The ship depicted at the top of the stamp, in the map portion, is the present Altadoc, second ship of the name, owned by N. M. Paterson and Sons, Ltd., (Steamship Division), Fort William, Ontario. The first vessel to bear the name Altadoc was built in 1901 of the Gilchrist Transportation Company, of Cleveland, by the West Bay City Shipbuilding Corporation, under the name Lake Shore. She was sold to the Inter¬lake Steamship Company in 1913 and renamed Indus. The Paterson concern acquired her in 1926 and renamed her Altadoc. She stranded on Keweenaw Point, on December 8, 1927 and was cut up for scrap where she lay in the following year The present ship of the name was built in 1896 and began service under the name Maricopa for the Minnesota Steamship Company. In 1936 she was sold to the Great Lakes Lumber and Shipping Company, Ltd., of Fort William, Ontario, who renamed her John P. Geistman Later her name was changed to E. E. Johnson. She was acquired by her present owners in 1945, and was renamed Altadoc. At the present time she is used chiefly in the carriage of grain, ore and coal, for which the vessel has four holds with a total capacity of 6,300 tons. There are 12 hatches, each 8ft., by 34ft., inside measurement. Her service is up and down from Port Arthur with ore to Lake Erie ports. She has a coal consumption averaging 30 tons per day, her bunkers having a carrying capacity of 400 tons. The ship was built by the Chicago Shipbuilding Company, at Chicago, and has a gross registered tonnage of 4,266, net 3,200 tons, on dimensions 412.2ft, x 48.2ft, x 23.3ft. Her machinery consists of a triple-expansion engine of n.h.p. 228, bh.p. 130, developing 2,000 i.h.p. She has two Scotch boilers installed in 1914, of a pressure of 130 lbs. per sq. in.
The illustration of the vessel in the lock was one of the designs submitted in its entirety, nothing else but the lettering being included for the stamp picture. However, it was rejected and in the final design was relegated to the rather unimportant position at the top, the lock details being omitted. I am informed by the U.S. Post Office that the ship at the base of the stamp represents no particular vessel. I believe it is a composite drawing, the forward end of the ship in the picture being taken from a photograph of one vessel, the stern portion being based on a picture of another.
SG1071 Sea Breezes 11/55