Sinking of SS Arctic - 27 September 1854
The SS Arctic was the pride of the American merchant marine when launched in 1852. It was a 3,000 ton wooden-hull paddle-wheel steamer capable of carrying 280 passengers. It also carried a modest amount of cargo. Owned and operated by the Collins Line on New York, it had a lucrative US Government contract to carry US mail to and from Britain. The Arctic held the record for the fastest eastbound crossing of the Atlantic.
It departed Liverpool on 20 September 1854, bound for New York with 281 passengers and 153 crew. Among its passengers were members of the Collins family and the family of James Brown, one of the principal financiers of the Collins Line, as well as the son of the master, James C. Luce.
As the Arctic approached the Grand Banks on 27 September, it entered a thick fog. Lookouts spotted the steamship Vesta on a collision course. Both ships were transiting at full speed and neither was sounding fog signals. Alarm was sounded, but it was too late. The collision did significant damage to the bows of both ships, which quickly lost sight of each other in the fog. While the Vesta was smaller (only 250 tons), it had an iron hull. The Vesta survived, and arrived in St. John's three days after the collision. The Arctic started sinking soon after the collision, off Cape Race, Newfoundland
While the Arctic carried a number of lifeboats, the crew panicked during attempts to launch them. Despite efforts of the master, many crewmembers abandoned the passengers in their hurry to flee the sinking ship. The master stayed with the ship, but when it sank, he ended up on a piece of wreckage and survived. Most of the survivors were crew members, picked up the next day by a passing vessel. Most of the passengers, including all of the women and children died.
A dark day in maritime history.
[Published in Bryant's Maritime Blog, 26 September 2013; brymar-consulting.com/]
[All 109 of the women and children passengers, 149 of the 172 adult male passengers, and 92 of the 153 crewmembers died in the cold, North Atlantic waters, including Luce's son; the wife, the only daughter, and the youngest son of Collins Line manager, Edward Knight Collins; and British artist and archaeologist, Frederick Catherwood.]
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