Vancouver and Prince Ru last named is t Orient. pert in British Columbia. The he nearest North American port to the Six steamship companies, three United States lines and three Canadian, Operate over all or some substantial part of this route. These are:— United States Lines: The Alaska Steamship Company Northland Transportation Company Alaska Transportation Company. Canadian Lines: Canadian National Steamships (Pacific) Canadian Pacific Steamships (B.C. Coast) Union Steamship Company, Limited. Of the three United States lines providing service from Puget Sound ports to Alaska, only one, the Alaska Steamship Company, has been offering any service north of the Inside Passage. The Canadian National line provides a year-round service through the Inside Passage from Vancouver to Ketchikan (extended to Skagway and other southeast Alaskan ports in summer months); the Canadian Pacific line provides a year-round service from Vancouver to southeast Alaskan ports. Both lines call at British Columbia coastal points— Ocean Falls, Prince Rupert, and others—en route. Alaska Steamship Company.—The Alaska Steamship Company is the only carrier normally reaching all regular ports of call in Alaska. During the salmon-canning season this company’s freighters and even large passenger ships also call at many of the cannery ports. When the war began in 1939 the company was operating 16 ships with a combined gross tonnage of about 64,000 tons. In addition it had 6 smaller ships not in use. The 16 ships operating had a combined bale capacity of 2,645,000 cubic feet, refrigerator capacity of 136,000 cubic feet, and passenger capacity of about 3,500. Only one of these ships, the Columbia, has a rated speed above 15 knots. The average rated speed of the 16 vessels in operation in 1939 was 11-87 knots. This company is controlled by the Kennecott Copper Company. The five most modern of the company’s ships were built in 1920. The oldest (operating) ship was built in 1899. The company operated normally through the Inside Passage to Juneau and Sitka and through the Gulf of Alaska to southwestern Alaska, Nome, and points on the Bering Sea. It is by far the most important carrier operating between the United States proper and Alaska. Northland Transportation Company.—This is a smaller company which normally maintains weekly freight and passenger service between Seattle and southeast Alaska. During the summer months it serves points on the Alaska Peninsula. It operates five ships, with a combined gross [92] tonnage of 14,400, net tonnage, 8,820, refrigerator capacity of 71,000 cubic feet, and total bale capacity of 780,000 - cubic feet. Three of its ships, the Northland, North Sea, and North Coast, carry passengers, and have a combined passenger capacity of 775. In 1941, the last year of normal Operation, these ships made 72 voyages, carried 17,644 passengers and close to 140,000 tons of revenue freight. Alaska Transportation Company.—This is the only other important United States steamship company in the Alaskan trade. In 1941 it was operating three ships, the Taku, Tongas, and Tyee, all freighters, with a combined gross tonnage of 3,700 tons. They have accommodation for a few passengers. Two ships, the Taku and Tyee, are modern steel vessels. Service is from Seattle and Tacoma to south: east Alaska, with summer calls at small ports not regularly served by the larger lines. The company has had a contract to handle gold concentrates originating at Tulsequah, British Columbia, and brought by barge down the Taku River and across the border for loading at Taku Inlet south of Juneau. The company’s operations began in 1935. In addition, a small company, the Santa Ana Steamship Company operated for a few years, up to the outbreak of the war, a single vessel between Seattle and the Kuskokwim River section (Bering Sea). Canadian National Steamships (Pacific).—This company succeeded the Grand Trunk Pacific Coast Steamship Company, which started operations on the Pacific Coast in 1909, although the railway did not reach Prince Rupert until 1914. At the outbreak of World War II, the Canadian National were operating three ships—Prince Rupert, Prince George*, and Prince Robert—from Vancouver to Alaskan points as far north as Skagway. Early in the war the Prince Robert, the most modern and fastest ship in the North Pacific trade, was taken over by the Dominion Government for use as an armed merchantman, won dis’ tinction through her capture of the fast German cargo ship Weser off the coast of Mexico, and was later refitted as Canada’s first anti-aircraft auxiliary cruiser. Gross tonnage of the Prince Rupert is about 3,380 tons, the Prince George (sister ship of the Prince Rupert) was also about 3,380 tons, and the Prince Robert is about 6,900 tons, giving a total gross tonnage of about 13,600 tons. The Prince Rupert, although an old ship, is comparatively fast, having a cruising speed of 173 knots. The vessel now under construction to replace the Prince George, will be somewhat faster, with maximum speed expected to be about 20 knots. Although these ships carry a certain amount of freight, mostly shipments from Vancouver to Canadian coastal points and shipments of Canadian origin passing in bond through Juneau, Wrangell, and Skagway, for delivery * The Prince George was burned at Ketchikan, Alaska, in September, 1945.