Naronic
|
|
|---|---|
| Naronic | |
|
The identical sister ship of the Naronic , the Bovic |
|
| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type: | Cargo ship |
| Builder: | Harland & Wolff ( Belfast ) |
| Ship surveying : | 6594 GRT |
| Length: | 143.3 m |
| Drive: | Piston steam engines on two screws |
| Speed: | 13 knots |
| Crew : | 50 |
| Launch : | May 26, 1892 |
| Maiden voyage: | July 25, 1892 |
| Fate: | Lost in the North Atlantic since March 1893 |
The Naronic was a cargo steamer of the White Star Line completed in 1892 . It had been designed to transport freight between Liverpool and New York City , but - not uncommon at the time - it also had the capacity to transport a small number of passengers . The Naronic has been lost since March 1893, and its whereabouts are still unclear.
The last trip
After the Naronic had made a few successful crossings, she left Liverpool on February 11, 1893 under the command of Captain William Roberts for the last time with course New York. She transported cattle as the main cargo , which is why she had 24 cowherd men on board in addition to the 50-man crew . After a final stop on the island of Anglesey north of Wales , where she disembarked the port pilot , she set out for the open sea.
The disappearance of the ship
After the Naronic had not reached its port of destination New York weeks after its departure, the worst had to be feared. Since the Naronic did not yet have a Morse code machine on board, the ship had not been able to make an emergency call. The British steamer Conventry then sighted on March 4, two empty and driving lifeboats of ss naronic , one at 2 am near the later misfortunes position of the Titanic , the second at 2 pm in the east of it. While the first boat sighted was keeled up, the second was obviously leaking. Further clues to the whereabouts of the Naronic were provided by four mysterious messages in a bottle, two of which were washed up on the US east coast on March 3 and 30, and two more were recovered in June and September 18, 1893 in the Irish Sea or near Liverpool .
The four messages in a bottle
Bottle # 1, recovered March 3, 1893 in Bay Ridge near New York:
“Feb. 19, 1893 - Naronic sinking. All hands praying. God have mercy on us. "
"[Date] - The Naronic is sinking. All (people) pray. May God have mercy on us. "
Bottle # 2, salvaged March 30, 1893 in Ocean View , Virginia:
“3:10 AM Feb. 19. SS Naronic at sea. To who picks this up: report when you find this to our agents if not heard of before, that our ship is sinking almost beneath the waves. It's such a storm that we can never live in the small boats. One boat has already gone with her human cargo below. God let all of us live through this. We were stuck by an iceberg in a blinding snowstorm and floated two hours. Now it's 3:20 AM by my watch and the great ship is dead level with the sea. Report to the agents at Broadway, New New York, M. Kersey & Company. Goodby everyone. "
"3.10 am [at night], Feb. 19. SS Naronic at sea. To those who take this for themselves: if you find this, inform our agents [of the shipping company] if they do not already know that our ship is rapidly sinking. The storm is so strong that we could never survive in the small boats. A boat has already sunk with its human cargo. God grant that we survive this. We rammed an iceberg in a heavy snowstorm and then swam for two hours. According to my watch, it is now 3.20 a.m. and the upper deck of the big ship is at water level. Report this to our agents on Broadway, New New York, M. Kersey & Company. Farewell."
Bottle No. 3, salvaged in the Irish Sea in June 1893 :
"Stuck iceberg: sinking fast: Naronic"
"Rammed Iceberg: Sinking Fast: Naronic"
Bottle No. 4, recovered on September 18, 1893 in the Mersey near Liverpool:
“All hands lost; Naronic; No time to say more .... T ”
“All men are lost; Naronic; No time to say more .... T "
controversy
The unusual news was later repeatedly called into question. For one thing, some of the names with which they were signed were not on the crew or passenger lists. Second, it was strange that assuming the news was real, two were found in the US and two in the UK . Although it is generally not uncommon for a message in a bottle from America to reach Europe , it usually takes considerably longer to travel than the few months that would result in the case of the Naronic . Only the discovery of the wreck of the Naronic could offer a reliable conclusion about the actual cause of the accident .
Web links
- titanic-whitestarships.com (English) Detailed, very informative page on the history of the Naronic
- [[: | Picture of the Bovic , a structurally identical sister ship of the Naronic ]]