1864 — Feb 22, Steamship Bohemian wrecks, Alden’s Rock near Richmond Isl., ME  –19-20

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 8-27-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  20  Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 685.

—  19  NYT.  “Serious Marine Disaster. Wreck of the Steamship Bohemian.”  Feb 24, 1864, p. 5.

Narrative Information

Snow. “The Bohemian,” pp. 191-192 in Great Storms and Shipwrecks of New England, 1943:

“The steamer Bohemian sailed from Liverpool on February 4, 1864, with a passeng4r list of 218 and a crew of ninety-nine. Captain Borland made a brief stop at Londonderry before starting out across the ocean. Stormy weather delayed the vessel several days, and so it was late on the afternoon of February 22 that she made Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

“A peculiar condition of haze confused Captain Borland into believing that he was quite a distance off the shores of Cape Elizabeth, but actually he was approaching Alden’s Rock. Realizing that he needed help, he sent up rockets and blue lights to attract the attention of a pilot, also slowing his speed to a knot and a half. The ship’s gun was fired.

“Suddenly, without warning, the Bohemian crashed against Alden’s Rock, and slid over. A hasty examination revealed that the engine compartment had sprung a bad leak, and so the captain headed the Bohemian for land, at the same time ordering all lifeboats over. The crew took their stations in ordrly fashion, but the passengers became excited, milling around the boats in confusion. When the number 2 lifeboat had been loaded, the pin broke, dropping everyone into the sea. This particular accident caused the greatest loss of life.

“The other lifeboats were successfully launched, although only partially filled with passengers. Captain Borland ordered the rowers to return to the ship, as there were more than eighty still aboard. They refused, heading at once for shore, where they all landed safely. Three hours later, however, others brought the lifeboats back to the Bohemian, and the remaining survivors were taken ashore without accident.

“The fact that it was Washington’s birthday caused an unfortunate interpretation of the ship’s distress rockets and the firing of the ship’s gun. Several pilots had heard the cannon’s firing, and had seen the rockets in the air, but concluded that some patriotic festivities were being celebrated in honor of George Washinton. They gave the matter no further thought.

“Later Captain Borland testified that the peculiar haze made the land look many miles farther away than was actually the case. He had two lookouts on the forecastle and one aloft. He had tried to reach shore, but the fires in the engine room were drowned within ten minutes, and his proud ship, the Bohemian, went down near Richmond’s Island within ninety minutes after the accident.

“There had been considerable mail aboard, and divers were sent down to recover it. Every sack except a mailbag destined for Philadelphia was eventually brought to the shore….”

Newspaper

Feb 24, New York Times: “Portland, Me., Tuesday, Feb. 23.

“The steamship Bohemian, Capt. Borland, from Liverpool, struck on Alden’s Rock, four miles outside of Cape Elizabeth [ME], about 9 o’clock last evening, beat over, turned head toward the shore, and sunk in about an hour and a half, about two miles from the shore outside of Richmond’s Island [near Portland], having stove a hole in her engine compartment.

“Part of the steerage passengers are supposed lost. Her bridge is covered at high water and the seas are breaking over her.

“The night was clear and the Cape light in full view.

“The Bohemian had nineteen cabin passengers, all of whom are supposed to be saved; and 199 steerage passengers. It cannot be ascertained how many of the latter are lost.

“Boat No. 2 was swamped alongside, owing to people crowding into it, and came ashore on the Cape with a man and child in it both dead….

“The intelligence reached this city at 1 o’clock this morning, and a tugboat was sent off at once.  She has not yet returned….The ship was going at half speed.

“Second Dispatch.  Portland, Me., Tuesday, Feb. 23….

“From the statement of a passenger who came up in boat No. 5, we learn that he was standing on the deck at the time of the accident. The steamer passed the buoy and the passengers thought it was the pilot-boat. Immediately the steamer struck. The boats were got out safely, with the exception of No. 2, which swamped. No. 5 took aboard all she could hold, including several who jumped into the water to them. Being unable to find a landing place, she was rowed up the harbor….

“From James Scott, the second officer, I learn that all the officers were on deck when the steamer struck. It was five minutes past 8 o’clock, and the watch being changed. The ship struck on a rock, and went over.  Orders were immediately given to clear away the boats, and soon the ship was headed for shore, but shortly afterward, she sunk in four fathoms of water.

“Boat No. 1, under the boatswain’s mate, made two trips to the shore, saving in the first trip about eighty, and in the second trip about seventy.

“Boat No. 2 swamped.

“Boat No. 3, under charge of Mr. Scott, the second officer, landed about ninety-four in Broad Cove.

“Boat No. 4, under charge of the first and second officers, landed twenty-five on the beach.

“Boat No. 5, in charge of the fourth officer, brought twenty-nine into Portland Harbor.

“These numbers include the officers and crew of the Bohemian.

“The whole number of passengers on board was 216, and the number of the crew supposed to be 99.

“It is estimated that the number of saved, in all the boats, is 296, leaving 19 to be accounted for.  The crew were nearly all saved….

“Portland, Tuesday, Feb 23 – Evening…. From reports of passengers I gather the following:

“List of the Lost.

Ellen O’Connor, aged 23, of Portland.

Pat Purcell, aged 26; his wife, 25; his child, Eliza H., and an infant, of New-York.

Patrick Cassidy, aged 25, and

Jas. Cassidy, 17, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Barbary Canavan, 4 years, of Portland.

Gilbert Manley, 3 years;

John Manley, 10; and

Richard Annis, 18 – all of New-York.

Ann Mullan, 18, and

John Mullan, 7, of New York.

Benjamin Haldchurch [unclear], 23, of New-York.

John Kane, 32, of Boston.

John Martin, 2, of Boston.

Honara [unclear] Walton, of Boston….

Mary Hoy, aged 29, of Philadelphia, is also reported lost….

“The Bohemian, belonging to the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company, ran between Liverpool and Portland in Winter, and Liverpool and Quebec in Summer, touching at Montreal during the latter season.  She is the seventh vessel her owners have lost. Among them were the Anglo-Saxon and North American, and it is understood, also, the North Briton, the Hungarian and the Indian.

“Capt. Borland supposed himself four miles off from his real position. The haze probably misled him as to the true position of the lights. He had been looking for a pilot, and throwing up rockets and blue lights for half an hour, and was going at the rate of a mile and a half an hour when the vessel struck.  Half an hour before he got soundings in forty fathoms of water, with a soft bottom….

“The Bohemian is an iron vessel of two thousand two hundred tons burden, and is rated on Lloyd’s list thus: ‘1’ – which means that in case of accident to her machinery, she had still the means of reaching port.  She is bark-rigged, is about three hundred feet long, has a draft of twenty feet, and direct-acting engines of five hundred horse-power. The vessel is nearly new, having been built at Dumbarton, on the Clyde, in 1859….As she had six water-tight compartments, it is held that the concussion which caused her to sink was so severe as to materially injure her frame, or that the rock on which she struck must have torn off a very large portion of her bottom, and exposed all or most of her bulkheads….

“Men of much experience in nautical matters think they recognize in the loss of the Bohemian a new illustration of the statement often made that the numerous accidents on board iron steamers are attributable, in some degree at least, in the failure of the compass to operate accurately on those vessels…” (NYT. “Serious Marine Disaster. Wreck…Steamship Bohemian.” 2-24-1864, 5.)

Sources

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. “Serious Marine Disaster. Wreck of the Steamship Bohemian. Nineteen Lives Lost.”  Feb 24, 1864, 5.  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=7661012

Snow, Edward Rowe. Great Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. Boston: Yankee Publishing Company, 1943.