1857 — Sep 12, Hurricane, steamer Central America sinks, Blake Plateau off Charleston SC-400-427

— 525 New York Times. “The Loss of the Central America,” Sep. 19, 1857.
— 500 New York Times. “Loss of the Central America.” Sep. 21, 1857.
— <440 New York Times. “The Central America Foundered,” Sep 18, 1857. -- 427 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 684. -- 425 New York Times. “Insurers to Share Shipwreck’s Gold,” Aug 28, 1992. -- 424 Rappaport and Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones… 1995. -- 423 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 112. -- 423 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p.397-98. -- >423 United States Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report 1857, 219.
— < 400 Childs. A History of the United States In Chronological Order… 1886, p. 158. -- 400 Insurance Engineering. Vol. 8, July-Dec, 1904. “Marine Disasters.” P. 81. -- 400 Rappaport and Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones… 1995. -- 400 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 100. Narrative Information Childs: “The California steamer Central America left Havana on the 8th of September, for New York, having on board about six hundred persons, passengers and crew. A storm arose during the night of the 9th, which increased till the morning of the 11th, when it was discovered that the vessel was leaking badly. The pumps were immediately put in operation, but the water gained rapidly, overflowing the coal-bunkers, cutting off the supply of the fuel, and finally putting out the fires in the furnace. The passengers and crew were then formed into gangs for bailing; but in spite of their efforts the water continued to rise. The steamer was soon entirely helpless, and labored violently. On the afternoon of the 12th a vessel appeared in sight, and upon a signal of distress being given bore towards the steamer. The vessel undertook to lie by, and take off as many of the passengers as possible. One of the steamer boats had been swept away the previous night, and two more were stove in and disabled in launching; the remaining three were successfully launched. Into these three, more than a hundred passengers were lowered, including all the women and children, and safely conveyed on board the vessel, which had now drifted off two or three miles. The bailing was still kept up on board the steamer, and though the water continued to increase there was no general apprehension of immediate danger, until nearly eight o clock in the evening, when the water swept over the deck. The steamer then made a sudden plunge, and went down in an instant, carrying with her all on board. A few who had secured refuge on fragments of the wreck were picked up by passing vessels, but the total number of persons lost was estimated to exceed four hundred.” (Childs 1886, pp. 157-158.) Koshy: “….The Columbus-America Discovery Group was formed in 1985 to conduct multi-disciplinary research, to develop sophisticated deep-ocean technology, and to locate, explore, and recover the remains of the SS Central America…. “In the early 1980s, new technologies were developed for sonar search and for remotely operated recovery vehicles. Newly developed sonar technologies could scan large areas of the ocean bottom with high resolution. Advances in robotics, fiber optics, and computers made it possible to build remotely operated underwater vehicles capable of performing a full range of archaeological recovery tasks. This technology eliminated the need for manned submersibles, which were expensive and dangerous to operate in the deep ocean, and made it economically feasible for a small, independent entrepreneur to search for and recover objects on the deep ocean floor. “In the late1970s, the SS Central America emerged from a selection process which had considered several potential deep water recovery projects. The Central America had sunk on the Blake Plateau, some 200 miles east of Charleston and 1.5 miles below the ocean surface, in an area with a flat bottom and little current. Because of the great depth, the ship was safe from damage by storms and hurricanes as well as from casual exploration by SCUBA divers or treasure hunters. In addition, this region had a very slow sedimentation rate and a lack of current which meant there was very little chance that the Central America would be covered by any sediment, and as a result, the wreck would provide an attractive target for side-looking sonar….” (Koshy, Binu. “Columbus-America Discovery Group and the SS Central America.” Wiley informs. 1998.) US SIS: “…the steamer "Central America" (formerly the “George Law") foundered at sea on the 12th September last in a severe gale, while on her passage from Havana to New York….. From the best information that can be obtained, it is supposed that no less than 423 persons lost their lives.” (US Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report 1857, 219.) Newspapers Sep 17, NYT: “At Wilmington, N.C., immense quantities of rain fell during Friday [11th], Saturday and Sunday, and, as a consequence, the water courses, ponds, creeks, &c., were swollen to an enormous extent, and much damage was done by overflows, carrying away of bridges, &c…. “On the sea-coast the gale was terribly severe. Down at Wrightsville Sound the waters of the sea swept over the different sand-banks and marshes, covering them all. The tide, of course, rose to a very unusual height…. “Schooner Emily Ward…from Charleston to New-York…sunk [5 miles off NC coast]. Captain and crew came ashore in a boat…. “The telegraph also reports the loss of the steamer Norfolk…sunk in the Chesapeake with a valuable cargo, the Captain (Kelly) and crew having been rescued by the steamer Joseph Whitney, and landed at Cape Island…. “The steamer Norfolk, sunk in the Chesapeake…She left here [Philadelphia] on Saturday with a valuable freight….Capt. Kelly and the crew were landed yesterday at Cape Island by the steamer Joseph Whitney, from Baltimore for Boston…..” (New York Times, “Disasters Reported by Telegraph,” September 17, 1857) Sep 17, NYT: “Charleston, Thursday, Sept. 17. The Steamship Thomas Swann, from New-York, has arrived at this port, and reports having spoken, on the 15th inst., about fifteen miles north of Cape Hatteras, the Norwegian Bark Eloise, which had on board forty of the passengers of the Steamship Central America. The passengers stated that the Central America foundered on the 12th inst., and that only sixty out of over five hundred passengers were saved….” (New York Times, “The Central America Foundered…Details of Other Disasters,” September 18, 1857.) “The first dispatch received from Norfolk, yesterday… By it we learned that… all the officers of the Central America had perished, except James M. Frazer, second officer, and that twenty-six women and children [and 20 men] had been rescued by a brig [the Marine]… It added that the engineer, George E. Ashby, had deserted the ship in a boat-the only desertion yet reported.... More cheering news arrived soon afterwards from Savannah, to the effect that the bark Saxony had just arrived there with five of the Central America's passengers on board; “Crew.................................101 Passengers..........................525 Whole number................... 626 Number reported saved..... 101 Total of lives lost...............525 …. “Statement of Henry H. Childs, one of the Passengers on the Central America, (by Telegraph), Augusta, Friday, Sept. 18. "I left Havana in the steamship Central America for New-York on Sept. 8. The weather was delightful….On the afternoon of the day of sailing from Havana fresh westerly breezes sprang up. On the following morning the wind blew very strong, the gale continuing to increase in violence as the day advanced. At night there was no abatement in the fury of the gale, and it commenced raining in torrents. On Thursday it blew a hurricane, the sea running very high. “On Friday the storm raged fearfully. At 11 o'clock in the morning of this day it was first known among the passengers that the steamer had sprung a leak and was making water fast. A line of men was immediately formed, and they went to work bailing out the water from the engine rooms, the fires having already been extinguished. We gained on the water so much that we were able to get up steam again, but we held it but a few minutes, and then it stopped forever. Bailing continued, however, and was kept up in all parts of the ship until she finally went down. “During Friday night the water gained gradually, but all on board being in pretty good spirits, they worked to the best of their ability, feeling that when the morning came, they possibly might speak some vessel, and thus be saved. The fatal Saturday [12th] came at last, but brought nothing but increased fury in the gale. Still we worked on, and at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon the storm lulled a little, and the clouds broke away. Hope was renewed, and all now worked like giants. At 4 P.M. we spied a sail, and fixed guns and placed our flag at half-mast. It was seen, and the brig Marine of Boston bore down upon us. We then considered safety certain. “She came near us and we spoke to her and told our condition. She laid by about a mile distant, and we, in the only three boats saved, placed all the women and children, and they were safely put on board the brig. As evening was fast approaching we discovered another sail which responded to our call and came near us. Captain Herndon told our condition and asked them to lay by and send a boat as we had none left. She promised to do so, but that was the last we saw of her except at a distance which grew greater and greater every moment. “At 7 o'clock we saw no possibility of keeping afloat much longer, although we all felt that if we could do so until morning all would be saved. In a short time a heavy sea for the first time broke over the upper deck of the vessel, and then all hope faded away. Life-preservers were now supplied to all, and we sent up two rockets, when a tremendous sea swept over us, and the steamer in a moment went down. I think some four hundred or four hundred and fifty souls were launched upon the ocean, at the mercy of the waves. The storm at this time had entirely subsided. We all kept near together, and went as the waves took us. “There was nothing, or very little, said except that each one cheered his fellow-comrade on. Courage was thus kept up for two or three hours, and I think for this space of time none had drowned but three who could not swim because exhausted. After this, gradually one by one passed away to eternity. The hope that boats would be sent to us from two vessels we had spoken soon fled from us, and our trust was alone in Providence… “I saw my comrades sink fast, and at 1 o'clock that night I was nearly alone upon the ocean, some two hundred miles from land. I heard, however, shouts from all that could do so, that were not far from me, but I could not see them. Within an hour from this time I saw a vessel, which I judged to be about one mile from me. Taking fresh courage I struck out for the vessel, and reached it when nearly exhausted, and they drew me on board of it by ropes. It proved to be a Norwegian bark from Belize, Honduras, bound for Falmouth, England. I found on board of her some three of my comrades, and at 9½ o'clock next morning we had 49 noble fellows on board, and these are all I know of having been saved. “We strayed about the place until we thought that all alive had been rescued, and then set sail. We found the bark short of provisions and the crew living on gruel. We had some tea and coffee to refresh ourselves, and at noon on Sunday we spoke the American bark (the Saxony) bound for Savannah, which supplied us with provisions, and took five of us on board….” (New York Times, “The Central America Foundered,” September 18, 1857.) “By the arrival at this port yesterday morning of the United States mail steamship Empire City… bringing eighty-three of the rescued passengers and crew of the unfortunate Central America, we are placed in possession of many additional and important facts relative to the fearful catastrophe…. [From a report of one of the survivors identified only as Captain Badger] ‘All at once the ship, as if in the agony of death herself, made a plunge on an angle of 45 degrees, and, with a shriek from the engulfed mass, she disappeared, and five hundred human beings floated out on the bosom of the ocean, with no hope but death. At 1½ o'clock in the morning the Norwegian bark Ellen came running down with a free wind. The cries of distress reached those on deck, and they hove to, under short sail. The task of rescuing the passengers was nobly commenced, and by 9 o'clock the next morning forty-nine of them had been picked up. Diligent search was made until 12 o'clock, but no more could be seen. They then bore away for Norfolk, with a fair wind, and arrived at Cape Henry on the 17th, where myself and four others embarked in the pilot-boat and arrived in Norfolk’.” (New York Daily Times, “Loss of the Central America.” September 21, 1857.) Sep 21, NYT: As a September 21st NYT editorial on this disaster stated: “…the public interest and the public safety…will not allow us to be contented for a moment with anything short of the most plain and positive proof that, had the whole duties of owners and of officers been well and truly done, the Central America would…now be lying at her moorings in our Bay.” (NYT, “The Loss of The Central America,” Sep 21, 1857.) Oct 6, NYT: “The City was startled yesterday by the apparition of three more men rescued from the Steamer Central America. They came looking almost like skeletons, gaunt, sick, exhausted. They were found drifting in one of the steamer’s life-boats, some 478 miles Northeast of the spot where the Central America went down and nine days after that sad affair. The Brig Mary picked them up, on her voyage from Cardenas (Cuba) to Cork, Ireland. The Mary carried them eastward seven days, when she met the Bremen Bark Laura, coming from Bremen toward New York and transferred them to her. The Laura arrived yesterday.” (New York Times, “The Central America,” Oct 6, 1857.) Dec 1, NYT: The survivors told of a long ordeal, reported at great length in the NYT. Two had been part of a group of twelve who had been able to get to a piece of the hurricane deck that floated to the surface after the Central America went down. One had been able, after floating on a plank for some time, to come upon one of the steamer’s life-boats, from which he eventually floated into sight of the hurricane deck. Of the original twelve on the hurricane deck ten died before rescue. “Partial Report of the Committee of Inquiry. From the testimony, oral and written, voluntarily communicated to the Committee by several of the surviving officers and passengers of the late Unites States mail steamship Central America, belonging to a Company having a contract from Government at an annual pay of $290,000, it would appear that that vessel had not, at the time of her departure from Havana for New-York, about 10 A.M. on Tuesday the 8th day of September last, any material defect, either in hull or machinery; but it is generally questionable whether the pumps and other appliances of the donkey-engine were in good working order, and it is quite certain that the ordinary deck pumps were not so….that on the morning of the 11th…the ship labored heavily – in fact, to such an extent as to alarm the passengers and arouse the captain and chief engineer, who were at time in their berths or state-rooms; that about noon, the gale still increasing, she fell off from the wind, and it then appeared that the fires in the engine-room had, by some unexplained carelessness, been allowed to go down, and had become so low that the engines had gradually slowed, and finally stopped working; and the headway of the ship being consequently checked, she fell off into what is termed the ‘trough of the sea,’ and partly on her side. An attempt was then made, and the object partially effected, again to get steam in her boilers, but nor more than half a dozen revolutions were accomplished by the engine before they stopped entirely and forever. It may be inferred from these statements that the original fault, and that which led to the catastrophe, was in the neglect, above stated, to keep up a sufficient and continuous head of steam, and, when it was found to have fallen so dangerously low, in there not being greater and more timely efforts exerted to replenish it by supplying the furnaces with fuel, of which there was abundance at hand. Up to the stopping of the engines, we do not find that any water of consequence had reached the engine room, nor was there any reason to apprehend such a result so long as the fires were properly kept up and the duties of the officers and men in the engineer’s department faithfully performed. It does not appear, from the testimony, that there was any serious leak in the bottom of the vessel, or fracture or break of any part of the machinery; but that the engines, as already remarked, were prevented from working, only by want of steam, and that the water insidiously and slowly entered the vessel (as she was lying upon her side or very much keeled) by some of the air-ports which were either inadvertently left open or imperfectly closed, as also by the opening at the paddlewheel shaft, and through the probable open seams about the guards and other parts of the upper works, thus accidentally immersed. The water gradually increasing, was washed by the motion of the vessel against and into the ash-pans and furnaces, extinguishing entirely the fires and rendering it impossible finally to raise steam in the main boilers….The regular deck pumps also proved to be out of order, rendering them of little or no avail, and in the attempt to construct temporary box pumps by some of the passengers, neither the requisite materials nor carpenter’s tools could be found…. “It cannot and should not be concealed that the testimony before the Committee goes on to show that the Central America was not found and equipped as she ought to have been; that her crew was not sufficiently numerous; that she was without a carpenter or suitable carpenters’ tools; and what seems to the Committee a most serious defect, being common, it is feared, in many of our passenger steamers, there was a want of proper organization in regard to the relative authority and duties of the officers and crew of the vessel; each department appearing to be independent of the others, instead of being strictly subordinate and responsible to the Captain, as the legitimate superior and chief; and this independence of action was the more observable in the department of the engineer. “But the Committee have no desire to dwell upon the melancholy incidents of the past, and in turning from the foregoing recital of facts, as explained to them, they enter with greater freedom upon the discussion of a more congenial branch of their investigation, the necessity and means of improvement in the construction, equipment and internal organization of ocean steamers, the consideration of which will form the subject of another report….[signed by eight commissioners, November 23, 1857].” (New York Times, The Central America, Dec 1, 1857.) Dec 2 NYT editorial: “What should we say, or if we deferentially forbear to say it, what should we think of the said reasonable and intelligent inquirers, and of their documentary address to a community anxious for the safety of its lives and limbs?.... “This Committee, composed of gentlemen whose competence to their task nobody has questioned, and whose personal respectability deserves the confidence which it commands, has now been engaged for about two months in the work of examining witnesses and sifting statements….The Committee has found that the organization of the ship’s company of the Central America was radically defective….[etc.]. Such a state of things would certainly seem to be objectionable as the normal condition of a great passenger steamer sailing under the flag of the Republic, carrying the national mails, and commanded by an officer of the national marine. “But this is not all. The Committee further find that there was in truth no such a thing as a captain on board of the ship; that by the system which the owners had adopted, the authority of the nominal chief officer was so curtailed and complicated with authorities subordinate to and yet independent of his own, as to be practically nullified for many of the great purposes of its constitution….To speak in the plainest…English – the Committee find that the steamship Central America, with her treasure of gold and of human life, went down in the Atlantic because her engines were not attended to – and that her engines were not attended to because the commander of the ship had no fit control of the officer who should have attended to them, and who was not at his post when his attention was most essential to the safety of the vessel. Just such a finding as this, made in the instance of a collision at sea in the Irish Channel about a year ago, resulted in the trail and transportation for life of the defaulting parties. In what has it resulted under the philanthropic observation of the gentlemen charged to set the affair of the Central America clearly before the public eye? In the following sentence, which for amiability and placable tenderness of pensive retrospection, we venture to say, cannot be paralleled even in the literature of committees of inquests: ‘But the Committee have no desire to dwell upon the melancholy incidents of the past...’ “We shall be delighted, of course, to receive the promised ‘other report’ with all the valuable information which it will doubtless convey….But are the public at large disposed to acquiesce with a like complacency of resignation in the escape from all judicial retribution of the responsible agents of so much misery, and the supporters of a ‘system’ of which every man, woman and child who adventures on board of an American ocean steamer is exposed to taste further fruits as bitter as those of the ‘melancholy past?’ We have all been busy in honoring the brave and loyal who did their duty on this devoted ship. Have we no duty, not of vengeance but of justice, to perform upon the authors of the disaster, now that their work is thus clearly brought home to them by inquirers who have shown themselves to be quite the reverse of severe? “Within the last week two more seagoing steamers have been lost in American waters. In both cases the surviving officers have been cleared by a ‘five minutes’ examination.’ Is this sort of thing to go on forever, and are we so irrepressibly sensitive to all gloomy recollections that like the Athenians we shrink from the use of the words ‘death’ and ‘murder’ with a shiver which makes us incapable of dealing out chastisement where chastisement has been earned, and of inflicting retribution where retribution may insure amendment?” (New York Times, “The Loss of the Central America,” Dec 2, 1857.) 1982, NYT: “In 1987, the treasure hunters, the Columbus-America Discovery Group of Columbus, Ohio, found the muddy wreck and began using a remote-controlled robot to recover the Central America's gold. More than a ton of gold has been pulled from 8,000 feet under water, and a spokesman for the group said the effort could continue for several years. “Half the 16 British and United States companies that insured the Central America are still in business. Using newspaper clippings and century-old corporate minutes, the companies filed a claim for a share…. “In 1990, the Federal District Court in Norfolk, Va., accepting the principle of finders-keepers, ruled that all of the treasure belonged to the salvagers. Today, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, reversed that decision and ordered a trial to determine what the companies should receive. “In the opinion, the court today said the current value of the cargo is up to $1 billion and told the lower court to "determine what percentage of the gold each underwriter insured" and what share is due the salvagers, Columbus-America. "Although this is a decision that must be left to the lower court," the ruling said, "we are hazarding but little to say that Columbus-America should, and will, receive by far the largest share of the treasure." …. “Dr. George F. Bass a marine archeologist at Texas A&M University, said the Central America may be the most valuable sunken ship ever found. "It's one of the wrecks schoolboys dream about -- one of the great treasure wrecks of all time,”…” (NYT, “Insurers to Share Shipwreck’s Gold, August 28, 1992.) Sources Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972. Childs, Emery E. A History of the United States In Chronological Order From the Discovery of America in 1492 to the Year 1885. NY: Baker & Taylor, 1886. Google digitized. Accessed 9-4-2017: http://books.google.com/books?id=XLYbAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982. Insurance Engineering (Vol. 8, No. 1., July 1904). “Marine Disasters,” pp. 81-82. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6bAPAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true Koshy, Binu. “Columbus-America Discovery Group and the SS Central America.” Wiley informs, 1998. Accessed 7-11-2020 at: http://www.columbia.edu/~dj114/SS_Central_America.pdf Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages. New York Times. “Insurers to Share Shipwreck’s Gold.” August 28, 1992. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6DC1531F93BA1575BC0A964958260&sec=&spon=&&scp=92&sq=Steamship%20Central%20America&st=cse New York Times. “The Central America.” 12-1-1857. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B0CE7DB173CEE34BC4953DFB467838C649FDE New York Times. “The Central America Calamity, 10-5-1857. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E02E7D8163CEE34BC4D53DFB667838C649FDE New York Times. “The Central America Foundered,” 9-18-1857. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F0DE7DD1639E733A2575BC1A96F9C946692D7CF New York Times. “The Central America – Further of the Disaster.” 9-23-1857. At: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A02E2D9163CEE34BC4B51DFBF66838C649FDE New York Times. “The Central America – Three More Men Rescued after being Nine Days Adrift on the Ocean.” 10-6-1857. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9500E6D8163CEE34BC4E53DFB667838C649FDE New York Times. “The Loss of the Central America.” September 21, 1857. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03E3D9163CEE34BC4951DFBF66838C649FDE New York Times. “The Loss of the Central America.” September 22, 1857. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B05E2D9163CEE34BC4A51DFBF66838C649FDE New York Times. “The Loss of the Central America,” December 2, 1857. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=990DE6DB173CEE34BC4A53DFB467838C649FDE Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Fifth Annual Report of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats (October 27, 1857). In: Treasury Department. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Year Ending June 30, 1857. Washington: House of Representatives, 35th Congress, 1st Session, Ex. Doc. No. 3, 1857. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=GIPPAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=true