150 YEARS AGO TODAY
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The Arctic |
Sep 27 1854
The wooden steamship Arctic sinks in foggy weather after colliding with the iron bow of the Vesta. It is the first major ocean liner disaster in the Atlantic.
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The Arctic foundering 60 miles off Cape Race. |
On the 27th, the Arctic encountered dense fog. The policy for Collins liners was to race through an area of fog as quickly as possible in order to flee it. This foolishness resulted in that the Arctic was unable to turn in time when a small French iron-hulled steamer called Vesta came in her way. The collision was violent and the Vesta’s metal structure turned the Arctic’s wooden hull into ribbons.
Panic soon developed among the passengers. Water was rushing in through three holes below the Arctic’s waterline. The Arctic’s master, Captain Luce immediately ordered the head of his ship to be turned towards Cape Race, which was the closest point of land. But the speed of the ship further increased the inrush of water, and four hours later the water had reached the furnaces, making the voyage impossible to continue.
Luce ordered his 367 passengers and crew members on deck, began to organize the lowering of boats, and instructed everyone that women and children would go first. The "black gang" (stokers) rebelled and with shouts and curses they made for the lifeboats, knocking passengers to the deck. One ship's officer drew his gun but before he could fire a stoker killed him with a vicious smash on his head with a shovel.
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A deck scene of utter chaos as the Arctic sinks. |
A mere two boats with 31 crewmembers and fourteen passengers managed to reach Newfoundland. A raft made of wreckage supported 72 men and four women from the beginning, but the strong wind and the violent waves swept them off one after one until only one remained. This man was later saved by a passing ship.
Captain Luce had managed to escape the ship on a raft along with fifteen other persons, among them his own son. The young boy was unconscious and his father held him in his arms.
At that time, the Arctic had entirely sunk beneath the surface. As the ship construction was made largely out of floatable wood, big pieces broke loose when the ship crashed onto the seabed and raced for the surface. A large section of the paddle wheel housing came up edge-wise, hitting the captain’s son in the head, who was killed immediately. Captain Luce had to let go of his son and start struggling for his own life. Along with approximately fifteen other men, he hung onto to the raft, but soon only three remained. After having seen several ships that had failed to spot them, they were picked up on the 29th.
No women or no children were saved in the disaster. Of the 368 originally on board approximately 300 had perished.
The Collins Line got further problems in 1856, when the Pacific just vanished during a trans-Atlantic crossing.
-http://www.greatoceanliners.net/arctic.html
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