Evening Star

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Evening Star p1
Ship data
flag United States 36United States United States
Ship type Paddle steamer
home port new York
Shipping company New York Mail Steamship Company
Shipyard Roosevelt, Joyce & Waterbury, New York
Launch 1863
Whereabouts On October 3, 1866 in the North Atlantic declined
Ship dimensions and crew
length
86.26 m ( Lüa )
width 11.88 m
Draft Max. 7.01 m
displacement 2022  t
Machine system
machine 2 steam boiler
steam engine
propeller 2 paddle wheels ⌀ 10 m

The Evening Star was a paddle steamer put into service in 1863 that went down in a hurricane on October 3, 1866 on the east coast of the United States . With 262 deaths, the sinking of the Evening Star was the largest shipwreck in American history to date .

history

In 1847 the first connections with the steamship from New York to New Orleans came through a postal contract . In the 1850s these connections became regular and several shipping companies offered their services on the route, with a stopover often in Havana , Cuba . The American Civil War led to sea ​​blockades by the southern states in the early 1860s , which put a considerable strain on merchant shipping to New Orleans.

After the conquest of New Orleans in April 1862 by the Union , regular trade between New York and New Orleans was again made possible. In October 1862, the Cromwell Line entered the business with its ships Potomac and Parkersburg . The Cromwell Line was founded in New York in 1858 by HB Cromwell and business partners to open a liner service from New York to Savannah .

In April 1863, the New York Mail Steamship Company from New York opened its passenger and freight service to New Orleans with its Morning Star steamer . Because the names of their ships all ended in "Star", the shipping company was often called the Star Line . Its director was William R. Garrison. The Evening Star followed in June 1863 . On August 15, 1863, the Evening Star ran for the first time in New York Harbor after a voyage of five days and 22 hours under the command of Captain Bell .

In the following years the Guided Star and the slightly larger Rising Star were added. At that time, the Star Line was one of the leading shipping companies on the American east coast and their ships carried more passengers than those of other shipping companies on the route.

The ship

The Evening Star was built at the Roosevelt, Joyce & Waterbury shipyard in New York. She was 86.26 meters long, 11.88 meters wide and had a maximum draft of 7.01 meters. The wooden hull consisted mainly of American white oak and pine . The tonnage was 2,022 tons according to the Old Measurement. Transverse bulkheads with watertight doors were built into the hull , which reached from the keel to the main deck .

The Evening Star's steam engine, which was manufactured in 1854, came from the Morgan Iron Works in New York and had previously been installed in the hull of the Great Lakes steamer Queen of the West . The two boilers had been supplied by the Allaire Irons Works, also from New York. The two paddle wheels each had a diameter of ten meters.

Downfall

On Saturday, September 29, 1866 at 3 p.m., the Evening Star cast off in New York under the command of Captain William Knapp for another crossing to New Orleans. On board were 59 crew members and 219 passengers (166 first class, 53 third class), including many women and children. In addition to Captain Knapp, the ship's command included the first officer David Burr, the second officer William Goldie, the purser Ellery Allen and the chief engineer Robert Finger.

The passengers on this trip were very mixed. In addition to numerous veterans of the Civil War, businessmen and families, there were many well-known members of the entertainment industry such as singers, comedians and actors on board, including circus performers from the Nicolo Troupe, 22 male and female actors from the Spaulding & Bidwell theater company on their way back to the New Orleans Academy of Music as well as a 59-member theater group of artists and musicians under the direction of the French theater impresario Paul Alhaiza on the way to the French Opera House in New Orleans. A group of prostitutes was also on board the Evening Star to work in two newly built brothels in New Orleans .

On the morning of October 2, when the Evening Star was about 180 nautical miles east of Tybee Island on the north coast of the US state of Georgia , she got caught in a severe hurricane . Huge breakers damaged the superstructure, so that leaks occurred in numerous places and water could run into the ship's interior. By evening the floods had poured into the engine room and the fires in the boilers had been extinguished. Passengers and crew drew water for hours, with many women also helping.

Towards midnight the rudder stopped responding and the steamer drifted rudderlessly in the storm. The violent winds and waves tore the sails to pieces, tore off the paddle wheels and destroyed the navigating bridge . The evacuation began in the early hours of the morning. Life jackets were tied on the women , after which they were placed in the lifeboats . When touching the water , the boats overturned in the heavy seas and threw their occupants into the sea. Dozens of people were swept overboard by the breakers. The Evening Star capsized and finally sank at 6:00 a.m. on October 3rd.

Only two lifeboats drifted over the sinking site. One of them had 16 people on board, including Captain Knapp. After the boat capsized about a dozen times, it came ashore in Fernandina, Florida . Only six people were still alive in it; the captain had drowned. Of the 278 passengers and crew on board the Evening Star , only 16. Of the approximately 100 women, the only passengers who survived were Minnie Taylor and Mollie Wilson. Days later, the shipping company hoped that more survivors would be found, as the steamer was equipped with six large Ingersoll lifeboats. But nobody was found anymore.

Among the fatalities were many prominent citizens of the city of New Orleans, such as the established architect James Gallier with his wife and the banker, businessman and representative of the United States at the world exhibition in Paris in 1855 Henry William Palfrey with his wife, child and servant. Also Belle Boyd's first husband, Naval Officer Lieut. Samuel Wylde Hardinge, was killed.

The American composer and lyricist Henry Clay Work (1832-1884) wrote the song When the Evening Star Went Down that same year .

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