departure, Liverpool. While all four specifically mention Naronic sinking, the second bottle found contained the most detailed message: It was signed "John Olsen, Cattleman"; however, there was no one with this name listed on the ship's manifest, the closest being John O'Hara and John Watson. A similar situation exists with the first bottle found, in that the signature, "L. Winsel", is also not on the manifest. The messages in the other two bottles are unsigned. Because of this, the reliability of the bottles as genuine testaments to the ship's fate has been questioned and the Court of Inquiry into the incident did not accept the bottled notes as genuine. If the messages were legitimate, the ship sank sometime after 3:20 a.m on 19 February 1893. Design Naronic and her sister ship, the Bovic, were the largest freighters in service on their first crossings (a record which two other cattle carriers of the White Star Line, the Cevic and the Georgic, then succeed). Naronic was slightly larger than her sister ship and both measure 143.3 metres long by 16.2 metres wide. Their profiles reflected their primarily functional design with four masts surrounded by load cranes, and not able to carry sails, surrounding a single ochre funnel with black top, the colours of the company. The hull, made of steel as on all of the company's ships since the 1880s, was black. Powered by two propellers driven by triple expansion machines, Naronic travelled at an average speed of 13 knots. For this, she consumed an average of 50 tonnes of coal per day, and could carry 1,193 tonnes in her bunkers. The ship was above all designed to transport cattle in good conditions, as described in the Marine Engineer magazine when she was put into service: “Her spacious facilities designed to accommodate 1,050 animals, which she will transport on her main deck and her upper deck, will include all the improvements that the greatest consideration and the best experience can suggest. The barns, fresh water supply, and ventilation will be unmatched.” Cattle were transported from New York, and these facilities remained unused in the reverse direction of the crossing, although occasionally the ship did transport a few animals such as racehorses and circus animals. A few cabins were also provided for transporting passengers, generally people accompanying the cattle. Paying passengers were very rare. Although the facilities could accommodate fifteen people in practice,