SS Central America
SS Central America, sometimes called the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot (85 m) sidewheel steamer that steamed between Central America and the eastern US Coast during the 1850s. The ship sank in a hurricane in September of 1857, along with 400 passengers and crew and 30,000 pounds of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857.
Sinking
On September 3, 1857, 477 passengers and 101 crew left port from Panama sailing for New York City under the command of William Lewis Herndon. The ship was heavily laden with between 13 and 15 tons of gold recovered in the California gold rush. After a stop in Havana, the ship continued north.
Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
Unknown
Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depressionOn September 9, the ship was caught up in a Category 2 hurricane while off the coast of the Carolinas. By September 11, the 105 mph (165 km/h) winds and heavy surf had shredded her sails, she was taking on water, and her boiler was threatening to go out. A leak in one of the seals to the paddle wheels sealed her fate, and at noon that day her boiler could no longer maintain fire and steam pressure dropped, shutting down both the pumps keeping the water at bay and the paddle wheels that kept her pointed into the wind. The passengers and crew flew the ship's flag upside down (a universal sign of distress) to try a 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 eye of the hurricane, attempts were made to get the boiler running again, but these all failed. The second half of the storm then struck. The ship was now on the verge of foundering. Without power, the storm was carrying the ship with it, so the strong winds would not abate. The next morning, two ships were spotted, including the brig Marine. 153 people, primarily the women and children, managed to make their way over in lifeboats. But the ship remained in an area of intense winds and heavy seas. They pulled the ship and most of her company away from rescue and took the ship and the roughly 425 people still on board to the bottom at around 8pm that night.
Her loss, and that of her gold, contributed to the financial Panic of 1857.
Historical perspective
Several books have been written about this historic ship. The most famous book is America's Lost Treasure, a complete pictorial chronicle of the sinking and recovery.
The ship was located by a ROV operated by the Columbus-America Discovery Group on September 11, 1987. Significant amounts of the gold were recovered and brought to the surface by another ROV built specifically for the recovery. Thomas G. Thompson led the group.
The gold on this treasure ship are priceless pieces of American history. Many items are of inestimable future value, worth far more than ordinary collections of precious metals or rare coins. Many artifacts from luggage, clothing, bottles, and china dishes were recovered from the ocean floor after 130 years and moved to museums for safekeeping.
For rare coin collectors these are some of the most highly prized gold coins from the pre-Civil War, frontier days including mint condition $20 Liberty gold pieces struck in 1857 at the United States Mint in San Francisco.
See also
Further reading
- Gary Kinder - Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1998) ISBN 0871137178
- Normand E. Klare - The Final Voyage of the Central America, 1857: The Saga of a Gold Rush Steamship (1991) ISBN 0870622102
- Tommy Thompson - America's Lost Treasure (Avalon, 2000) ISBN 0871137321