SS La Bourgogne
SS La Bourgogne was a French ocean liner, which sank in a collision July 1898, with the loss of 549 lives. At the time this sinking was infamous, because only 13% of the passengers survived, while 48% of the crew did.[1] In 1886 she set a new record for the fastest Atlantic crossing by a postal steamer.
SS La Bourgogne, circa 1895 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| France | |
| Name | SS La Bourgogne |
| Owner | Compagnie Generale Transatlantique |
| Builder | Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer |
| Launched | 8 October 1885 |
| Maiden voyage | 19 June 1886 |
| Fate | Sunk in a collision on 4 July 1898 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 7,395 GRT |
| Length | 494.4 feet (150.7 m) |
| Beam | 52.2 feet (15.9 m) |
| Propulsion | Single screw |
| Speed | 17 knots (20 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
Construction
She was built in 1885 by Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer for the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (French Line).[2] She was a 7,395 gross ton vessel, 494.4 feet (150.7 m) long and with a beam of 52.2 feet (15.9 m). She had two funnels and four masts, was of iron and steel construction, and propelled by a single screw giving a speed of 17 knots (20 mph). There was accommodation for 390 first class passengers, 65 second class and 600 third class passengers.
Career
Launched on 8 October 1885, she sailed on her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York City on 19 June 1886. In 1886, SS La Bourgogne traveled the Le Havre – New York transit in a little more than seven days. This gave the company first place in the New York postal service and ignited a competition for the record in the trans-Atlantic run. On 29 February 1896 she ran down and sank the anchored British steamer Ailsa, of the Atlas Steamship Company, at the entrance to New York harbour.[3] In 1897-1898 she was fitted with quadruple expansion engines and her masts reduced to two. She was also involved in a collision with the SS Toreador which suffered stern damage.[4]
Sinking
On 4 July 1898 shortly before five in the morning La Bourgogne collided with the British sailing ship Cromartyshire about 60 nautical miles (69 mi; 110 km) south of Sable Island near Nova Scotia during a dense fog.[5][6] The French ship was apparently traveling at full speed despite visibility later estimated at approximately 20 yards.[7]
Captain Oscar Henderson of Cromartyshire was sailing sounding his fog horn and heard a ship's whistle but was unable to determine its direction. His ship collided with La Bourgogne about midships on the starboard side while most passengers were asleep in their compartments.[5] The liner's compartments adjacent to the collision point filled immediately, starboard side lifeboats were damaged and the ship took a sharp list to starboard making launching of port side lifeboats difficult.[5] As the ship started to list and the stern went under, an undisciplined rush for lifeboats began.[8] La Bourgogne sank just over half an hour after the collision. The Cromartyshire survived the collision minus the bowspirit,[9] but her crew mistook the La Bourgogne's whistle and signal rockets for an offer of assistance, and they did not realize what was happening until the whistle fell silent.
Around 5:30 am, the fog thinned out, and the crew of the Cromartyshire spotted and began rescuing survivors from La Bourgogne.[8]
At the time, La Bourgogne was carrying a total of 726 people (506 passengers and 220 crew), of whom 549 were lost, including Turkish wrestler Yusuf İsmail, the American instructor/sculptor Emil H. Wuertz, French artist Léon Pourtau, American painter De Scott Evans, an Armenian Orthodox priest, Rev. Stepan Der Stepanian, his wife and three children,[10] wife and daughter of John Forrest Dillon, the wife and child of George Deslions, and three members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (which included Pourtau, who in addition to being a painter was a professional clarinetist and principal clarinet of the BSO). Of the 173 survivors, fewer than 70 were passengers, with only one woman rescued out of approximately 300 on board.[7] All children perished. Almost all first class passengers died in the disaster, with survivors largely limited to steerage passengers and sailors.[7] According to survivor accounts, the ship's officers remained at their posts after the collision, with all officers except for the purser failing to survive.[7]
Following the disaster sensational reports circulated that the crew had refused to aid passengers in the water, to the point of stabbing them or hitting them with oars.[8] Surviving crew members required police protection upon their arrival in New York and the French government covered up the tragedy.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b Looker, Janet (2000). "Disgrace". Disaster Canada. Lynx Images. pp. 38–39. ISBN 1-894073-13-4.
- ^ Eugene Waldo Smith (1978). Passenger ships of the world, past and present (2nd ed.). G. H. Dean. p. 139.
- ^ "An Atlantic Liner Sunk". The Standard. No. 22361. London. 2 March 1896. p. 3.
- ^ Damage to the "Toreador" drawing
- ^ a b c Marine Engineering: August 1898, p. 24.
- ^ "210 U.S. 95 - George Deslions v. La Compagnie Generale Transatlantique". openjurist.org. November 1, 1907. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Six Hundred Lives Were Lost at Sea on July Fourth," Terre Haute Express, July 6, 1898, pg. 1.
- ^ a b c "550 Perish". Kansas City Journal-Post. 7 July 1898. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 22 March 2016 – via Newspapers.com.page 2
- ^ Damage to Cromartyshire
- ^ Ashjian, Arten (1999). 19th Century Pioneer Armenian Churchmen in America: Profiles of the First Ten (1889-1899). Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. p. 30.
References
- Frank Charles Bowen (1930). A century of Atlantic travel, 1830-1930. Little, Brown and Company. p. 189.
- Marine Engineering (1898). "Loss of the French Liner La Bourgogne With 550 Lives". Marine Engineering. New York: Marine Publishing Company. 2 (August): 24–25. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
External links
- SS La Bourgoyne (+1898) Wrecksite