1870 — Jan 31, last sighting, Steamer City of Boston, NYC for Liverpool, off Halifax?– 191

— 191 Liverpool Mercury. “The loss of the City of Boston 1870.” 2-8-1913.
— 191 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 120.
— 191 Wikipedia. “SS City of Boston.” 9-30-2019 edit.
— 177 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 399.
— 177 Journal Almanac…Handbook for 1897. “Notable Shipwrecks of Atlantic Steamers.” 215.

Narrative Information

Cornell: “City of Boston, Atlantic, January 20, 1870: This New York-to-Liverpool steamer and all 177 people on board vanished at sea.”

Nash: “City of Boston Marine Disaster January 31, 1870.

“After leaving New York on January 25, 1870, with 191 crew and passengers, the American steamer City of Boston, was sighted off Halifax three days later, but nothing of the ship or her crew was ever heard again. A steam and sailing vessel, the City of Boston, early on January 31, 1870, was thought to have been the victim of a hurricane that swept the seas about Sable Island, long a disastrous stretch of water, the depths of which are laced with hundreds of sunken ships.

“Though sailing in heavily trafficked sea lanes, the City of Boston was extremely well built and more than adequately endowed with lifesaving equipment, The ship was seen only once on that last day of January. The schooner Charles Tupper was fighting to stay afloat in the hurricane when her master, Captain Hackett, spotted to the southward of Sable Island, ‘a steamer, which threw up rockets three times and shifted her position round all points of the compass, so that I could not make out her position.’….The vanishing of the City of Boston remains one of the great mysteries of the sea.” (Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 120.)

Wikipedia: “….The City of Boston sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia for Liverpool on 28 January 1870 commanded by Captain Halcrow. She had 191 people on board: 55 cabin passengers, 52 steerage passengers and a crew of 84. A number of the passengers were prominent businessmen and military officers from Halifax. She never reached her destination and no trace of h4r was ever found. A violent gale and snowstorm took place two days after her departure which may have contributed to her loss….” (Wikipedia. “SS City of Boston.” 9-30-2019 edit.)

Newspapers

Feb 19: “New York, Feb. 19. – The non arrival of the City of Boston, that left this port on the 25th of January, and Halifax the 28th, has occasioned some anxiety among those who had friends on board. On her last trip from Halifax, she broke a an of her propeller, which was replaced. Some accident may have occurred, as strong coast winds are reported from Liverpool, and as this would be enough to keep out any vessel trying to make that port safely, the City of Boston need not be despaired of.” (Daily Quincy Herald, IL. “New York.” 2-20-1870, p. 1.)

Feb 22: “Nothing has yet been heard from or of the steamer City of Boston of the Inman line, which as stated in the Times of the 20th inst., left this port on the 25th of January and cleared at Halifax on the 28th, for Liverpool. She has not been spoken as far as yet ascertained, by any vessel arriving here or at any British port, but the painful anxiety caused by the report of Captain Hackett of the schooner Charles Tupper, of the steamer seen off Sable Island, has been dissipated by the telegram received by the agent of the Inman line in this City. The City of Boston must have been far beyond Sable Island on the 8th inst., and would not have used such signals as were observed by Captain Hackett.

“The missing steamer was built by Messrs. Todd & McGregor at Partick near Glasgow, and was launched on the 15th of November 1864. She is a remarkably fine specimen of naval architecture, having, like the rest of the numerous fleet belonging to the Inman line, been built with especial care, and has always received the highest premium at Lloyd’s, and been ranked in the highest classification by the Association of Underwriters in Liverpool.

“…she is a large, commodious and handsome, and is propelled by engines of great power. The City of Boston is an iron vessel, and in her construction the greatest care was taken in selecting the very best material as regards…strength, while every attention was paid to secure speed, safety and comfort to all on board her….Besides being a mail steamer she is designed as a passenger ship of the first order, and is 365 feet long in the keel…and measures 332 feet in length over all….” (New York Times. “The City of Boston.” 2-22-1870, p. 8.)

Sources

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

Daily Quincy Herald, IL. “New York.” 2-20-1870, p. 1. Accessed 7-12-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/quincy-daily-herald-feb-20-1870-p-1/

Journal Almanac and Political Handbook for 1897. “Notable Shipwrecks of Atlantic Steamers.” Minneapolis, MN: Journal Printing Co., 1897, p. 215. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=KiYXAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

Liverpool Mercury. “The loss of the City of Boston 1870.” 2-8-1913. Accessed 7-12-2020 at: http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/CITYOFBOSTON.html

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. “The City of Boston.” 2-22-1870, p. 8. Accessed 7-12-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-feb-22-1870-p-8/

Wikipedia. “SS City of Boston.” 9-30-2019 edit. Accessed 7-12-2020 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_City_of_Boston