SS ''Elbe'' was a transatlantic
ocean liner
An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...
built in the
Govan Shipyard of John Elder & Company Ltd.,
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 ...
, in 1881 for the
Norddeutscher Lloyd of
Bremen. She foundered on the night of 30 January 1895 following a collision in the North Sea with the steamship ''Crathie'', resulting in the loss of 334 lives.
Construction and early history
The ''Elbe'' had a 3-cylinder compound engine which provided power to her single-screw propeller. She was a fast ship for her time. She was able to reach the speed of 15 knots, but small cargo capacity, along with her high consumption of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
, would soon make her uneconomical. She had a straight bow, two funnels and four masts.
She was launched on 2 April 1881, the first of a series of eleven express steamers known as the "Rivers Class", as they were all named after German rivers.
After sea trials she made her maiden voyage on 26 June 1881, leaving Bremen 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 ...
via
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
. The ''Elbe'' had accommodation for 179 First Class passengers, 142 in Second Class, and 796 in
Steerage. She was a very popular ship with immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and was virtually always sold out in steerage.
The ''Elbe'' spent most of the next ten years working the
North Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
service, but she also made three voyages to
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, two of which were in December 1889 and 1890.
Sinking
The night of 30 January 1895 was stormy. In the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, conditions were freezing and there were huge seas. SS ''Elbe'' had left
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser.
Brem ...
for New York earlier in the day with 354 passengers aboard. Also at sea on this rough night was the steamship ''Crathie'', sailing from
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, heading for
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
. As conditions grew worse, the ''Elbe'' discharged warning rockets to alert other ships to her presence. The ''Crathie'' either did not see the warning rockets or chose to ignore them. She did not alter her course, with such disastrous consequences, that she struck the liner on her port side with such force that whole compartments of the ''Elbe'' were immediately flooded. The collision happened at 5.30 am and most of the passengers were still asleep.
The ''Elbe'' began to sink immediately and the captain, von Goessel, gave the order to abandon ship. Amid great scenes of panic the crew managed to lower two of the ''Elbe''
's lifeboats. One of the lifeboats capsized as too many passengers tried in vain to squeeze into the boat. Twenty people scrambled into the second lifeboat, of whom 15 were members of the crew. The others were four male second-class passengers and a young lady's
maid by the name of Anna Boecker, who had been lucky enough to be pulled from the raging sea after the first boat had capsized. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ''Elbe'', Captain von Goessel had ordered all the women and children to assemble there but no other lifeboats were launched because the ropes on the
derrick
A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its Guy-wire, guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower ...
s were all frozen up, and so they perished along with the captain.
Within 20 minutes of the collision, the ''Elbe'' had sunk and the only survivors were the 20 people in the one surviving lifeboat. These people now had to endure mountainous seas and below-zero temperatures and they were 50 miles from land. Things looked bleak; the ''Elbe''
's distress rockets had not been seen by any passing vessels and so no one knew of their predicament. After five hours in the raging storm, their luck changed. A fishing
smack from
Lowestoft called the ''Wildflower'' found them. In desperate conditions the crew of the ''Wildflower'' struggled to pull the 20 survivors from the lifeboat, which had begun to break up. The skipper, William Wright, said later that the survivors would not have lasted another hour in those conditions, and believed that the only reason they had stayed alive for five hours was the expertise of the ''Elbe''
's crewmen aboard the lifeboat.
SS ''Crathie''
The ''Crathie'' was a steamer of about 475 tons gross and 272 net. She left Rotterdam with general cargo for Aberdeen on 29 January 1895 carrying just 12 hands. The ''Craithie'' was also badly damaged in the collision and returned to Rotterdam flying signals of distress. When later asked why they had not stayed on to help the ''Elbe'' and her passengers, the captain, Alexander Gordon, said that he feared that his ship would sink, and in any case he did not hear any cries for help coming from the liner. It appeared to him that the ''Elbe'' was steaming away from his position.
Miss Anna Boecker
Of the twenty who survived the sinking, only one was a female. Anna Boecker
Miss Boecker's evidence
New York Times, 27 February 1895 was a shy, quiet maid in the employment of an elderly lady, travelling with her employer to Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
. In the panic and confusion of the collision, she had been unable to save her employer. She joined the terrified crush of passengers lowered into the first lifeboat. When it capsized under the sheer weight of numbers, Anna ended up in the ocean. All the others from her lifeboat clambered back onto the sinking ship. Anna was alone in the treacherous sea until the survivors in the second lifeboat spotted her foundering in the water and pulled her up to safety.
Repercussions
The SS ''Elbe'' incident resulted in a court case which took place in Rotterdam in November 1895. The court found that the steamship ''Crathie'' was alone at fault for the collision. Amazingly the captain was merely censured for leaving the disaster, a verdict that astounded the maritime world at the time. The blame was put squarely on the first mate, who had left his post at the bridge at the critical time to chat in the galley
A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...
with other crew members, and therefore had failed in his job of operating the ship's warning lights. The captain, officers and sailors of the SS ''Elbe'' received no rebuke from the court either, which caused some concern amongst the German public. Each crew member of the fishing smack, ''Wildflower,'' were given, by Kaiser Wilhelm II, a silver and gold watch bearing his monogram and £5 as a gesture of thanks for saving the lives of the eighteen German citizens, an Austrian, and the English pilot. They also received other medals and gifts in the following years.
Wreck Discovery
In the early part of 1987, a group of Dutch amateur divers searched and located the wreck of the ''Elbe'' on the sea bed. They managed to salvage a small quantity of the glasswork and a quantity of porcelain as well as earthenware from the wreck site,
which enabled them to identify the wreck.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elbe
1881 ships
Ships built on the River Clyde
Ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd
Steamships of Germany
Rivers-class ocean liners
Maritime incidents in 1895
Shipwrecks in the North Sea
1881 in Scotland
1895 in England