The SS Central America sinks off the…
September 1857 CE
On September 3, four hundred and seventy-seven passengers and one hundred and one crew had left the Panamanian port of Colón, sailing for New York City under the command of William Lewis Herndon.
The ship was heavily laden with ten short tons (nine point one tons) of gold prospected during the California Gold Rush.
After a stop in Havana, the ship had continued north.
On September 9, 1857, the ship had been caught up in a Category 2 hurricane while off the coast of the Carolinas.
By September 11, the 105 mph (170 km/h) winds and heavy seas had shredded her sails, she was taking on water, and her boiler was threatening to fail.
A leak in one of the seals between the paddle wheel shafts and the ship's sides sealed its fate.
At noon that day, her boiler could no longer maintain fire.
Steam pressure dropped, shutting down both the bilge pumps.
Also, the paddle wheels that kept her pointed into the wind failed as the ship settled by the stern.
The passengers and crew flew the ship's flag inverted (a distress sign in the US) to signal a passing ship.
No one came.
A bucket brigade was formed, and her passengers and crew spent the night fighting a losing battle against the rising water.
During the calm of the hurricane, attempts were made to get the boiler running again, but these failed.
The second half of the storm then struck.
The ship was now on the verge of foundering. Without power, the ship was carried along with the storm and the strong winds would not abate.
The next morning, September 12, two ships are spotted, including the brig Marine.
Only one hundred and fifty-three passengers, primarily women and children, make their way over in lifeboats.
The ship remains in an area of intense winds and heavy seas that pull the ship and most of her company away from rescue.
Central America sinks at 8:00 pm.
As a consequence of the sinking, four hundred and twenty-five people are killed.
A Norwegian bark, Ellen, rescues an additional fifty from the waters.
Another three will be picked up over a week later in a lifeboat.
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