and the United States, this partly the reason for her early demise. Canada Steamship remained owner during this period. A suspected case of typhoid fever aboard the ROCHESTER in 1913 later came back to haunt the vessel and perhaps was a portent of ill fortune that would plague her future. Canada Steamship planned to operate Rochester on their Northern Navigation routes in 1916, however, litigation arising from the typhoid fever case forced the vessel into layup until legal implications could be sorted out. It seemed ill fortune and bad luck followed the vessel. Finally freed from her legal bind, the vessel was now officially sold to Canada Steamship's Northern Navigation division, operating to Georgian Bay destinations, yet still technically registered as a U.S. vessel. With the Great War over in 1918, passenger service on the Great Lakes was once again was able to gain some stability. In 1919 ROCHESTER was back where she started, Lake Ontario but on a slightly different route between Toronto and Ogdensburg. Service on this route apparently was less than successful as her owners decided to create a new chapter for the vessel that did not linger very long in one given assignment. Why not a new name and change of venue? And that's exactly what happened! Canada Photo from Mann Historical Files