1871 – Aug 18, steamer Lodona grounds in storm, 7m north of Cape Canaveral, FL — 21

— 21 New York Times. “Disasters on the Coast,” Aug 28, 1871, p. 1.
— 21 New York Times. “The Loss of the Lodona,” Sep 8, 1871, p. 2.
— 21 New York Times. “The Steamer Lodona.” Aug 30, 1871, p. 1.
— 21 Singer, S. D. Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing (2nd Ed.), 1998, p. 175.
— >20 New York Times. “The Lodona. Reported Wreck of the Steamer…,” Aug 26, 1871, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Singer: “Lodona (or Sodona) – Steamer Sank in August 1870 [sic]. Twenty-one lives lost. One source says she wrecked off Jacksonville, with her bow exposed above the water, and that her cargo was strewn for 30 miles. Another source says she wrecked six miles north of Cape Canaveral.” (Singer 1998, 175; cites: Congressional Information Service. United States Serial Set Index, Part 1-11, and Records of the National Archives, Wash., D.C.; as well as New York Daily Times and New York Times, August 30, 1871.)

Newspapers

Aug 26: “The Lodona.”
“Reported Wreck of the Steamer on the Florida Coast – More Than Twenty Persons Drowned –
“The Vessel and Cargo a Total Loss – Names of the Fortunate Survivors – History of the Ship.”

“The community was startled yesterday afternoon by the announcement that the steamer Lodona, of the ‘Southern line,’ plying between this port [NYC] and New-Orleans, had been wrecked off the Florida coast. The telegram conveying the sad tidings was addressed to the agents in this City, and was as follows:

“St. Augustine, Aug. 23, 1871.
“To C.H. Mallory & Co.:

“The Lodona wrecked seventy-five miles south. Twenty drowned. Mess-boy picked up yesterday. He brought the news. She is a total wreck…

“The Lodona left her berth at Burling-ship on Saturday, the 12th inst., for New-Orleans. She was loaded with a full cargo of assorted merchandise, valued in all at more than $200,000. She was commanded by Capt. H.R. Hovey, and had on board thirty-four persons….

“If the story is true, the Lodona was probably wrecked in the gale of the 16th inst. She was an iron steamer of about 800 tons burden, built in Hull, England, in 1862, and was rated A1. The first voyage she ever made was a blockage-runner, and she was captured while trying to run into North Carolina, with one of the most valuable cargoes which fell into the hands of the Government during the war. At the Government sale she was bought by Messrs. Jewett & Sons, who have since owned her. She was 198 feet long, 28½ feet wide and 16 feet deep, and one of the most heavily and strongly built vessels in the country.” (New York Times. “The Lodona. Reported Wreck of the Steamer…,” Aug 26, 1871, p. 1.)

Aug 27: “Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 27. – The steamship Lodona stranded six miles north of Cape Canavaret [Canaveral]. The beach for thirty miles is strewn with her cargo. The Captain and twenty men were lost….” (New York Times. “Disasters on the Coast,” Aug 28, 1871, p. 1.)

Aug 29: “Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 29. — Capt. Hovey’s son, the first and second officers, chief engineer, first assistant engineer, chief cook, one fireman and five seamen have been saved from the Lodona. There were thirty-three souls on board. The Captain, purser and nineteen others have been drowned. The Lodona’s bow is partly out of water, but the vessel is considered a total wreck. The beach for thirty miles is strewn with her cargo.” (NYT. “The Steamer Lodona.” 8-30-1871, 1.)

Sep 8: “….On the night of the 17th of August a perfect hurricane came up, at about 10 o’clock, and increased in violence until 6 o’clock, and increased in violence until 6 o’clock the following morning, when, although the vessel carried steam all the time, she became unmanageable, owing to the fury of the gale, and soon after struck on the beach on the coast of Florida, about seven miles north of Cape Carnival [Canaveral]. All on board had been called on deck at 12 o’clock the previous night, and being made aware of the dangerous position in which they were placed, and instructed in their various duties by the Captain, they used every exertion to save the ship, but without avail, as she could not be kept to the wind. Capt. Hovey remained gallantly on deck during the tempest. When the Lodona struck she turned on her beam ends and commenced breaking up. Capt. Hovey, who was in the pilot-house, was carried overboard by the receding waves of the sea, which boarded the vessel in every direction. Such was the furious character of the gale that every movable article of ship’s furniture and fittings was swept away, and it was only by the greatest physical exertion that any of the crew could save themselves from being washed away by hanging on to various parts of the rigging….Some fourteen of the crew, including the Captain’s son…succeeded in ascending the mainmast….In this perilous position they remained for two hours, being constantly washed by the waves, which were thrown to a great height by the fury of the storm, when, to their horror, the mast was unshipped, and, with its living freight, was cast into the ocean. All on the mast perished wither the exception of…the cook, and the Captain’s son, who, in a semi-conscious condition, after great suffering, finally reached the shore, which was an uninhabited beach. Here…they found the chief engineer, mate and second mate. A temporary camp was made of trunks, boards, and such other articles as came ashore from the wreck…on the following day…the cook, Chief Engineer…and young Hovey started for Cape Carnival Light-house, which they reached after a severe march, and were assisted by the keeper with food, &c. They then attempted to reach a point twenty-eight miles distant, but failed, from exhaustion. They finally reached Col. Titus’ house, twenty miles from Fernandina, and were, through the kindness of that gentleman, enabled to reach Fernandina in safety. From thence they came to this port on the steamer Ashland. Capt. Hovey’s body was not recovered, although Mr. Farrar [the head cook] examined fourteen bodies which had been washed ashore….” (New York Times. “The Loss of the Lodona,” Sep 8, 1871, p. 2.)

Sources

New York Times. “Disasters on the Coast,” Aug 28, 1871, p. 1. Accessed 2-18-2021 at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E05E7D7153CE63ABC4051DFBE66838A669FDE&scp=2&sq=Lodona&st=p

New York Times. “The Lodona. Reported Wreck of the Steamer on the Florida Coast – More Than Twenty Persons Drowned.” Aug 26, 1871, p. 1. Accessed 2-18-2021 at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D00EEDA153CE63ABC4E51DFBE66838A669FDE

New York Times. “The Loss of the Lodona,” Sep 8, 1871, p. 2. Accessed 2-18-2021 at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C01E6DC113EEE34BC4053DFBF66838A669FDE&scp=3&sq=Lodona&st=p

New York Times. “The Steamer Lodona,” 8-30-1871, p. 1. Accessed 2-18-2021 at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900EEDE113EEE34BC4850DFBE66838A669FDE&scp=10&sq=Lodona&st=p

Singer, Steven D. Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing (2nd Ed.). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, Inc., 1998. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed 2-16-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6j6kjZQReqkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false