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RMS Republic (1903)

May 05, 2023

RMS Republic was a steam-powered ocean liner built in 1903 by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and lost at sea in a collision in 1909 while sailing for the White Star Line. The ship was equipped with a new Marconi wireless telegraphy transmitter, and issued a CQD distress call, resulting in the saving of around 1,500 lives. Known as the "Millionaires' Ship" because of the number of wealthy Americans who traveled by her, she was described as a "palatial liner" and was the flagship of White Star Line's Boston service.[1] This was the first important marine rescue made possible by radio, and brought worldwide attention to this new technology.

Republic
History
United Kingdom
NameRepublic
OwnerMVSHQ, Inc. (2011)
OperatorOceanic Steam Navigation Company d/b/a White Star Line
BuilderHarland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard number345
Launched26 February 1903
ChristenedColumbus
Completed12 September 1903
Nickname(s)The Millionaires' Ship
FateSank on 24 January 1909
General characteristics
Tonnage15,400 gross register tons
Length570.0 ft (173.7 m)
Beam67.8 ft (20.7 m)
Draft34 ft 1 in (10.39 m) .
Depth of hold24 ft (7.3 m)
Propulsiontwin propeller
Speed16 knots (30 km/h)
Capacity2,830 passengers
Crew300

History

White Star acquisition

The ship was originally built in Belfast, Ireland, for the International Mercantile Marine's Dominion Line (a sister company to the White Star Line) and was named Columbus. She was launched on 26 February 1903, and made her maiden voyage in October 1903 from Liverpool to Boston.[2] After two voyages with the Dominion Line, Columbus, along with three other Dominion liners: New England, Commonwealth, and Mayflower, were sold to the White Star Line for use on their new service between Liverpool and Boston. Columbus was renamed Republic, the second ship under White Star livery to hold the name (White Star's original Republic of 1872 had been sold to the Holland America Line in 1889 and renamed Maasdam), while her three fellow former Dominion liners were renamed Romanic, Canopic, and Cretic, respectively.

Career

Republic made her first crossing under White Star from Liverpool to Boston on 17 December 1903, arriving in Boston 27 December. In January 1903, she made her first crossing from Boston to the Mediterranean via Gibraltar, making calls at Sao Miguel in the Azores, followed by the Italian ports of Naples and Genoa, and ending at Alexandria, a voyage that often took up to three weeks to complete, one way.

In November 1904, she inaugurated White Star's Mediterranean–New York service. White Star intended this route for two purposes: First, they sought to establish a market for cruising opportunities for wealthy American passengers, as her spacious and luxurious accommodations in first and second class attracted scores of wealthy vacationers, thus earning her the nickname "Millionaires' Ship". Second, and more predominantly on her westbound crossings, White Star sought to tap into the massive Italian immigrant trade. Republic, with a third-class capacity of 2,000, proved to be immensely profitable on this route, as when she sailed for the United States on any given trip, third class was often booked to capacity, and sometimes beyond. A vast majority of Italian immigrants who sailed by White Star boarded Republic and the other ships at Naples, along with smaller groups of Greeks, Austrians, Slavs, Turks, and Syrians. White Star's placement of Sao Miguel on their Mediterranean services opened them up to traffic from Portuguese immigrants, as well.

Over the next four years, Republic spent the winter and spring running on White Star's Mediterranean–New York service alongside the Cretic, while during the summer and fall, she sailed on the Liverpool–Boston route together with Cymric and Arabic.

Collision with SS Florida

In the early morning of 23 January 1909, while sailing from New York City to Gibraltar and Mediterranean ports with 742 passengers and crew and Captain Inman Sealby (1862–1942) in command, Republic entered a thick fog off the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Amongst the passengers were some illustrious people, such as James Ross Mellon, his wife Rachel Hughey Larimer Mellon, their daughter Sarah of the Mellon banking family and family maid, Mrs. Sophie Mansfield Curtis, wife of George Munson Curtis (treasurer of the International Silver Company), Mrs. Mary Harriman Severance, wife of Cordenio A. Severance, Professor John M. Coulter with wife and children, General Brayton Ives, St. Louis millionaire Samuel Cupples, historian Alice Morse Earle, and Mildred Montague, Countess Pasolini.[3] [4] Travelling in first class were also Mr. Leonard L. McMurray, who, in 1915, would survive the sinking of the Cunard liner Lusitania, and Mrs. Bessie Armstead Davis, daughter-in-law of senator Henry G. Davis of West Virginia with two children.

 
This picture of SS Florida was taken by Martin & Ottaway, a New Jersey marine consulting firm, after Florida collided with Republic. Florida survived the collision and was repaired in 24 days.[5]

Taking standard precautions and maintaining her speed, the steamer regularly signaled her presence in the outbound shipping traffic lane by whistle. At 5:47 a.m., another whistle was heard and Republic's engines were ordered to full reverse, and the helm put "hard-a-port". Out of the fog, the Lloyd Italiano liner SS Florida appeared and hit Republic amidships on her portside, at about a right angle. Two passengers asleep in their cabins on Republic were killed when Florida's bow sliced into her, liquor wholesale manager Eugene Lynch's wife Mary and banker William J. Mooney. Eugene Lynch was critically injured and died as a result of his injuries at Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, 26 January. On Florida, three crewmen were also killed when the bow was crushed back to a collision bulkhead.[6] Six people died in total.

The engine and boiler rooms on Republic began to flood, and the ship listed. Captain Sealby led the crew in calmly organizing the passengers on deck for evacuation. Republic was equipped with the new Marconi wireless telegraph system, and became the first ship in history to issue a CQD distress signal, sent by John R. Binns.[7] Florida came about to rescue Republic's complement, and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service cutter Gresham[8] responded to the distress signal as well. Passengers were distributed between the two ships, with Florida taking the bulk of them, but with 900 Italian immigrants already on board, this left the ship dangerously overloaded.

The White Star liner Baltic, commanded by Captain J. B. Ranson, also responded to the CQD call, but due to the persistent fog, Baltic was not able to locate the drifting Republic until that evening. Once on-scene, the rescued passengers were transferred from Gresham and Florida to Baltic. Because of the damage to Florida, that ship's immigrant passengers were also transferred to Baltic, but a riot nearly broke out when they had to wait until first-class Republic passengers were transferred. Once everyone was on board, Baltic sailed for New York.

At the time of Republic's sinking, ocean liners were not required to have a full capacity of lifeboats for their passengers, officers, and crew. On the busy North Atlantic route, assistance from at least one ship was believed to be ever-present and that lifeboats would be needed only to ferry all aboard to their rescue vessels and back until everyone was safely evacuated. That scenario, unlike during the RMS Titanic sinking, played out flawlessly during the ship's sinking, and the six people who died were lost in the collision, not the sinking itself.

 
The Republic is sinking by her stern after being hit by the Lloyd Italiano liner Florida.

Captain Sealby and a skeleton crew remained on board Republic to make an effort to save her. Crewmen from the Gresham tried using collision mats to stem the flooding, but to no avail.[9] By this time, the steamers New York and Lucania (from Cunard) had also arrived and waited while a futile attempt was made by Gresham to take Republic under tow. On 24 January, Republic sank stern first; at 15,378 tons, she was the largest ship to have sunk until then.[10][11] All the remaining crew were evacuated before she sank.

Reported cargoes

Many reports indicate that Republic was carrying gold and other valuables when she sank. One report is that she was carrying gold worth $250,000[12] in American gold coins to be used as payroll for the US Navy's Great White Fleet.[10][13]

In addition to the US Navy coin-monies shipment, various sources reported [14][better source needed] on a much larger cargo, $3,000,000 in US gold double eagles ($20). Among these, The Washington Post reported, "Three million dollars in gold coins lie in the rotting hulk of the White Star liner Republic, lost off Nantucket in January, 1909. The Republic, damaged in a collision, was being towed toward New York by the Coast Guard cutter Gresham, when she sank in 240 feet of water. A salvage attempt in 1919 was unsuccessful."[15] And again one year later, "In 1909, the [White] Star Liner Republic was damaged in a collision. While being towed to safety, she sank in over 200 feet of water. At the present, all attempts to salvage the $3,000,000 in her holds have been unsuccessful."[16] The New York Times reported, "The White Star Liner Republic, lost off Nantucket Shoals in 1909, carried $3,000,000 in gold eagles. However, the Republic rests in 185 [270] feet of water."[17]

All of these values are in 1909 dollars. US$3 million in 1909 is equivalent to about $100 million in 2023, after adjusting for inflation. One coin expert appraised the value of RMS Republic's cargoes today would exceed $1 billion.[18][better source needed]

Rediscovery

The wreck of Republic was found by Captain Martin Bayerle in 1981. She lies upright roughly 50 miles (80 km) south of Nantucket Island[10][11] at 40°26′0″N 69°46′0″W / 40.43333°N 69.76667°W / 40.43333; -69.76667 in about 270 feet (82 m) of water.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Republic and The Delhi". Daily Telegraph. London. 16 April 1912.
  2. ^ Dunn, Laurence (1964). Famous Liners of the Past Belfast Built. London: Adlard Coles. pp. 70–71.
  3. ^ "RMS Republic II People On Board". WRECKSITE. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  4. ^ "RMS Republic Passenger List". RMS Republic. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  5. ^ "SS Florida / SS Republic Collision (TBT)". Martin & Ottaway. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  6. ^ . att.net. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006.
  7. ^ "Rescue at Sea". The American Experience. PBS. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  8. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  9. ^ . Archived from the original on 24 May 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  10. ^ a b c Pickford, Nigel (1999). Lost Treasure Ships of the Twentieth Century. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. ISBN 0-7922-7472-5.
  11. ^ a b "Treasure of the RMS Republic". New York: MVSHQ, Inc. 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  12. ^ Connolly, James B. (1945). Sea Borne - Thirty Years Avoyaging. Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1406768947.
  13. ^ RMS Republic – The First Theory
  14. ^ "The Rumor, The Reports, The Legend | RMS - Republic".
  15. ^ Diving Bell Gropes for Lost Gold, By Robert Talley The Washington Post, June 24, 1934, Pg. M5.
  16. ^ Lusitania's Treasure of Gold and Gems to Be Salvaged By Alexander J. Wedderburn, Jr. The Washington Post, Dec. 1, 1935, Pg. B6.
  17. ^ Clarence E. Lovejoy, Maps Give Skippers Chance at Sunken Gold - Week-End Cruising Can Now Include Treasure Hunt New York Times, July 10, 1959, 18.
  18. ^ "Billion Dollar Wreck: The Coin Expert | History". YouTube.

External links

  • Historical News Coverage of the Sinking of the RMS Republic
  • "CQD" by Alfred M. Caddell, Radio Broadcast, April 1924, pages 449-455.
  • "The Triumph of Wireless", The Outlook, 6 February 1909, pages 294-297.
  • The American Experience |Rescue at Sea
  • R. M. S. Republic | Samuel Cupples House
  • Billions in gold? Former dive shop owner to salvage RMS Republic
  • RMS Republic - Sad Times for Older Sister of Titanic
  • Details of Baltic's effort to find Republic

May 05, 2023
republic, 1903, republic, steam, powered, ocean, liner, built, 1903, harland, wolff, belfast, lost, collision, 1909, while, sailing, white, star, line, ship, equipped, with, marconi, wireless, telegraphy, transmitter, issued, distress, call, resulting, saving,. RMS Republic was a steam powered ocean liner built in 1903 by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and lost at sea in a collision in 1909 while sailing for the White Star Line The ship was equipped with a new Marconi wireless telegraphy transmitter and issued a CQD distress call resulting in the saving of around 1 500 lives Known as the Millionaires Ship because of the number of wealthy Americans who traveled by her she was described as a palatial liner and was the flagship of White Star Line s Boston service 1 This was the first important marine rescue made possible by radio and brought worldwide attention to this new technology RepublicHistoryUnited KingdomNameRepublicOwnerMVSHQ Inc 2011 OperatorOceanic Steam Navigation Company d b a White Star LineBuilderHarland and Wolff BelfastYard number345Launched26 February 1903ChristenedColumbusCompleted12 September 1903Nickname s The Millionaires ShipFateSank on 24 January 1909General characteristicsTonnage15 400 gross register tonsLength570 0 ft 173 7 m Beam67 8 ft 20 7 m Draft34 ft 1 in 10 39 m Depth of hold24 ft 7 3 m Propulsiontwin propellerSpeed16 knots 30 km h Capacity2 830 passengersCrew300 Contents 1 History 1 1 White Star acquisition 1 2 Career 1 3 Collision with SS Florida 1 4 Reported cargoes 2 Rediscovery 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditWhite Star acquisition Edit The ship was originally built in Belfast Ireland for the International Mercantile Marine s Dominion Line a sister company to the White Star Line and was named Columbus She was launched on 26 February 1903 and made her maiden voyage in October 1903 from Liverpool to Boston 2 After two voyages with the Dominion Line Columbus along with three other Dominion liners New England Commonwealth and Mayflower were sold to the White Star Line for use on their new service between Liverpool and Boston Columbus was renamed Republic the second ship under White Star livery to hold the name White Star s original Republic of 1872 had been sold to the Holland America Line in 1889 and renamed Maasdam while her three fellow former Dominion liners were renamed Romanic Canopic and Cretic respectively Career Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources RMS Republic 1903 news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Republic made her first crossing under White Star from Liverpool to Boston on 17 December 1903 arriving in Boston 27 December In January 1903 she made her first crossing from Boston to the Mediterranean via Gibraltar making calls at Sao Miguel in the Azores followed by the Italian ports of Naples and Genoa and ending at Alexandria a voyage that often took up to three weeks to complete one way In November 1904 she inaugurated White Star s Mediterranean New York service White Star intended this route for two purposes First they sought to establish a market for cruising opportunities for wealthy American passengers as her spacious and luxurious accommodations in first and second class attracted scores of wealthy vacationers thus earning her the nickname Millionaires Ship Second and more predominantly on her westbound crossings White Star sought to tap into the massive Italian immigrant trade Republic with a third class capacity of 2 000 proved to be immensely profitable on this route as when she sailed for the United States on any given trip third class was often booked to capacity and sometimes beyond A vast majority of Italian immigrants who sailed by White Star boarded Republic and the other ships at Naples along with smaller groups of Greeks Austrians Slavs Turks and Syrians White Star s placement of Sao Miguel on their Mediterranean services opened them up to traffic from Portuguese immigrants as well Over the next four years Republic spent the winter and spring running on White Star s Mediterranean New York service alongside the Cretic while during the summer and fall she sailed on the Liverpool Boston route together with Cymric and Arabic Collision with SS Florida Edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message In the early morning of 23 January 1909 while sailing from New York City to Gibraltar and Mediterranean ports with 742 passengers and crew and Captain Inman Sealby 1862 1942 in command Republic entered a thick fog off the island of Nantucket Massachusetts Amongst the passengers were some illustrious people such as James Ross Mellon his wife Rachel Hughey Larimer Mellon their daughter Sarah of the Mellon banking family and family maid Mrs Sophie Mansfield Curtis wife of George Munson Curtis treasurer of the International Silver Company Mrs Mary Harriman Severance wife of Cordenio A Severance Professor John M Coulter with wife and children General Brayton Ives St Louis millionaire Samuel Cupples historian Alice Morse Earle and Mildred Montague Countess Pasolini 3 4 Travelling in first class were also Mr Leonard L McMurray who in 1915 would survive the sinking of the Cunard liner Lusitania and Mrs Bessie Armstead Davis daughter in law of senator Henry G Davis of West Virginia with two children This picture of SS Florida was taken by Martin amp Ottaway a New Jersey marine consulting firm after Florida collided with Republic Florida survived the collision and was repaired in 24 days 5 Taking standard precautions and maintaining her speed the steamer regularly signaled her presence in the outbound shipping traffic lane by whistle At 5 47 a m another whistle was heard and Republic s engines were ordered to full reverse and the helm put hard a port Out of the fog the Lloyd Italiano liner SS Florida appeared and hit Republic amidships on her portside at about a right angle Two passengers asleep in their cabins on Republic were killed when Florida s bow sliced into her liquor wholesale manager Eugene Lynch s wife Mary and banker William J Mooney Eugene Lynch was critically injured and died as a result of his injuries at Long Island College Hospital Brooklyn 26 January On Florida three crewmen were also killed when the bow was crushed back to a collision bulkhead 6 Six people died in total The engine and boiler rooms on Republic began to flood and the ship listed Captain Sealby led the crew in calmly organizing the passengers on deck for evacuation Republic was equipped with the new Marconi wireless telegraph system and became the first ship in history to issue a CQD distress signal sent by John R Binns 7 Florida came about to rescue Republic s complement and the U S Revenue Cutter Service cutter Gresham 8 responded to the distress signal as well Passengers were distributed between the two ships with Florida taking the bulk of them but with 900 Italian immigrants already on board this left the ship dangerously overloaded The White Star liner Baltic commanded by Captain J B Ranson also responded to the CQD call but due to the persistent fog Baltic was not able to locate the drifting Republic until that evening Once on scene the rescued passengers were transferred from Gresham and Florida to Baltic Because of the damage to Florida that ship s immigrant passengers were also transferred to Baltic but a riot nearly broke out when they had to wait until first class Republic passengers were transferred Once everyone was on board Baltic sailed for New York At the time of Republic s sinking ocean liners were not required to have a full capacity of lifeboats for their passengers officers and crew On the busy North Atlantic route assistance from at least one ship was believed to be ever present and that lifeboats would be needed only to ferry all aboard to their rescue vessels and back until everyone was safely evacuated That scenario unlike during the RMS Titanic sinking played out flawlessly during the ship s sinking and the six people who died were lost in the collision not the sinking itself The Republic is sinking by her stern after being hit by the Lloyd Italiano liner Florida Captain Sealby and a skeleton crew remained on board Republic to make an effort to save her Crewmen from the Gresham tried using collision mats to stem the flooding but to no avail 9 By this time the steamers New York and Lucania from Cunard had also arrived and waited while a futile attempt was made by Gresham to take Republic under tow On 24 January Republic sank stern first at 15 378 tons she was the largest ship to have sunk until then 10 11 All the remaining crew were evacuated before she sank Reported cargoes Edit Some of this section s listed sources may not be reliable Please help this article by looking for better more reliable sources Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted February 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Many reports indicate that Republic was carrying gold and other valuables when she sank One report is that she was carrying gold worth 250 000 12 in American gold coins to be used as payroll for the US Navy s Great White Fleet 10 13 In addition to the US Navy coin monies shipment various sources reported 14 better source needed on a much larger cargo 3 000 000 in US gold double eagles 20 Among these The Washington Post reported Three million dollars in gold coins lie in the rotting hulk of the White Star liner Republic lost off Nantucket in January 1909 The Republic damaged in a collision was being towed toward New York by the Coast Guard cutterGresham when she sank in 240 feet of water A salvage attempt in 1919 was unsuccessful 15 And again one year later In 1909 the White Star Liner Republic was damaged in a collision While being towed to safety she sank in over 200 feet of water At the present all attempts to salvage the 3 000 000 in her holds have been unsuccessful 16 The New York Times reported The White Star Liner Republic lost off Nantucket Shoals in 1909 carried 3 000 000 in gold eagles However the Republic rests in 185 270 feet of water 17 All of these values are in 1909 dollars US 3 million in 1909 is equivalent to about 100 million in 2023 after adjusting for inflation One coin expert appraised the value of RMS Republic s cargoes today would exceed 1 billion 18 better source needed Rediscovery EditThe wreck of Republic was found by Captain Martin Bayerle in 1981 She lies upright roughly 50 miles 80 km south of Nantucket Island 10 11 at 40 26 0 N 69 46 0 W 40 43333 N 69 76667 W 40 43333 69 76667 in about 270 feet 82 m of water See also EditRMS Empress of Ireland which also sank as a result of a collision Treasure hunting marine References Edit The Republic and The Delhi Daily Telegraph London 16 April 1912 Dunn Laurence 1964 Famous Liners of the Past Belfast Built London Adlard Coles pp 70 71 RMS Republic II People On Board WRECKSITE 25 November 2010 Retrieved 11 October 2022 RMS Republic Passenger List RMS Republic 30 May 2021 Retrieved 11 October 2022 SS Florida SS Republic Collision TBT Martin amp Ottaway 13 August 2014 Retrieved 26 May 2018 Ship Wrecks of New England SS Republic att net Archived from the original on 15 June 2006 Rescue at Sea The American Experience PBS Retrieved 22 March 2012 Gresham 1896 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 27 September 2012 Retrieved 16 November 2010 TITANIC A Voyage of Discovery allships Archived from the original on 24 May 2006 Retrieved 11 December 2018 a b c Pickford Nigel 1999 Lost Treasure Ships of the Twentieth Century Washington D C National Geographic Society ISBN 0 7922 7472 5 a b Treasure of the RMS Republic New York MVSHQ Inc 2009 Retrieved 22 March 2012 Connolly James B 1945 Sea Borne Thirty Years Avoyaging Doubleday Doran and Company Inc ISBN 978 1406768947 RMS Republic The First Theory The Rumor The Reports The Legend RMS Republic Diving Bell Gropes for Lost Gold By Robert Talley The Washington Post June 24 1934 Pg M5 Lusitania s Treasure of Gold and Gems to Be Salvaged By Alexander J Wedderburn Jr The Washington Post Dec 1 1935 Pg B6 Clarence E Lovejoy Maps Give Skippers Chance at Sunken Gold Week End Cruising Can Now Include Treasure Hunt New York Times July 10 1959 18 Billion Dollar Wreck The Coin Expert History YouTube External links EditHistorical News Coverage of the Sinking of the RMS Republic The Hero of the Republic CQD by Alfred M Caddell Radio Broadcast April 1924 pages 449 455 The Triumph of Wireless The Outlook 6 February 1909 pages 294 297 The American Experience Rescue at Sea R M S Republic Samuel Cupples House Billions in gold Former dive shop owner to salvage RMS Republic RMS Republic Sad Times for Older Sister of Titanic Details of Baltic s effort to find Republic Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title RMS Republic 1903 amp oldid 1146600392, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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