SS Atlantic was a transatlantic ocean liner of the White Star Line, and second ship of the Oceanic-class. The ship operated between Liverpool, United Kingdom, and New York City, United States.

During the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, she struck rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing at least 535 people. It remained the deadliest civilian maritime disaster in the North Atlantic Ocean until the sinking of the La Bourgogne on 4 July 1898 and the greatest disaster for the White Star Line prior to the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912.

History

thumb|left|Builders model of Atlantics identical sister ship

Atlantic was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast in 1870, as one of the four liners. The other vessels were , and . She was the second ship of the class. The four liners were built for the newly created Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, commonly referred to as the White Star Line. The engines were made by George Forrester and Company at the Vauxhall foundry, Liverpool. To communicate from the bridge to the engine room she was fitted with a telegraph. Steering was by Forrester's steam steering apparatus, as fitted to . With a length of between perpendiculars ( overall) and a beam of , Atlantic completed 18 crossings with no problems other than a minor incident on 23 November 1871, when she was hit by SS Alexandria.

Diversion to Halifax

thumb|Contemporary map of the location of the wreck relative to Halifax

During the approach to Halifax on the evening of 31 March, the captain and third officer were on the bridge until midnight while Atlantic made her way through a storm, proceeding at for the entrance of Halifax Harbour, experiencing intermittent visibility and heavy seas. Unbeknownst to the crew or passengers, winds and currents had put Atlantic off-course to the west of the harbour. On the approach to harbour, Captain Williams decided to sleep, and put the ship in command of the Second Mate Henry Ismay Metcalfe, with instruction that he be awoken at 3 am. It had been the captain's intention for the ship to heave to until daylight after 3 am; however, his instruction to be woken was not carried out. Because almost none of the crew had ever been to Halifax before, they were unaware of the dangers of the approach; no one took soundings, posted a masthead lookout, or reduced speed, as they approached the unfamiliar coast. Because they were so far off-course, they did not spot the Sambro Lighthouse, the large landfall lighthouse which warns sailors of the rocky shoals to the west of the harbour entrance. As the night wore on without any sight of the lighthouse, the ship's quartermaster Robert Thomas—the only crew member familiar with Halifax—became convinced that something was wrong, especially when the lighthouse did not come into view. He relayed his concerns to both Metcalfe, and the Fourth Mate John Brown, and advised that the ship should heave to. However, the officers dismissed his concerns. Atlantic rode up onto the rocky ledge at near full speed, coming to a complete stop, and was pounded on the rocks several times, shattering some iron hull plates, before slipping backward and heeling to starboard. The ship rapidly filled with water and partially capsized, gradually settling on the shallow seabed, and heeling over to an ever-increasing angle. All 10 lifeboats were lowered by the crew but were all washed away or smashed against rocks. Distress rockets were fired into the air every minute, but this did not bring any results. Many of the disaster victims were trapped inside the ship as it filled with water. Part of the ship remained above the water, where it was pounded by waves, and many of those who made their way out onto the deck clung to the ship for as long as they could, but were eventually swept away by the waves washing over it; one passenger reported seeing a mass of heads in the water so dense that he thought it was cargo floating in the sea. Others climbed up onto the rigging and clung on as long as they could; however, most of these were overcome by exposure and eventually died there or fell into the sea.

thumb|left|upright=0.8|Contemporary illustration of the rescue effort

thumb|upright=0.6|right|John Hindley, the only child who survived the Atlantic disaster

Many people survived due to the bravery of the Third Mate, Cornelius Brady, and the quartermasters John Speakman and Edward Owens, who swam to shore with a rope and rigged up lines, via a rock to the shore. By dawn, five such lines had been rigged, and this was responsible for saving many lives. Many of those who survived swam or climbed the ropes, first to a wave-swept rock and then to a barren shore. By 6 am, Brady had made contact with the local residents of the tiny fishing villages of Lower Prospect and Terence Bay, and they sent out three boats to rescue people from the rock and those who remained clinging to the ship itself. The rescue operation continued until midday when all still alive had been rescued. The ship's manifest indicates that of the 952 aboard, 156 were women and 189 were children (including two who had been born during the voyage). All women and children perished except for one twelve-year-old boy, John Hindley. Ten crew members were lost, while 131 survived. This was the worst civilian loss of life in the North Atlantic until the wreck of on 2 July 1898.

thumb|Wreck of Atlantic during body and cargo recovery, April 1873

277 of the victims were buried in a mass grave at St. Paul's Anglican Cemetery in Terence Bay, whilst another 150 were interred at the nearby Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Cemetery in Lower Prospect.

Enquiries

There were two enquiries into the disaster. The first, by the Canadian government, was highly critical of Captain Williams, mainly on the grounds that he had failed to take frequent soundings on the approach to Halifax, and concluded with the statement, "the conduct of Captain Williams in the management of his ship during the twelve or fourteen hours preceding the disaster, was so gravely at variance with what ought to have been the conduct of a man placed in his responsible position."

P. G. Wodehouse wrote a story in 1921 called The Girl on the Boat in which six chapters of the romance take place on a White Star liner named Atlantic, crossing from New York to Southampton.

The dead female sailor was inspiration for the 2022 graphic novel Call Me Bill by a member of the family of one of the rescuers.

References and sources

Further reading

  • Carte-de-visite photograph of unidentified boy (possibly RMS Atlantic survivor John Hindley?} Another picture of Hindley can be found on website MaritimeQuest - Atlantic (1871)) {Note: this second website is copyrighted and is here for reference only}, and at http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=3257309&lang=eng
  • Photographs of the SS Atlantic Memorial at Terence Bay, Nova Scotia
  • Photographs of the SS Atlantic Memorial at Lower Prospect, Nova Scotia
  • Website of the SS Atlantic Heritage Park and Interpretation Center in Terence Bay, Nova Scotia
  • Passenger list
  • HalifaxTrails.ca