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^6 At Least 24 Lake Ships Lost In Atlantic Battle Freighters Played Important Roles in Various Way in Widely Scattered Zones Montreal, May 15 —At least 24 Canadian lake freighters were sunki in waters far from home during the I Battle of the Atlantic and the feel-' ing among shipping men here is that the number probably is considerably higher. Little could be published about the contribution of the lakers while the battle was on. It was known that about a score of them went fiverseas to join the British Admiralty early in the war but the fact that many of their sisters followed remained as one of the minor secrets of the Atlantic warfare. Now it can be told that nearly 100 of the low-deck, heavy-stern lake ships served on the trans-Atlantic run, on the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States and around the British Isles. Their contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic was not inconsiderable despite the fact that they were not fitted for such work— and the price they paid was high. STILL UNCERTAIN Jiist what tr ; total price was is not fully known here. Many of the lakers are still abroad and their owners confess that in many cases they aren't entirely sure just which ships remain afloat. Advice on those known to have been lost usually reached here from one to eight months after they went down. The contribution of the lake freighters was greatest when it was needed most, when the outcome of the Atlantic battle was hanging by a thread and anything that would float was an asset. Assurance that the lakers remained useful even after newly-. built ocean-going tonnage relieved the strain, however, is seen in the fact that many of them are still in service abroad. SERVED AFTER SINKING "" At least one laker continued to j serve even after she had been sunk. 1 The Montreal freighter Winona was with the "over-age" destroyer Camp- bellford when she crashet. the lock gates at St. Nazaire in 1941. Loaded Fire Quickly Controlled On 'Gas' Laden Tanker Prescott, May 21 —Fire to-day broke out in the engine room of the gasolme-ladeii tanker, Transtream, but was extinguished before 'causmo-. serious damage. The tanker, with a capacity of about 80,000 gallons, was unloading just west of the government elevator at Johnston. The Transtream is in charge of Capt. :R. Tremblay, of Montreal, whose wife and two members of the crew were lost in 1941 when the vessel, then known as the Trans-river, blew up in the Detroit River. STORM DELAYS VESSELS Yesterday's southwest gale tied up a good part of shipping out of Port Colborne and drove several vessels to shelter there. The tanker, Bruce Hudson, the Aragon, Amst^dam. Soeony, tug Oil Tr'ansco and barge Oil Transfer NX25, and the tug A. M. McAuley and scow were in the harbor to-day weather bound and waiting for the heavy Lake Erie sea to run down. Several vessels which sheltered under Long Point get under way again early to-day. fouling the gate and tying up the submarine lair for months. To the Port Arthur laker. Portadoc. goes the honor of being probably farthest of all from home when she went down. She was torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and her crew, mostly from Port Colborne and Montreal, remained interned by Vichy French troops for more than a year. At least two lake ships took part in the historic invasion of North Africa months later. Two lake men, Capt. Dan Nolin, of Owen Sound, and Chief Engineer Dan Lockwood, of Kingston, survived the torpedoing of lakers under their command. The Lennox was the first to go, off the We^TTtrToTes, while she was carrying bauxite ore northward. Skipper and chief were together again on the Donald Stewart when she was hit in the Straits of Belle Isle. Her inflammable cargo exploded but most of the crew made their way safely through flame-covered waters. Not as lucky was Capt. Thos. Edge of Montreal, who was killed when the Norfolk went down following a torpedo attack off the U.S. coast. LOST ON FIRST TRIP The Hflttolfc-had completed many] SALE APPROVED salt water trips before the law of Stockholders of the Great Lakes averages caught up with her but the Transit Corporation have approved Sarnia freighter Maplecourt wes hit sale to a South American company close to the Canadian coast on her of the four package freighters Alfred fi.vst outward Atlantic crossing. Shej h.' Smith,. George_ft_DJaon, Fred W had gone into ocean service after 200 Sarfient, and Utica. for approximately feet had been taken out of her middle $1,735,000. The four vessels are tied at Kingston and re-inserted at Mon-1 up at Buffalo and have carried no treal because she had been 200 feet cargoes this year. The purchaser is too long for the Lachine Canal locks, 'expected to take possession within Others lost were the Paterson ;i20 days, ships jSarniadoc, Farrendoc, Trois- f d Prescodoc, Wellandoc. Soreldoc ,,,.... , and Canadoc, and the freighters Oak- with cement, the old Winona sank i ton> sherbrooke, Lanark. Knowlton, . just: where she was meant to sink, driven on Rocks, Ship Near Break-Up New Waterford, N.S., May 21 — (CP)—A 4,000-ton freighter, driven on the rocks of Petrie ledges at the outer reaches of Sydney harbour by high winds and rain squalls over the week-end, was still being buffeted by the sea last night as tugs struggled to release her from the grip of the reef. Veteran mariners said that unless floating operations could be completed within 24 hours, the vessel would be a total loss. Crew members of the freighter, names of which could not be learned last night, were still aboard her as Dominion Coal Company and navy tugs strained at the towlines. .1. L. Torrian, John A. Holloway. Livingstone, Tevisa, Mont Louis, Magog and Mondoc. The Magog fell prey to bombers off the co"35t"of Eire; the Mondoc—another Paterson ship—exploded after striking a reef in the South Atlantic; the others went down from a variety of causes in a variety of places. Some of the lakers made their contribution to victory in a different way and probably the people of Britain ate better because those little Canadian ships were around. When German bombers started blasting grain elevators throughout Britain, thousands of tons of foodstuffs were poured back into the lakers, which acted as floating granaries out of the danger area. wmm GETS DUTCH CONTRACT A noteworthy feature of the postwar phase of shipbuilding in AmericE is the award of a contract by the Dutch Government to Higgins Industries, Ltd., to build 214 smal! cargo vessels, each 65 feet long and powered by a single screw Diesel motor developing 175 horsepower.