SS City of Boston
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The SS ''City of Boston'' was a British iron-hulled single-screw passenger
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 ...
of the Inman Line which disappeared in the North Atlantic Ocean en route from
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
, to
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
in January 1870.


Description

The ''City of Boston'' was built by shipbuilders Tod & Macgregor of
Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to t ...
,
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and launched on 15 November 1864. Her maiden voyage, on 8 February 1865, was from Liverpool to New York via Queenstown.


History

On 5 November 1868, she rescued the passengers and crew of ''Wabeno'' or ''Wahens'', which had struck an
iceberg An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...
in the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and was sinking. According to
Henry Jenner (bishop) Henry Lascelles Jenner (6 June 182018 September 1898) was a nineteenth century Anglican bishop. Education and ministry Jenner was born in Chislehurst, West Kent educated at Harrow and Trinity Hall, Cambridge; and ordained deacon in 1843 and pri ...
, the ''City of Boston'' herself ran aground after leaving New York on 5 December 1868. The ''New York Herald'' refers to storms in New York on 5 November 1868, but makes no reference to a grounding


Disappearance

The ''City of Boston'' sailed from
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
for Liverpool on 28 January 1870 commanded by Captain Halcrow on her regular New York - Halifax - Liverpool route. She had 191 people on board: 55 cabin passengers, 52 steerage passengers and a crew of 84. (Other sources say 207 were aboard.) A number of the passengers were prominent businessmen and military officers from Halifax. She never reached her destination and no trace of her was ever found. A violent gale and snowstorm took place two days after her departure which may have contributed to her loss. Collision with an iceberg was another explanation suggested at the time. It was reported at the time that she had been seen off the coast of
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
on 25 February and had reported that both cylinders in her engine were broken. The barque ''Russell'' reported wreckage sunk south west by south of the Smalls Lighthouse, with just a steamship's funnel out of the water. It was thought that this was from ''City of Boston''. A piece of wood washed up at
Perranporth Perranporth ( kw, Porthperan) is a seaside resort town on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 1 mile east of the St Agnes Heritage Coastline, and around 8 miles south-west of Newquay. Perranporth and its long beach f ...
,
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
on 25 April with the inscription "City of Boston is sinking. February 11th". A
message in a bottle A message in a bottle (abbrev. MIB) is a form of communication in which a message is sealed in a container (typically a bottle) and released into a conveyance medium (typically a body of water). Messages in bottles have been used to send distres ...
washed up at Cranstock, Cornwall in November 1870. The bottle had evidently been in the water for many months. The message claimed ''City of Boston'' had been in collision with another vessel and was sinking. A message was found in a stone bottle at
Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...
on May 6, dated February 4, stating that the ship was on fire and the propellers broken. The signers were not listed as either crew or passengers. Another letter was found in a bottle on April 19 at Princes Bay, Staten Island, dated March 2, stating that the engine room had caught fire and that the ship was swamped while trying to launch the lifeboat. The letter was signed with the probable name of one of the steerage passengers. A statement was also published in the ''Times'', that when she left, she was overladen, by 18 to 20 inches. ''City of Boston'' had been fitted with a two-blade propeller to replace her original three-blade propeller which had been broken during her previous voyage, and Captain Brooks of the SS ''City of Brooklyn'' expressed the opinion that the new propeller would not be strong enough to let her make headway against the adverse weather. In 1875, speculation emerged that a time bomb connected to an insurance fraud have been responsible for the ship's loss. A bomb exploded in a barrel being loaded onto a ship in Bremerhaven that year and killed 80 people. The bomb was planted by ''
Alexander Keith, Jr. Alexander Keith Jr. (1827 – 1875), known as William King Thomas, was an American Civil War spy for the Confederate States of America. He used a time bomb to attempt to destroy the ship ''Mosel'' for insurance fraud. Biography Keith was born ...
'', originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia (the ''City of Bostons last port of call.) However no evidence emerged to connect Keith with the loss of the SS ''City of Boston''.


Sargasso Sea Wreckage Theory

Around the year 1900, Elisha Thompson signed up as a cabin boy on the cargo vessel the '' J. G. Norwood''. Three weeks after leaving port at Galveston, Texas, the ship ran headlong into a severe storm. Almost the whole crew was washed overboard by a massive wave. When the storm blew over, by a miracle the ''J.G. Norwood'' remained afloat but dismasted, leaving Thompson the only survivor on board. The ship drifted for days until it got entangled with the floating seaweed of the
Sargasso Sea The Sargasso Sea () is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre. Unlike all other regions called seas, it has no land boundaries. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its charac ...
. It was here that Thompson saw the floating wrecks of other ships, among them the SS ''City of Boston''. Thompson eventually managed to escape from the Sargasso Sea by fitting out a still intact lifeboat and rigging it with a small sail. He was rescued three weeks later by a steamer heading for
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England, where he wrote down his adventure while recuperating. The Lookout Magazine: Seamen's Church Institute of New York; 8th October 1972 Issue; Article titled "Sea of No Return" by Captain Walt Jaffee


See also

*
List of shipwrecks This is an index of lists of shipwrecks, sorted by different criteria. By location * List of shipwrecks of Africa * List of shipwrecks of Asia * List of shipwrecks of Europe ** List of shipwrecks of France ** List of shipwrecks of the Unit ...
*
List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll The following list of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland is a list of major disasters (excluding acts of war) which relate to the United Kingdom or Ireland, or to the states that preceded them, or that involved their citizens, in a definable ...


References

* *


Sources

* Ann Larabee ''The Dynamite Fiend: The Chilling Tale of A Confederate Spy, Con Artist, and Mass Murderer'' (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), illus. p. 106, 144, 167, 177, 182. . {{DEFAULTSORT:City of Boston Missing ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Shipwrecks of the Nova Scotia coast 1864 ships Maritime incidents in January 1870 Ships lost with all hands