1889 — Nov 20, stmr. Manhattan sinks, collision with sch. Agnes Manning, off Fenwick Isl., DE–12

— 19 Annual Statistician and Economist 1892 (Vol. 16). L. P. McCarty, 1892. p. 68.
— 12 Blanchard estimate — 9-11 from Manhattan, one from Agnes Manning.
–11 from the Manhattan
— 1 from the Agnes Manning
— 11 Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “Eleven Men Still Missing.” 11-25-1889, 1.
— 10 Appleton’s Annual Cyclopedia…1889. (Vol. 29). “Disasters in 1889.” 1890, p. 270.
— 10 Boston Daily Globe. “Ten Lost. Manhattan Goes to Bottom of Sea.” 11-23-1889, p. 7.
— 10 NYT. “Run Down by a Schooner…Steamer Manhattan… to the Bottom.” 11-23-1889.
— 9 Evening Express, Lock Haven, PA. “News and Notes.” 11-26-1889, 2.
— 9 Hutchinson Daily News, KS. “Nine Lives Lost.” 11-24-1889, 8.
— 1 Elyria Democrat, OH. “Lost at Sea.” 11-28-1889, 2. [Notes death of Engineer Hayden.]

Schooner Agnes Manning:
— 1 Boston Daily Globe. “Schooner Lost One Man. She Is Leaking Badly…” 11-23-1889, 7.
— 1 NYT. “Run Down by a Schooner…Steamer Manhattan… to the Bottom.” 11-23-1889.

Steamer Manhattan:
— 19 Annual Statistician and Economist 1892 (Vol. 16). L. P. McCarty, 1892. p. 68.
— 11 Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “Eleven Men Still Missing.” 11-25-1889, 1.
— 11 Supervising Inspector-General of Steam Vessels (US). Annual Report…1890… 1890, p34.
–8 crew
–3 passengers
— 10 Boston Daily Globe. “Ten Lost. Manhattan Goes to Bottom of Sea.” 11-23-1889, p. 7.
— 9 Evening Express, Lock Haven, PA. “News and Notes.” 11-26-1889, 2.

Narrative Information

Appleton’s: “Disasters in 1889….November…20. Shipwreck: collision. American steamer Manhattan sunk by schooner Agnes Manning off coast of Delaware, 10 lives lost.” (P. 270.)

Supervising Inspector-General of Steam Vessels (U.S.): “November 20, 1889. – The steam-ship Manhattan was sunk off Fenwick’s Island, at sea, 5 a.m., in a collision with the schooner Agnes Manning. Eight of the crew and three passengers were drowned.” (Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels…Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1890. 1890, p. 34.)

Newspapers

Nov 22: “New London, Conn., Nov. 22. – ‘The Manhattan must have received an awful thump when she was struck by that schooner off Fenwick Island light,’ said First Mate Davis to The Globe reporter this evening. ‘But.’ be added, ‘the blow would never have sunk the Manhattan if the schooner had not been coal laden, and setting so low in the water that we got the full force of the collision below the water line. That was what knocked the Manhattan out. Nothing else would have sent her to the bottom, for she was an able craft, and has been a most fortunate one as well. She never had a serious accident before, and she has been on the line a great many years.’

“Mate Davis was one of fourteen survivors of a crew of 33 and three passengers who were on the Old Dominion line steamer Manhattan when she was sunk last Wednesday morning [Nov 20] at 3 o’clock.

“The 14 men saved were picked up by the schooner Van Name and King, Capt. Curtis, of New Haven, bound for Providence, and brought to the mouth of New London harbor, where they were transferred to the revenue cutter Dexter and brought up to the city.

“The Manhattan left her pier in New York Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock, bound for West Point, Va., with three steerage Passengers and a cargo of general merchandise, about 200 tons.

“The cargo was a light one, and the Manhattan travelled rapidly, getting down to Fenwick Island shoal light on the Delaware coast by 4:30 o’clock Wednesday morning. The weather was as clear as ever favors a mariner. Far ahead the lights of a sailing craft could be seen. She was bound north and was three or four miles away.

“By 5 o’clock the vessels had come quite close together, and the sailing craft was seen to be a four-masted schooner, coal laden. It was the Agnes Manning, bound for Philadelphia. She had her lights set, and was steering a course northeast by north, scudding along in a fresh southwest wind. The Manhattan’s course was southwest three-fourths south. The steamer was preparing to pass the schooner on the starboard side, and Second Officer Nelson ordered the helm hard a port. At that instant the schooner also changed her course and sheered toward the steamer. A collision was unavoidable, and Second Mate Nelson saw it. He tried to crowd the steamer out of the schooner’s reach, but did not escape the crash. A hole had been stove in the steamer’s bow and the head gear of the schooner was carried away.

“The officers of the Manhattan at once began an investigation. Meanwhile, the force of the collision had brought both vessels to a standstill and the schooner swung in alongside the Manhattan. Capt. Jenny advised the crew of the Manning to get aboard the steamer if their boat was badly damaged, but she was taking no water and the offer was declined, the captain preferring to keep on. In less than 10 minutes after the Manning had departed, Capt. Jenny discovered that his crew should have taken to the schooner, for no power could keep the steamer afloat. The chief engineer had discovered a hole large enough to admit of a barrel passing through in the port bow of the Manhattan, below her water line. The water was pouring in in such volume that no time was to be lost in getting away.

“Capt. Jenny at once gave orders to rouse everyone on the steamer, and the steward replied that all were stirring and on deck.

“The Manhattan was sinking by this time. ‘She’s going down,’ was shouted, and there was not time then to get all the boats into use. First Officer Davis, Quartermaster Fred Olsen, Chief Engineer Charles G. Hayden and one or two others took to the rigging. The life raft was afloat and into it as many as could find room huddled. Boat No. 3 was lowered, and in it the 14 survivors brought in here sought safety. Hayden was the last man left on the masts.

“The steamer had sunk so that only her topmasts remained above the angry sea. As soon as he was discovered an effort was made to rescue him, but before the boat got to where he could be reached he released his hold from exhaustion and dropped back into the water. Instantly the boat was upon him and he was drawn into it, but not before life was extinct. The boat into which the dead body was taken remained near the wreck until 7:30 o’clock, when the schooner Van Name & King picked them up.

“The life raft and those in it had disappeared, but there were still a dozen men to be accounted for. This number includes the three steerage passengers. It is not believed by the survivors brought in here that any one remained below in the Manhattan when she went down….

“The captain of the tug Hercules at Lewes, Del., reports that the steamer lies heading southwest by south three miles east of north from the Fenwick Shoal lightship. The topmasts are 20 feet out of the water and the smokestack is gone….

“There are…10 men unaccounted for. Capt. Jenny believes they went down at the time of the collision.” (Boston Daily Globe. “Ten Lost. Manhattan Goes to Bottom of Sea.” 11-23-1889, 7.)

Nov 22: “Philadelphia, Nov. 22. – The schooner Agnes Manning, Capt. Birdsall, is lying below Greenwich piers, with her bowsprit and jib-boom smashed, her stem started, her forecastle displaced, and leaking badly. Her captain reports that she was run into early Wednesday morning off Fenwick’s island by a steamship bound south. One of the sailors known on board as Hans is missing, and whether he was knocked overboard in the collision or sprang on board the steamship is not known.

“Capt. Birdsall says the unknown [vessel] went on her course after the collision, without trying to find out the extent of the Manning’s damage. The collision, Capt. Birdsall claims, was due to the negligence of those on the steamer. Capt. Birdsall had all the customary lights burning and showed a light forward when he saw the steamer approaching. She paid no attention to the shouts of Capt. Birdsall’s men, but ran into the schooner nearly at full speed.

“At first it was thought the schooner was going to sink, but the constant use of the pumps kept her free until the tug Ivanhoe got her in tow and brought her into Freshwater. She will have to discharge her cargo of coal for repairs. The schooner was bound from Baltimore for New York.” (Boston Daily Globe. “Schooner Lost One Man. She Is Leaking Badly – Towed Into Port for Repairs.” 11-23-1889, p. 7.)

Nov 23: “….Under the command of Capt. N. H. Jenny, who has been sixteen years in the service of the company, the Manhattan left her pier at the foot of Beach-street at 3:45 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon. She carried a crew of twenty-nine men and three steerage passengers….

“Capt. Jenny retired to his cabin about 1 o’clock on Wednesday morning, leaving on deck a watch consisting of Second Officer Peter Nelson, Quartermaster Llewellyn Perkins, and a lookout stationed on the forecastle. The Captain returned to the deck at 4:10, but finding all was well went back to his cabin. The early morning hours passed uneventfully, the ship proceeding under full pressure of steam, making against the strong head winds and cross seas about ten knots an hour. A little before 5 o’clock the lookout reported to the second officer that a vessel was showing a red light two points off the port bow. It seemed to be not much less than half a mile away at the time and it was approaching the steamer as fast as a nine-knot breeze could send it along.

“Again the lookout reported the vessel, which he made out to be a big four-masted schooner. Its lights showed as though it was headed directly for the steamship. By this time the schooner was so close that the watch could almost hear the breaking of the waves on her bows, and the second officer at last saw that a collision was unavoidable. He rang the steamship’s bells to slow up her engines and gave three or four blasts of the whistle to warn the schooner of what was thought her imminent destruction. It was too late. Capt. Jenny, whose cabin is on deck, was aroused by the ringing of the bells and the noise of the whistle. Half-clad as he was he leaped from his berth. Before he could turn the knob of the pilot house door a few feet away the collision had occurred.

“On deck the Captain found everything in confusion. The schooner had struck the port bow, just abaft of the collision bulkhead, not more than thirty feet from the stern. The force of the impact wedged the schooner’s bow into the side of the Manhattan, and sent all of her fore-rigging down to the deck of the steamship. The vessels had come together at right angles, but the steamship’s momentum forced the schooner around so that not only was the iron vessel forced to stand the terrific blow, but also the immense leverage exerted by the heavy schooner. Capt. Jenney gave orders to back and clear the wreck and ascertain what damage had been done. The report was that the hole was three feet above the water line. This was not regarded as particularly serious, and as the vessels parted Capt. Jenney shouted: ‘Want help? Are you making water?’ ‘No,’ came the response from the schooner, ‘we are all right.’

“The captain ordered collision cloths to be gotten up, but before they could be utilized or even got upon the deck the steamship began settling so rapidly that he ordered the boats cleared away. Of these there were four, each capable of holding thirty persons, and a new life raft with space for thirty more. The Captain devoted himself to the starboard quarter-boat and got it clear. Then he went to the crews of the other boats to see that they were working handily. By that time the ship was settling by the head with great rapidity. The men lost their heads and, the Captain says, could not get the tackle to work smoothly.

“One boat got into the sea and capsized, and a rush was made by its crew to the others. There was a battle for life on the part of the seamen. The life raft was on the top of the after house, and a rush was made for it by Purser C. W. Vose and eight or nine others. They had barely got hold of it when the steamer went down bow first and left those who had not clung to the life raft or got into the Captain’s boat struggling in the sea. The Captain was trying to lift a seaman into his boat as the ship sank, and he lost his balance and went overboard, being sucked down in the vortex made by the steamer’s descent. For nearly ten minutes he floated about within twenty yards of his boat before he was discovered and taken in.

“This occurred within fifteen minutes after the collision. For half an hour afterward the Captain’s boat made its way amid the wreckage picking up the survivors. The main-mast was sticking out of the water about three feet, and to this were clinging Frederick Nelson, a quartermaster, and Chief Engineer C. G. Hayden. Hayden was almost exhausted. The boat made toward the twain as rapidly as arms could pull it, but a few seconds before it reached Hayden a big wave struck him and tore his grasp away. Capt. Jenney succeeded in grasping Hayden’s clothing and dragged him into the boat, only to find that he was dead. Nelson was rescued without difficulty.

“After all his work the Captain succeeded in saving fourteen men. The boat was provided with food, but the rescued men were too miserable with the cold and shock to care for it. The night was exceedingly cold, and for two hours they suffered severely. Before they finally left the scene of the collision the Captain saw the life raft, with the Purser, with whom he supposed there were eleven men. However, the number may have been smaller. Before an exchange of hails could be made the boat and raft drifted out of earshot. At 7:30 o’clock the same morning the survivors in the boat sighted the schooner Van Name and King, Capt. V. Curtis, which took them as far as New London harbor, where the men were taken ashore by the revenue cutter Dexter. Capt. Jenney arrived in this city at 8 o’clock last night. The men in his boat sailed for this city on the steamer City of Worcester and will arrive here this morning.

“At the time of the collision the members of the crew who were on the deck of the steamer saw a man climb up from the schooner to the Manhattan’s deck. He was never seen afterward and must have been drowned. The schooner reports the loss of one of her men. Late yesterday afternoon the main office of the steamship company in this city received a dispatch from Providence informing the owners that Purser Vose and seven men on the life raft had been rescued and taken there by the schooner Glitter….

“Those reported lost are:

William Vaughn, a German, steerage passenger.
William Walker, colored, steerage passenger.
James C. Tobin, colored, steerage passenger.
Chief Engineer C. G. Hayden, whose body is now in New-London. He had been for
nineteen years in the service of the company, working his way up from an oiler. His widow and four children live at Paterson, N.J. He was about forty years old.
Henry Steilen, colored porter, thirty-six years old, of this city.
Two firemen, names unknown.
One coal passer, name unknown.
One waiter, name unknown.
A seaman of the Agnes Manning.

“Capt. Jenny said that at the time of the collision both the steamship’s lights were burning, as were those of the schooner. ‘The cause of the disaster was,’ he said, ‘that the schooner did not keep her course. Instead of this her Captain, or whoever it was at the wheel, headed her to the starboard and ran into us as directly as any one thing could well run into another. The officers and crew of the Manhattan lost everything they had on board.’

“The steamship Manhattan was ranked as first-class in the Old Dominion fleet. She was built in 1879 in John Roach’s yards at Chester, and was 225 feet long, 35 feet beam, and 20 feet depth of hold. She was of 1,525 tons gross and 1,154 tons net. She was of iron, and was valued at $150,000. She was insured at about two-thirds her value. Her cargo amounted to only about 200 tons, and was of general merchandise belonging to fully two-score merchants. The loss on this, most of which is insured, will not amount to more than $20,000….

“The schooner which sank the Manhattan was built in Bath, Me., and was owned in Perth Amboy.

“The Manhattan now lies in sixteen fathoms of water….

“Capt. Jenny, her commander, is one of the most trusted officers of the line, having commanded the Old Dominion, Wyanoke, and Richmond. He has been the Manhattan’s Captain since Nov. 1. This is his first accident.” (New York Times. “Run Down by a Schooner…Steamer Manhattan… to the Bottom.” 11-23-1889.)

Nov 25: “New York, Nov. 25. – Flags flew at half-mast on the Old Dominion wharf and on the Old Dominion steamers in port for the men who went down in the unfortunate steamer Manhattan. The survivors of the vessel’s crew stood around the company’s office in West street, a disconsolate crowd. Captain Jenney, First Officer Davis, Second Officer Nelson, Steward Garcia and Quartermaster Olsen, with nine of the crew came in early in the morning by boat from New London, where they were landed Friday by the revenue cutter Dexter. Purser Vase, First Engineer Charlton, Second Engineer Slocum five of the crew came by rail from Providence, where they were landed by the schooner Tuttle, which picked them up from a life raft. The full list of the lost furnished by the Old Dominion people numbers eleven. The last Captain Jenney saw of the missing men they were drifting away, clinging to an overturned boat. He thinks there is just a possibility that they were picked up by a passing vessel, though he admits that the chances are against it.” (Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “Eleven Men Still Missing.” 11-25-1889, p. 1.)

Nov 26: “It is believed in New York that there were nine lives lost through the collision and sinking of the steamer Manhattan by the schooner Agnes Manning, off Fenwick shoal lightship, last Thursday night. The men supposed to have been lost depended upon life preservers for their safety. Their names were Frank McKenna, Richard Bingham, Zoby Peterson and Henry Romer, firemen; James Reid and Joseph Davis, colored waiters, and the three steerage passengers: William Vaughn, James C. Tobin and William Walker.” (Evening Express, Lock Haven, PA. “News and Notes.” 11-26-1889, p. 2.)

Dec 2: “A New York telegram on the 22nd ult. States that the steamer Manhattan sunk after collision with a schooner. Twenty-one lives were lost.” (Latter-Day Saints’ Millennial Star, Vol. 51, No. 48, 12-2-1889, p. 759.)

Sources

Annual Statistician and Economist 1892. San Francisco and New York: L. P. McCarty, 1892. Vol. 16. Google digitized. Accessed 9-7-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=ealXAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Appletons’ Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1889 (Vol. 14). “Disasters in 1889.” NY: D. Appleton and Co., 1890, pp. 269-270. Accessed 2-3-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=RFcxAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Boston Daily Globe. “Schooner Lost One Man. She Is Leaking Badly – Towed Into Port for Repairs.” 11-23-1889, 7. http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=163229822

Boston Daily Globe. “Ten Lost. Manhattan Goes to Bottom of Sea.” 11-23-1889, p. 7. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=163229822

Elyria Democrat, OH. “Lost at Sea.” 11-28-1889, 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=9059223

Evening Express, Lock Haven, PA. “News and Notes [Steamer Manhattan sinks].” 11-26-1889, 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=147240535

Hutchinson Daily News, KS. “Nine Lives Lost.” 11-24-1889, 8. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=138055364

Logansport Daily Reporter, IN. “Eleven Men Still Missing.” 11-25-1889, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83766029

New York Times. “Run Down by a Schooner. The Steamer Manhattan Goes to the Bottom.” 11-23-1889. Accessed 2-3-2021 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1889/11/23/archives/run-down-by-a-schooner-the-steamer-manhattan-goes-to-the-bottom.html

Supervising Inspector-General of Steam Vessels (U.S.). Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector-General of Steam-Vessels to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1890 (Treasury Department Document No. 1343. Steam-boat Inspection, dated 10-3-1890). Washington: Government Printing Office. 1890. Accessed 2-3-2021 at:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu09189980&view=1up&seq=197&q1