SS ''Central America'', known as the Ship of Gold, was a sidewheel steamer that operated between

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

during the 1850s. She was originally named the SS ''George Law'', after George Law of New York. The ship sank in a hurricane in September 1857, along with 425 of her 578 passengers and crew and 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857.

Sinking

On September 3, 1857, 477 passengers and 101 crew left the City of Aspinwall, now the

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

nian port of Colón, sailing for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

under the command of William Lewis Herndon. The ship was laden with of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

prospected during the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. The ship continued north after a stop in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.a Category 2 hurricane while off the coast of the

Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the southwes ...

. By September 11, the winds, and heavy seas had shredded her sails, she was taking on water, and her boiler was threatening to fail. A leak in a seal between a paddle wheel shaft and the ship's side 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. Wreck of the Central America

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 on the verge of foundering. The storm carried the powerless ship, and the strong winds would not abate. The next morning, September 12, two ships were spotted, including the brig ''Marine''. Only 100 passengers, primarily women and children, were transferred in lifeboats. The ship remained in an area of intense winds and heavy seas that pulled her and most of her company away from rescue. ''Central America'' sank at 8:00 that evening, with a loss of 425 lives. A Norwegian bark, ''Ellen'', rescued an additional 50 from the waters. Another three were picked up over a week later in a lifeboat. CMDR-Wm Lewis Herndon

Aftermath

In the immediate aftermath of the sinking, the greatest attention was paid to the loss of life, which was described as "appalling" and as having "no parallel" among American navigation disasters. At the time of her sinking, ''Central America'' carried gold then valued at approximately (2021 value of $765 million, based on a gold price of $1,738.70 per

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 p ...

= $56,087 per kg). The valuation of the ship itself was substantially more than those lost in other disasters of the period, being $140,000 (). Commander William Lewis Herndon, a distinguished officer who had served during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

and explored the Amazon Valley, was captain of ''Central America'' and went down with his ship. Two US Navy ships were later named USS ''Herndon'' in his honor, as was the town of

Herndon, Virginia Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia, it is part of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In 2020, the population at the census was 24,655, which makes i ...

. Two years after the sinking, his daughter Ellen married Chester Alan Arthur, later the 21st President of the United States.

Wreck, gold, and artifacts

Thompson expedition

Discovery of wreck and recovery of gold and artifacts

The ship was located by the Columbus-America Discovery Group of Ohio, led by Tommy Gregory Thompson, using Bayesian search theory. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was sent down on September 11, 1988. Significant amounts of gold and artifacts were recovered and brought to the surface by another ROV built specifically for the recovery. The total value of the recovered gold was estimated at $100–150 million. A recovered gold ingot weighing sold for a record $8 million and was recognized as the most valuable piece of currency in the world at that time. The Columbus-America Discovery Group's eventual discovery of the wreckage may have been spurred on by initial interest by Harry John, an heir to the Miller Brewing Company fortune who, near the end of his life launched unsuccessful, haphazard treasure hunts funded by a supposedly charitable foundation he had run for decades.

Legal issues

Thirty-nine insurance companies filed suit, claiming that they had the right to it because they paid damages in the 19th century for the lost gold. The team that found it argued that the gold had been abandoned. After a legal battle, 92% of the gold was awarded to the discovery team in 1996. Thompson was sued in 2005 by several investors who had provided $12.5 million in financing and 2006 by several crew members over a lack of returns for their respective investments. In 2009, he had an off-shore account in the Cook Islands of $4.16 million (~$ in ).The Columbus Dispatch, November 30, 2018
/ref> Thompson went into hiding in 2012. A receiver was appointed to take over Thompson's companies and, if possible, salvage more gold from the wreck, in order to recover money for Thompson's various creditors. Thompson was located in January 2015, along with assistant Alison Antekeier, by

United States Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...

agents and was extradited to Ohio to provide an accounting of the expedition profits. In November 2018, Thompson agreed to surrender 500 gold coins but then claimed he had no access to the missing coins. On November 28, 2018, a jury awarded investors $19.4 million in compensatory damages: $3.2 million to the Dispatch Printing Company — which had put up $1 million of $22 million invested — and $16.2 million to the court-appointed receiver for the other investors.

Subsequent events

In March 2014, a contract was awarded to Odyssey Marine Exploration to conduct archeological recovery and conservation of the remaining shipwreck. The original expedition excavated only 5 percent of the ship, according to a court-appointed receiver. Universal Coin & Bullion, a precious metals dealer based in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

, exhibited gold and silver coins recovered from ''Central America'' in May 2018. Heritage Auctions sold several gold pieces recovered from the ''Central America'' at auction in 2019, highlighted by the considerable size of the 174.04-ounce (4.93 kg) Harris, Marchand & Co. gold ingot which sold for $528,000 (~$ in ). ''Central America''′s ship's bell — larger than most ship′s bells of its time at tall and a little over wide at its lower

flange A flange is a protruded ridge, lip or rim (wheel), rim, either external or internal, that serves to increase shear strength, strength (as the flange of a steel beam (structure), beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam); for easy attachment/transfer o ...

edge and embossed with "MORGAN IRON WORKS" and "NEW YORK 1853" — was discovered in her wreck in 1988. It was displayed publicly at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, in 1992; at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Liberty Township in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1993; and at the American Numismatic Association′s World′s Fair of Money in Rosemont,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in 2021. It was offered as a gift to the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, in August 2021, and the

United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary of War James McHenr ...

accepted the offer. It was positioned next to the Herndon Monument at the Academy and was dedicated in a ceremony on May 23, 2022.

References

External links

*
Final Voyage of the ''Central America'' by Normand E. Klare 1982 Second Edition

America's Lost Treasure: The Wreck of the SS ''Central America''

The Central America Engulphed (sic) in the Ocean"The Central America: Further of the Disaster", New York Times, 23 Sept 1857
*::– "Detailed and Very Interesting Statement of Captain Badger" and "Protest of the Surviving Officers"
NOAA list of deadliest hurricanes
* http://www.wncrocks.com/ARCTIC%20DISCOVERER.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Central America 1852 ships 1857 meteorology Maritime incidents in September 1857 1988 archaeological discoveries Merchant ships of the United States Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Treasure from shipwrecks California Gold Rush Paddle steamers of the United States