One thing I didn't mention in my other post was the story of the SS Ferret (she wasn't an American ship). Built by G. & J. Burns in the 1870s, the steamer ran goods between Glasgow and Belfast. In 1880, she was chartered by a fellow to give an invalid wife a cruise to the Mediterranean. After she passed through the Straits of Gibraltar and signaled her numbers, Capt. Smith had her repainted and modified, and items that could float and had the name of Ferret were thrown overboard. Capt. Smith renamed the ship the Benton, and took on a load of French coffee which they illegally sold at Cape Horn after renaming the steamer the India. You get the idea; the SS Ferret had become a pirate ship. Capt. Smith was caught in Australia and locked away, and since the SS Ferret had been thought lost and the insurance company paid her off, she was sold at auction, ending her life ferrying goods and passengers along the Australian coast. In the late 1920s, the SS Ferret was sold for scrap and broken up. Still, I have always thought it was ironic that a ship named Ferret would be used for thieving. Oh, the last bit of irony? Capt. Smith was not caught on board when the Australians seized the ship. He had slipped away. He was accidentally caught after being arrested on charges of being "disorderly." Well, *I'VE* always loved the story. Bob C and 15 Mo' Disorderly Demons [Posted in FML issue 3186]