RMS Atlantic
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RMS Atlantic was a steamship of the White Star Line that operated between Liverpool, United Kingdom and New York City, and sank with the loss of 546 lives in 1873.
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[edit] History
The Atlantic was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland in 1870, and was the second ship built for the newly reborn White Star Line. She was powered by a steam engine producing 600 horsepower (447 kW) driving a single propeller, along with four masts rigged for sail. She set sail on her maiden voyage for New York on June 8, 1871.
[edit] Disaster
On March 20, 1873 the Atlantic departed on her 19th voyage from Liverpool with 959 persons onboard, of whom 835 were passengers. En route, the crew decided to make port at Halifax, Nova Scotia to replenish coal for the boilers.
During the approach to Halifax on the evening of March 31 the captain and 3rd officer were on the bridge until midnight, while the Atlantic made her way through a storm, proceeding at 12 knots (22 km/h) for Terence Bay, Nova Scotia, experiencing limited visibility and heavy seas. Unbeknownst to the crew or passengers, the Atlantic was approximately 20 kilometres off-course to the west of Halifax Harbour.
At 02:00 local time on April 1 1873, the Atlantic struck an underwater rock called Marr's Head 50 metres from Meagher's Island. Lifeboats lowered by the crew were washed away and wrecked and the ship began to sink, killing 546. The ship's manifest indicates there were 156 women and 189 children on board (including two who had been born during the voyage). All perished except for one boy, John Hindley. Every member of the crew survived. Several sources put the survivor count between 371 and 413. This was the worst civilian loss of life in the Northern Atlantic until the wreck of Norge on Rockall on 28 June 1904. The Canadian government investigation was concluded with the statement, "the conduct of Captain Williams in the management of his ship during the 12 or 14 hours preceding the disaster, was so gravely at variance with what ought to have been the conduct of a man placed in his responsible position".
Today, most of the ship still lies under 15 to 90 feet of water. Artifacts recovered from several salvage operations are on display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
RMS Atlantic was the second liner commissioned by White Star (Oceanic being first) but carried the notoriety of being the first White Star Line steamer to sink. (The company had previously lost the clipper RMS Tayleur in Dublin Bay in 1854). Other White Star Line ships lost in the North Atlantic include SS Naronic and RMS Titanic.
[edit] Specifications
- Length: 420 feet, 4 inches (128.4 m)
- Beam: 40 feet, 10 inches (12.4 m)
- Tonnage: 3,707 tons
- Speed: 14.5 knots (service speed)
- Passenger capacity: 1,166
[edit] Trivia
After the wreck, as the bodies were recovered and prepared for burial, it was discovered that one of the crew members was actually a woman, between 20 and 25 years old. According to a newspaper account at the time, she "had served as a common sailor for three voyages, and her sex was never known until the body was washed ashore and pre pared for burial. She is described as having been a great favorite with all her shipmates, and one of the crew, speaking of her, remarked: 'I didn't know Bill was a woman. He used to take his grog as regular as any of us, and was always begging or stealing tobacco. He was a good fellow, though, and I am sorry he was a woman.' It is said that the poor thing was an American, and, among the crew, perhaps the only one of that nationality."
