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NICHOLSON TRANSIT PERSEUS: (US 202475) Steel bulk freighter built at St. Clair, Mich., by the Great Lakes Engineering Works as FRANK J. HECKER for the Gil- christ SS. Co. She was one of two freighters that were laid down by the Columbia Iron Works of St. Clair which went into receivership be- fore much work could be done on them and GLEW took over the contract. Originally designed to be 50 feet shorter, she came out at 462 x 50 x 24, 4978 gt. In 1913 she and her sistership, the GEORGE H. RUSSELL, were sold to Interlake. The FRANK J. HECKER was renamed PERSEUS and the GEORGE H. RUSSELL became the CANOPUS. Together these twins served the Interlake SS. Co., well until they were both sold to Nicholson in 1945. Here the twins parted waySe CANOPUS became an auto carrier while PERSEUS went into the grain trade. In 1961 both were sold for scrap, CANOPUS going to the shipbreakers at Ashtabula and PERSEUS to Italian scrappers. Filled with a cargo of scrap iron, PERSEUS left Quebec City in tow of the English tug ENGLISHMAN. She was all "but- toned up" (her port holes were welded shut). Her propelle# was re- moved and she was ready to brave the Atlantic on her last voyage. On Sept. 11 in a North Atlantic gale she broke loose from her tug at 44° N, 33° W. The tug abandoned her because they could not approach her in the gale and she was lost from view. Later she was found about 90 miles from Fayal by the Dutch tug WITMARSUM. Again she was taken in tow but again she broke loose, this time to founder. She proudly dip- ped her bow into a wave and sank below the surface. Her final trip to Genoa, Italy, ended there. Fr. Pete Van der Linden