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oe. THE Marine REVIEW LOSS OF THE CYPRUS The whole great lakes region was profoundly shocked by the sinking of the steel steamer Cyprus in Lake Superior: 18 miles off Deer Park on the evening of Oct. 11. The Cy- prus, which was on her second trip, was built at the Lorain yard of the American Ship Building Co. for the Lackawanna Steamship Co. of Buffalo and was in every respect as staunch and seaworthy a vessel as has ever ? was ufidble for many hours to give a coherent account of what had oc- curred. When he regained possession of his faculties he said that the Cy- prus had made fairly good weather in the storm when the cargo shifted and gave her a heavy list. He added that water began pouring in her hatches and a panic ensued, many of the crew putting on life preservers. The boats were not lowezed, how- Magna and was passed by the Cyprus between 12:30 and 1 p. m. Friday. The Stephenson having one _ boiler disabled was making only about four miles an hour, while the Cyprus was making about nine. Captain Harbot- tle reports that the Cyprus was tak- ing some water on deck and leaving a red wake behind. This would indi- cate that water had got into the cargo-hold, where it was discolored THIS SPLENDID PICTURE OF THE CYPRUS WAS TAKEN AS SHE WAS GOING UP LIGHT ON HER MAIDEN TRIP. 1 been turned out by a lake ship yard. She was launched on Aug. 17 and went into commission Sept. 21. Ste was somewhat smaller than the pre- vailing type, being 440 ft. over all, 420 ft. keel, 52 ft. beam and 28 ft. deep, having 23 hatches spaced 12- ft. centers, There is no doubt what- ever about her complete seaworthiness and ample strength of hull. Neither was she loaded beyond a safe draught, as she had only 7,103 gross tons of ore aboard while her sisters, which are exact dupli- cates have brought down 7,416 tons. Yet the steamer went down in a gale so moderate that only the small- er class of vessels sought shelter while the big steamers. scarcely no- ticed it at all, drowning every mem- Mee ot 'the crew except C: J. Pitz, second mate. Pitz was washed ashore in such a state of exhaustion that he ever, as Captain Huyck felt confident of reaching shelter behind. Whitefish point. The pumps were working stead- ily when without warning the freight- er turned turtle and went to the bot- tom almost instantly. This was at 7 o'clock in the even- ing. The first and second mate, to- gether with a wheelsman and watch- man, succeeded in cutting loose a life- raft to which they clung until 2 a. m. when they were driven to the shore. The surf capsized the raft five times and all lost their hold except Pitz. He was thrown upon the beach with scarcely sufficient strength left to crawl out of the reach of the waves. The most important testimony of all ~is given by Capt. H. G. Harbottle of the steamer George Stephenson of the Pittsburg Steamship Co.'s fleet. The Stephenson was towing the barge Photo by Pesha, Marine City. by the ore and was being pumped out: (The Cyptus- = was loaded, - aS stated, with 7,103 tons of Mesabi ore, which, as is well known, is soft and which piles itself into cone form when loading. Vessel owners draw the con- clusion' that she took in water through her hatches which, mixing with the ore, eventually caused the cargo to shift and to make her turn turtle as the weight increased. The opinion seems to be general that the hatch covers, which are of the steel sliding kind overlapping in sections, did not have the usual tarpaulin covering over them. One cannot escape the impression that there was carelessness manifest- ed aboard in this important particular. but nevertheless the fate of the Cy- prus will undoubtedly 'direct the at- tention of owners, builders and under-