Concern over coal
On 20 March 1873, Atlantic departed on her 19th voyage from Liverpool with 952 people on board,[1] of whom 835 were passengers, and 14 stowaways. En route, the ship encountered heavy seas and gale force headwinds, which slowed her progress to a crawl. The ship's engines had to work harder than normal to maintain forward progress, and this resulted in increased coal consumption. The captain, James Williams, became increasingly concerned that they would run out of coal for the boilers before reaching New York. They in fact had more than enough remaining fuel, but unbeknownst to the captain, the ship's engineer John Foxley had been deliberately under-reporting coal reserves in order to err on the side of caution and encourage economical use of the remaining reserves, which was a common practice on ships at the time. On the 11th day of the voyage, Foxley gave an estimate to the captain that there were 129 tons of coal remaining, when at least 140 tons would have been needed for the two days sailing to New York, some 460 miles away, consuming 70 tons per day. Foxley was aware that this figure was an underestimate, but did not wish to admit that his previous estimations had been inaccurate. Thus convinced they were short of coal—and unable to hoist sail as a backup because of the strong headwind—the captain decided to divert to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to refuel, as this was much closer (170 miles distant) and it was a common practice for ships low on coal reserves to call there, although this was the first time that a White Star ship had attempted to do so, and none of the ship's mates had any firsthand knowledge of the approaches to Halifax harbour.[1][6]
Diversion 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 12 kn for the entrance of Halifax Harbour, experiencing intermittent visibility and heavy seas. Unbeknownst to the crew or passengers, winds and currents had put Atlantic 12.5 miles off-course to the west of the harbour.[7] 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.[6]
Striking the rocks
At 3:15 a.m. local time on 1 April 1873, the lookout spotted the white foam of breaking waves and shouted "Breakers ahead! Breakers ahead!". The crew immediately attempted to take evasive action and place the engines into reverse. However, these measures were insufficient, and Atlantic struck an underwater rock off Marr's Head, Meagher's Island (now Mars Head, Mars Island), Nova Scotia.[8][9][10] 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.
Aftermath
Recovery of the dead
Recovery and burial of the large numbers of victims took weeks. Divers were paid rewards for recovering the many bodies trapped within the hull. A diving company from New York sent equipment to the wreckage to salvage as much as possible of ship and cargo, and to recover the bodies of the drowned. On 11 May 1873, the Norwegian newspaper Morgenbladet reported that they had blown open the wreck, and had recovered lots of goods, and 349 bodies.[11]
Several newspapers reported that a body of one of the crew members known as Bill was discovered to be female. "She was about twenty or twenty-five years old and had served as a common sailor for three voyages, and her sex was never known until the body was washed ashore and prepared for burial. She is described as having been a great favorite with all her shipmates, and one of the crew, speaking of her, remarked: "I didn't know Bill was a woman. He used to take his grog as regular as any of us, and was always begging or stealing tobacco. He was a good fellow, though, and I am sorry he was a woman."[16][17]
Recovery of the dead
Recovery and burial of the large numbers of victims took weeks. Divers were paid rewards for recovering the many bodies trapped within the hull. A diving company from New York sent equipment to the wreckage to salvage as much as possible of ship and cargo, and to recover the bodies of the drowned. On 11 May 1873, the Norwegian newspaper Morgenbladet reported that they had blown open the wreck, and had recovered lots of goods, and 349 bodies.[11]
Several newspapers reported that a body of one of the crew members known as Bill was discovered to be female. "She was about twenty or twenty-five years old and had served as a common sailor for three voyages, and her sex was never known until the body was washed ashore and prepared for burial. She is described as having been a great favorite with all her shipmates, and one of the crew, speaking of her, remarked: "I didn't know Bill was a woman. He used to take his grog as regular as any of us, and was always begging or stealing tobacco. He was a good fellow, though, and I am sorry he was a woman."[16][17]
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.[18]
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."[11] However, he did not have his Masters certificate withdrawn, due to his efforts at saving lives during the disaster. Instead, it was suspended for two years. The White Star Line was also criticised, due to allegedly not providing sufficient coal, something which the company denied. The enquiry stated: "The inference seems inevitable that she had not sufficient coals on board when sailing for a ship of her class."[6]
The second enquiry was held by the British Board of Trade, which at first concluded that a shortage of coal had contributed to the disaster. However, after an appeal by the White Star Line, this was revisited, and a careful analysis showed that Atlantic did indeed have sufficient coal for the journey to New York. The report concluded with: "We are satisfied that the steamship Atlantic on her last voyage was supplied with sufficient coal for a voyage to New York at that season of the year. And, that at the time the vessel's course was altered for Halifax, there still remained sufficient coal to have taken her to New York and to leave 70 tons in the bunkers, even if the weather did not improve."[6]
