SS ''Newfoundland'' was a wooden-hulled

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

and

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

that was built in 1872 and wrecked in 1916. She was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

, and for part of her career she was a sealing ship. In 1916 she was renamed ''Samuel Blandford''. ''Newfoundland'' was involved in two disasters. The first was the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster, when 132 sealers were stranded on an

ice floe An ice floe () is a segment of floating ice defined as a flat piece at least across at its widest point, and up to more than across. Drift ice is a floating field of sea ice composed of several ice floes. They may cause ice jams on freshwate ...

, resulting in 78 deaths. The second was in 1916, shortly after she had been renamed, when she struck rocks and was wrecked.

Specifications

Peter Baldwin built ''Newfoundland'' in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, completing her in 1872. Her registered length was , her

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

was , her depth was and her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a cal ...

s were and . She had two masts and was rigged as a brigantine. ''Newfoundland'' had a two-cylinder

compound steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

, built by the Ouseburn Engine Works of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, England, which powered her single

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

. It was originally rated at "130 HP", but by 1903 it was rated at 162 NHP.

Owners, managers and registration

James and Alexander Allan were ''Newfoundland''s first owners. They

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

her in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. Her UK

official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

was 66054 and her

code letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of ...

were MCPB. In 1890 Allan Line re-registered ''Newfoundland'' in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. In 1893 John H Anderson of Musquodoboit bought ''Newfoundland'' and re-registered her in

Windsor, Nova Scotia Windsor is a community located in Hants County, Nova Scotia, Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a service centre for the western part of the county and is situated on Nova Scotia Highway 101, Highway 101. The community has a history d ...

. In 1900 JA Farquhar became her owner. In 1904 John Harvey bought her and re-registered her in

St John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundlan ...

. From 1907 her owner was the Steamship "Newfoundland" Sealing Co, Ltd, and AJ Harvey was her

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. By 1913 ''Newfoundland'' was equipped for

wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is the transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using electrical cable, cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimenta ...

. Her

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was VOW. In 1916 William Davis of St John's, Newfoundland acquired ''Newfoundland'', and she was renamed ''Samuel Blandford''.

1914 disaster

On March 30, 1914, ''Newfoundland'' was trapped in ice off the northern coast of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. Her captain, Wes Kean, could see signals from , commanded by his father

Abram Kean Abram Kean (July 8, 1855 – May 18, 1945) was a Dominion of Newfoundland, Newfoundland Seal hunting, sealing captain and politician. He was a renowned sealer who captured over a million pelts during his career. Kean is most famous for his role ...

, indicating that there were seals several miles away. The next morning, Wes Kean sent his crew in that direction across the ice to begin killing seals, commanded by his first officer, expecting that if the weather worsened they would stay overnight aboard ''Stephano''. When the men reached ''Stephano'', Abram Kean gave the men lunch and then ordered them back onto the ice to kill seals and find ''Newfoundland'', despite signs of worsening weather. As a storm began that afternoon, the captains of both ''Newfoundland'' and the nearby ''Stephano'' each thought the men were safely aboard the other man's vessel. ''Newfoundland''s owners had removed the ship's wireless telegraph equipment because it was an expense that did not contribute to profits. ''Newfoundland''s captain, believing the men were aboard ''Stephano'', did not blow the ship's whistle to signal his location, which would have allowed his men to find the ship in the darkness and rain. The sealers endured two nights without shelter, in first a

freezing rain Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below melting point, freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike rain and snow mixed, a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made en ...

storm and then a

snowstorm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, Rain and snow mixed, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In Continental cl ...

The dead and survivors alike were rescued about 54 hours later by another ship in the fleet, '' Bellaventure'', under Captain Isaac Randell. Of the 132 men aboard ''Newfoundland'', 78 died, and many more were seriously injured. This disaster occurred in the same storm in which sank with all hands. The total loss from all three sealing ships totaled more than 250 lives, and the combined tragedy became known as the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster.

1916 loss

In 1916 ''Samuel Blandford'' left New York with a cargo of coal bound for St John's. On August 3 she struck the Keys, near St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador and was wrecked.

Heritage

Cassie Brown Cassie Eileen Brown (January 10, 1919 – December 30, 1986) was a Newfoundland and Labrador journalist, author, publisher and editor. Brown is most distinguished for her books ''Death on the Ice'', which was featured in ''Reader's Digest'', and '' ...

and

Harold Horwood Harold Andrew Horwood, CM (November 2, 1923 – April 16, 2006) was a Canadian novelist, non-fiction writer and politician from Newfoundland and Labrador. He served as the member of the Newfoundland House of Assembly for Labrador from 1949 t ...

wrote their 1972 book ''Death on the Ice'' about the 1914 disaster. The

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

has made three documentaries about the disaster: ''The Icehunters'' in 1976, ''"I Just Didn't Want to Die": The 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster'' in 1991, and the multimedia short ''54 Hours'' in 2014.

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newfoundland 1872 ships Ships built in Quebec City Brigantines Disasters in Newfoundland and Labrador Maritime incidents in 1914 Maritime incidents in 1916 Maritime incidents in Canada Sealing ships Steamships of Canada Steamships of the United Kingdom Water transport in Newfoundland and Labrador