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Che Detroit Marine Historian P JOURNAL OF MARINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY = OF DETROIT, INC. Volume 8, September No.1 1954 KOR KR ROR OR OR OR OR OK OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OK OK OK OR OK OR OK OK ROK OR ROK Kk OK Ok The Story of the Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1902 - 1954 The "William H.Gratwick" This fleet of bulk freighters was established in 1902 by Horace S.Wilkin- son and W.W.Brown. In its early days it was popularly known as the Wilkinson Fleet. Later on, after the L.C.Smith family had bought considerable stock in the company, it was often referred to as the "Typewriter Fleet.” The first two units of the fleet were the wooden freighter GEORGE PRESLEY and the chartered steel combination freighter WILLIAM H.GRATWICK (ii,-US 81427). Five new steel ships were built in 1902 and five more in 1903, ranging in size between 370! and 440' in length. From 1904 on various other new and larger freighters were added, until 1911, at which time all the vessels then operated by Wilkin- (pon in several fleets, were combined under one owning company, which was given the name Great Lakes Steamship Co., whose port of regbstry was Oswego, N.Y. The ships of the early fleets had black hulls and white cabins, with various monograms on the bow, and occasional white monogram markings on the black stacks. After 1911 GLSSCo. kept the hull and cabin colors, changed the stack to a gold band on black field, and the bow monogram to a red disk with oblique gold band with white letters GLSSCo. (Continued, next page)