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THE EASTERN STEAMSHIP CO. LTD By Fr. Pete Van der Linden During the 1920s many canallers were built in Great Britain to supplement the huge grain and coal trade that developed shortly after World War I. The American fleet owners sought to enter this lucrative trade and the owners of the American Steamship Company, Boland & Cornelius of Buffalo, were among the few who ventured into this new field. . . and prospered. The establishment of the Eastern Steamship Company, Ltd., incorporated at St. Catharines, Ontario, but controlled by a group of Buffalo and St. Catharines' grain dealers, was begun in 1922. The first ten canallers with turret pilot houses were ordered late that year and early in 1923. All were in service by the end of 1923. The second eleven with more modern pilot houses came out in 1925 and 1926. Boland & Cornelius managed the fleet until 1936 when part of the original group, minus the NISBET GRAMMER, were sold to Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co., Ltd., early that year. The second eleven went later in 1936. Despite early variations, by 1925 the fleet colors had been established as: black hull, white cabins and forecastle, black stack with a wide white band and black letter "E" in the center. As far as possible we will present the Eastern vessels in their distinctive color scheme in the following three issues. 1. FRANK B. BAIRD (C 147854) steel canaller built in 1923 at Old Kilpatrick, Glasgow, Scotland by Napier & Miller (Hull #241): 253.5 x 43.2 x 17.9; 1748 gross tons. Lost by enemy gunfire from U-158 on May 22, 1942. 28.03 N/58.50 W. 2. NORMAN P. CLEMENT (C 146255) steel canaller built in 1923 at Cowes, Isle of Wight by J.S. White & Company (Hull #1729): 252.2 x 43.2 x 17.8; 1729 gross tons. Rebuilt as a chemical tanker in 1962. Scuttled in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, October 23, 1968. 3. WILLIAM H. DANIELS (C 147764) steel canaller built in 1923 at Haverton-Hill-on- Tees by Furness Shipbuilding Company (Hull #43): 252.5 x 43.3 x 17.8; 1772 gross tons. Renamed b) SCOTT MARK In 1966. Scrapped in 1967. 4. EDWIN T. DOUGLASS (C 146334) steel canaller built in 1923 at Old Kilpatrick, Scotland by Napier & Miller (Hull #240): 253.5 x 43.2 x 17.9; 1749 gross tons. Renamed b) P.S. BARGE NO. 1 in 1959. Still in service. 5. ALBERT C. FIELD (C 147767) steel canaller built in 1923 at Haverton Hill-on-Tees by Furness Shipbuilding Company (Hull #44): 2925 -aX, 3 x 17.8; 1764 gross tons. Torpedoed by German Aircraft during the Normandy Invasion, June 18, 1944 off St. Catherines Pointe and sank in three minutes. After the war she was raised and scrapped. 6. NISBET GRAMMER (C_ 147208) steel canaller built in 1923 at Birkenhead, Scotland by Cammel Laird & Company (Hull #901): 253.0 x 43.0 x 20; 1745 gross tons. Sunk in collision with the steamer DALWARNIC near ao Charlotte, New York, Lake Ontario on May 31, \G 1926. 7. JUDGE HART (C 146247) steel canaller built in 1923 at Cowes, Isle of Wight, England by J.S. White & Company (Hull #1599): 252.2 x 43.2 x 17.8; 1729 gross tons. Wrecked at Ashburton Bay, Lake Superior on November 28, 1942. John N. "Jay" Bascom, our Dinner Speaker a