The City of Naples operated in Davidson's fleet for about two years. It was then sold to J.C. Gilchrist of Cleveland, in whose service it spent 19 of its 27 years on the Great Lakes. A giant in the Great Lakes shipping industry, Gilchrist controlled the second-largest fleet on the lakes by 1905. The Gilchrist Transportation Company modified the Naples by raising her

deck   Horizontal or cambered and sloping surfaces on a ship, like floors in a building.

approximately 18 inches, which increased her ore-carrying capacity by more than a third, to about 3,400 tons.

The City of Naples (later renamed the Frank O'Connor)

Commercial opportunities on the lakes began declining in 1906, and the Gilchrist Company found itself overextended. Cargoes were in short supply, and independent operators like Gilchrist were hit hard. Some ships did not "turn a wheel" for two years. Gilchrist's company suffered serious setbacks, compounded by Gilchrist's poor health, and eventually slid into receivership. In 1913 the City of Naples was sold to Norris & Co. of Chicago. In 1914, she was picked up by the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company of Tonawanda, New York, and given to the command of P.F. Powrie. However, the American economy was still sluggish, and Tonawanda had little use for an old wooden bulk carrier. The Frank O'Connor saw no service that year.

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