1928 – Nov 13, UK Vestris out of NYC (with US passengers) sinks off VA Capes, VA– ~111

–111 NYT. “Life Boats Leaky, Equipment Seized by Crew, Vestris Survivors Testify…” 11-16-1928, 1.
–43 of 198 crew.
–68 of 128 passengers.
–110 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 407.

Narrative Information

Cornell: “The 10,000-ton British steamer Vestris, en route from New York to Buenos Aires with a crew of 197 crewmen, 128 passengers, and a load of autos and heavy machinery, encountered heavy seas off the Virginia coast. During the storm the cargo shifted and the ship listed badly to starboard. Captain William Carey mistakenly ordered pumping of the wrong ballast tank, thereby increasing the list and dooming the ship. The captain also delayed sending the S.O.S signal until the ship had begun to sink and, even then, failed to give its precise location. Few lifeboats could be lowered because of the listing, and 110 people went down with the Vestris, including Captain Carey, who later was blamed for the disaster.” (Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982, p. 407.)

Newspapers

Nov 13: “The names of the passengers and officers of the Lamport & Holt steamship Vestris, which sank yesterday afternoon 240 miles from Sandy Hook, are: [We list only the names of children who are listed with a U.S. address, in that we know that no child survived.]

2 children of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Wilson, of Peoria, IL.
3 children of Mr. and Mrs. J. Alleyne, Jersey City; Edgeworth, 2; Huntley, 1, Lillian, 3.
3 children of Mr. and Mrs. James Headley, 7 West 137th Street, NYC.
Two-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs. Jose Rua of New Bedford, MA.

(NYT. “List of Passengers and Officers of Foundered Steamship Vestris.” 11-13-1928, pp. 1-2.)

Nov 14: “Battling angry seas and the lashing of a 45-mile-an-hour wind, rescue ships picked up 206 survivors of the sunken Lamport & Holt liner Vestris and five bodies yesterday, around the spot 240 miles off the Virginia Capes where the vessel went to the bottom on Monday afternoon after the 328 passengers and crew had taken off in eight lifeboats and on an improvised raft.

“With the fate of the 116 persons unaccounted for grimly uncertain, the Navy Department at Washington ordered the U.S.S. Wyoming to continue with a Coast Guard cutter and four Coast Guard destroyers their combing of the seas in the teeth of the high winds in the hope of effecting further rescues late yesterday and last night….

“Veteran officials of the line have taken it for granted that Captain Carey and O’Laughlin [M.J. O’Laughlin, wireless officer], living up to the traditions of their calling, waited until all were off the ship and perhaps went down with the liner….

“Mr. Williams [E. George Williams, passenger traffic manager of the Lamport & Holt line] made the following tabulation late last night of the rescued: On the American Shipper, 84 of the crew and 37 passengers; on the Berlin, 18 of the crew and 5 passengers; on the Wyoming, 3 of the crew and 5 passengers; on the Myriam, 47 of the crew and 7 passengers.

“Officials of the Lamport & Holt Line said that apparently none of the children on the Vestris had been reported rescued. There were more than twenty children aboard when she left New York.

“Admiral Taylor recommended to the navy officials in Washington yesterday that his ship leave the scene at nightfall and return to Norfolk, but in reply he was ordered to continue the patrol. Admiral Taylor’s message indicated that there were slight prospects of finding any more survivors, as he explained that all of the eight lifeboats were accounted for and that the frail makeshift raft evidently had been broken up under the relentless pounding of the heavy seas.

“Although original reports stated that there were 339 persons on the Vestris when she steamed out of New York last Saturday afternoon for Barbados and South America, of whom 210 were officers and men of the crew, officials of the Lamport & Holt line in New York said yesterday that a check-up showed that the total of men, women and children was 328, comprising 129 passengers and a crew of 199.

“The exact cause of the foundering of the Vestris has not been determined. Officials of the line here denied last night printed reports that Captain Carey had sent them wireless messages blaming the shifting of the cargo for the listing and subsequent sinking of the ship….” (NYT. “Rescue Ships Bringing 206 Vestris Survivors to Port; Five Bodies Picked Up, 116 Persons Still Unreported…” 11-14-1928, p. 1.)

Nov 16: “The roll of the living and the dead of the Vestris was completed yesterday and a the last of the rescue ships left the place of disaster the stern task of fixing responsibility for the death of 111 persons was begun.

“Three efforts to assign the blame got under way during the day. United States Attorney Tuttle called six survivors to the stand before Commissioner O’Neill in the Federal Building; Sanderson & Co., agents for the Lamport & Holt Line, owner of the vessel, began a private investigation, and the Steamboat Inspection Service of the Department of Commerce also began the task of collecting the tragic facts. Supplementing these came the announcement from London that the British Board of Trade would conduct an inquiry into the disaster. There will also be one by the Board of New York Insurance Underwriters and there is a strong probability that a Congressional committee will bring the total of investigations to six.

“While witnesses were pouring forth their tragic stories in the Federal Building a recheck of the passenger and crew lists of the Vestris showed that 60 of the 128 passengers and 155 of the crew of 198 who sailed on her last Saturday had been saved. Sanderson & Co. listed 68 passengers and 43 of the crew as presumably dead.

Line Refuses Comment.

“David Cook, Vice President of Sanderson & Sons, said he had not questioned any of the surviving of crew or officers. For that reason he refused to comment on passengers’ charges that the cargo was improperly stored, that an S O S sent out on Sunday had been cancelled, that the S O S was delayed too long by Captain Carey, that the lifeboats were leaky and that the crew were unfamiliar with the method of launching them….” (NYT. “Life Boats Leaky, Equipment Seized by Crew, Vestris Survivors Testify at Federal Inquiry; Valve Cracked, Coal Door Open…” 11-16-1928, p1.)

Nov 17: “Twelve more, six passengers and six of crew, recognized among 21 at morgue. Line lists 92 as missing.

“All except one of the twenty-one bodies picked up by the Coast Guard destroyers after the sinking of the Vestris had been identified last night at the Sea View Morgue, Staten Island. The names of eight of the persons have already been announced. Yesterday the Lamport & Hold Line announced the names of five more passengers and five of the crew whose bodies had been identified at the morgue. Last night two more identifications were made, making a total of twenty identified dead. The remaining unidentified is a negro woman…. [we list names with US addresses below.]

Mrs. Elizabeth Goodman, 17 Church Street, Tarrytown, NY (body recovered)
Mildred Headly, 5-years-old, 7 West 137th Street, NYC (body recovered).
Mr. and Mrs. James Headly, parents of Mildred, went down with the ship.
Marion and Audrey Headley, sisters of Mildred, went down with the ship.
Mr. and Mrs. Bowen, 669, Lexington Avenue, NYC (bodies recovered).
Mary Alleyne, 201 Stagman Street, Jersey City (body recovered; mother of 3 children?)
Eleanor Parker, 144 Cedar Street, Homesville, MA (body recovered.)

“….The actual number of those missing whose bodies have not yet been recovered as given out by Lamport & Holt Line yesterday is fifty-five passengers and thirty-seven of the crew, a total of ninety-two.” (New York Times. “Only One of Bodies Still Unidentified.” 11-17-1928, p. 3.)

Sources

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

New York Times. “Life Boats Leaky, Equipment Seized by Crew, Vestris Survivors Testify at Federal Inquiry; Valve Cracked, Coal Door Open, Stokers Say.” 11-16-1928, p. 1. Accessed 7-19-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/11/16/issue.html

New York Times. “List of Passengers and Officers of Foundered Steamship Vestris.” 11-13-1928, pp. 1-2. Accessed 7-19-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/11/13/95652900.html?pageNumber=1

New York Times. “Only One of Bodies Still Unidentified.” 11-17-1928, p. 3. Accessed 7-19-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/11/17/95659145.html?pageNumber=3

New York Times. “Rescue Ships Bringing 206 Vestris Survivors to Port; Five Bodies Picked Up, 116 Persons Still Unreported; Some Saved After Hours in Water; Life Raft Missing.” 11-14-1928, p. 1. Accessed 7-19-2020 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1928/11/14/archives/rescue-ships-bringing-206-vestris-survivors-to-port-five-bodies.html

Report of the Commissioner [United States Attorney, Southern District of New York] In the Matter of an Investigation into the Causes and Circumstances of the Sinking of the Steamship “Vestris.” Senate Documents, 70th Congress, 2d Session (December 3, 1928 – March 4, 1929). Miscellaneous. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1930. Accessed 7-19-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Serial_set_no_8000_9000/_mk3AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=vestris