SS Atlantic (1870)

SS Atlantic was a transatlantic ocean liner of the White Star Line, and second ship of the Oceanic-class. The ship operated between Liverpool, United Kingdom, and New York City, United States. During the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, she struck rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing at least 535 people. It remained the deadliest civilian maritime disaster in the North Atlantic Ocean until the sinking of SS La Bourgogne on 2 July 1898 and the greatest disaster for the White Star Line prior to the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912.

History

Atlantic was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast in 1870, as one of the four Oceanic-class liners. The other vessels were Republic, Oceanic and Baltic. She was the second ship of the class. The four liners were built for the newly created Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, commonly referred to as the White Star Line. Her primary propulsion was a four cylinder compound condensing steam engine producing 600 horsepower (450 kW) driving a single propeller giving her a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph). The engines were made by George Forrester and Company at the Vauxhall foundry, Liverpool. To communicate from the bridge to the engine room she was fitted with a telegraph. Steering was by Forrester's steam steering apparatus, as fitted to Great Eastern.

For auxiliary propulsion she was rigged as a four-masted barque. With a length of 420 feet (130 m) between perpendiculars (437 feet (133 m) overall) and a beam of 41 feet (12 m), she was slim with an aspect ratio of 1:10. Atlantic had a depth of hold of 32 feet (9.8 m) and was 3,707 tons register. She had three decks and five bulkheads extending from keelson to maindeck.

The four sister ships were luxurious with a standard unseen on any previous vessel. Two classes of accommodation were available. Cabin class was amidships with a saloon measuring 80 feet (24 m) long and the full 40 feet (12 m) of the ship's beam. The staterooms were forward of the saloon with provision for four berth en suite accommodation as well as double cabins. The lavatories were provided with running water and the bathrooms had water heated by steam when required. Cabin class passengers were free to come on deck. There was also provision for 1,000 steerage passengers. Single males were housed forward of the cabin class area, aft of cabin class was reserved for single females and married couples. Steerage class passengers did not have access to the decks.

She sailed for New York City on her maiden voyage on 8 June 1871. For her return trip (starting on 1 July 1871) she was advertised for all classes as being "unrivalled in safety, speed and comfort". She carried "surgeons and stewardesses". Atlantic completed 18 crossings with no problems other than a minor incident on 23 November 1871, when she was hit by SS Alexandria.

Sinking

Concern over coal

On 20 March 1873, Atlantic departed on her 19th voyage from Liverpool with 952 people on board, of whom 835 were passengers, and 14 stowaways. En route, the ship encountered heavy seas and gale force headwinds, which slowed her progress to a crawl. The ship's engines had to work harder than normal to maintain forward progress, and this resulted in increased coal consumption. The captain, James Williams, became increasingly concerned that they would run out of coal for the boilers before reaching New York. They in fact had more than enough remaining fuel, but unbeknownst to the captain, the ship's engineer John Foxley had been deliberately under-reporting coal reserves in order to err on the side of caution and encourage economical use of the remaining reserves, which was a common practice on ships at the time. On the 11th day of the voyage, Foxley gave an estimate to the captain that there were 129 tons of coal remaining, when at least 140 tons would have been needed for the two days sailing to New York, some 460 miles (740 km) away, consuming 70 tons per day. Foxley was aware that this figure was an underestimate, but did not wish to admit that his previous estimations had been inaccurate. Thus convinced they were short of coal—and unable to hoist sail as a backup because of the strong headwind—the captain decided to divert to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to refuel, as this was much closer (170 miles (270 km) distant) and it was a common practice for ships low on coal reserves to call there, although this was the first time that a White Star ship had attempted to do so, and none of the ship's mates had any firsthand knowledge of the approaches to Halifax harbour.

Diversion to Halifax

During the approach to Halifax on the evening of 31 March, the captain and third officer were on the bridge until midnight while Atlantic made her way through a storm, proceeding at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) for the entrance of Halifax Harbour, experiencing intermittent visibility and heavy seas. Unbeknownst to the crew or passengers, winds and currents had put Atlantic 12.5 miles (20.1 km) off-course to the west of the harbour. On the approach to harbour, Captain Williams decided to sleep, and put the ship in command of the Second Mate Henry Ismay Metcalfe, with instruction that he be awoken at 3 am. It had been the captain's intention for the ship to heave to until daylight after 3 am; however, his instruction to be woken was not carried out. Because almost none of the crew had ever been to Halifax before, they were unaware of the dangers of the approach; no one took soundings, posted a masthead lookout, or reduced speed, as they approached the unfamiliar coast. Because they were so far off-course, they did not spot the Sambro Lighthouse, the large landfall lighthouse which warns sailors of the rocky shoals to the west of the harbour entrance. As the night wore on without any sight of the lighthouse, the ship's quartermaster Robert Thomas—the only crew member familiar with Halifax—became convinced that something was wrong, especially when the lighthouse did not come into view. He relayed his concerns to both Metcalfe, and the Fourth Mate John Brown, and advised that the ship should heave to. However, the officers dismissed his concerns.

Striking the rocks

At 3:15 a.m. local time on 1 April 1873, the lookout spotted the white foam of breaking waves and shouted "Breakers ahead! Breakers ahead!". The crew immediately attempted to take evasive action and place the engines into reverse. However, these measures were insufficient, and Atlantic struck an underwater rock off Marr's Head, Meagher's Island (now Mars Head, Mars Island), Nova Scotia. Atlantic rode up onto the rocky ledge at near full speed, coming to a complete stop, and was pounded on the rocks several times, shattering some iron hull plates, before slipping backward and heeling to starboard. The ship rapidly filled with water and partially capsized, gradually settling on the shallow seabed, and heeling over to an ever-increasing angle. All 10 lifeboats were lowered by the crew but were all washed away or smashed against rocks. Distress rockets were fired into the air every minute, but this did not bring any results. Many of the disaster victims were trapped inside the ship as it filled with water. Part of the ship remained above the water, where it was pounded by waves, and many of those who made their way out onto the deck clung to the ship for as long as they could, but were eventually swept away by the waves washing over it; one passenger reported seeing a mass of heads in the water so dense that he thought it was cargo floating in the sea. Others climbed up onto the rigging and clung on as long as they could; however, most of these were overcome by exposure and eventually died there or fell into the sea.

Many people survived due to the bravery of the Third Mate, Cornelius Brady, and the quartermasters John Speakman and Edward Owens, who swam to shore with a rope and rigged up lines, via a rock to the shore. By dawn, five such lines had been rigged, and this was responsible for saving many lives. Many of those who survived swam or climbed the ropes, first to a wave-swept rock and then to a barren shore. By 6 am, Brady had made contact with the local residents of the tiny fishing villages of Lower Prospect and Terence Bay, and they sent out three boats to rescue people from the rock and those who remained clinging to the ship itself. The rescue operation continued until midday when all still alive had been rescued.

However, at least 535 people died, leaving only 429 survivors. The ship's manifest indicates that of the 952 aboard, 156 were women and 189 were children (including two who had been born during the voyage). All women and children perished except for one twelve-year-old boy, John Hindley. Ten crew members were lost, while 131 survived. This was the worst civilian loss of life in the North Atlantic until the wreck of La Bourgogne on 2 July 1898.

Aftermath

Recovery of the dead

Recovery and burial of the large numbers of victims took weeks. Divers were paid rewards for recovering the many bodies trapped within the hull. A diving company from New York sent equipment to the wreckage to salvage as much as possible of ship and cargo, and to recover the bodies of the drowned. On 11 May 1873, the Norwegian newspaper Morgenbladet reported that they had blown open the wreck, and had recovered lots of goods, and 349 bodies.