the new york
Key Facts
Captain: McKennon
Ship type: Passenger Liner
Built: 1844 in New York, New York
Cargo: 524 tons of tobacco, flour
Crew: 27
Passengers: 301
Departure: Liverpool, England
Destination: New York, New York
The Tale
Friday, December 19, 1856
You are a member of the 27-man crew of the New York. The ship is approaching the tail end of its voyage to New York City. However, much of the crew has been uneasy with talks of mutiny and as a visible storm is approaching. As the storm nears, the mutiny talks escalate and you hear that Captain McKennon has been stabbed in his quarters! By the time you come across Captain McKennon fighting for his life in the cabin, the storm is already starting to rage and you have no time except to hurry back to man your post.
Saturday, December 20, 1856
After a long, cold night battling the storm and attempting to keep the ship on course, the crew no longer has control of the ship, and you can only watch in horror as the storm slowly pushes the New York towards the rocky coast. By this time Captain McKennon has succumbed to his stab wound, leaving the crew leaderless as the New York approaches the coast.
The New York ultimately crashes and wrecks upon the perilous rocks. The crew works together, tired and cold after a long night, to ensure the 300 passengers make it down to the beach safely.
The task is not easy. The ship has wrecked against the rocks and is constantly being battered by waves. Every person escaping the stranded ship get soaked in the process. In the process, a pair of your crew members and several passengers are battered against the rocks. They do not make it.
The survivors who manage to escape the skip are ushered to the beach. Unfortunately, there is no shelter, food, or dry wood in sight. The storm continues to rage as the crew and passengers battle the cold and freezing rains.
Sunday, December 21, 1856
It is day 2 of attempting to survive on the New Jersey coast. Food and water rations that were salvaged from the wreckage of the New York have been carefully distributed to the survivors.
You and the crew have no idea when help will arrive. Ultimately, you are unsure of your exact location and do not want to venture out without any idea where the closest help will be. The crew decides to sit put and hold out as long as possible.
Monday, December 22, 1856
Day 3 comes and conditions have worsened. Salvaged water supplies ran out late last night, and the survivors are just down to a few rations of bread for the morning.
By this point, a large number of the passengers and many members of the crew succumbed to hypothermia and pneumonia.
The crew and passengers huddle together and do their best to cling to life. More survivors succumb to death from the severe cold and hunger over the course of the day.
As the sun is beginning to set, a crew member at the edge of the shoddy makeshift encampment sees an approaching ship from around the inlet. Rejoicing from the terrible occurrences of the last three days, the remaining survivors prepare to be rescued!
Newspaper Report
the hylton castle.
Key Facts
Captain: Colvin
Ship type: Freighter Steam
Length: 251 ft
Beam: 32.2 ft
Built: 1871 in Sunderland, England
Cargo: 1400 tons of corn
Crew: 22
Departure: New York, NY
Destination: Rouen, France
The Journey
Congratulations! You have joined the crew of the Hylton Castle! The narrative below recounts the journey of the Hylton Castle from New York, NY to Rouen France. To provide an immersive and educational experience as to what the journey and outcome was for this particular shipwreck, this narrative will be told from your perspective as one of the 22 members of the crew.
Hylton Castle Route
As seen from the narrative above, the Hylton Castle was projected to sail from New York, New York to Rouen, France with nearly $30,000 worth of corn. Her projected route is seen in the video below in green. Unfortunately, due to the infamous January 1886 blizzard that impacted the Southern and Eastern United States, the Hylton Castle was unable to make it beyond the New Jersey Shore, merely days into her projected journey. The location in which the Hylton Castle was lost is seen in red. Aboard the ship, crew members became frostbitten and were forced to work together under the leadership of their Captain and First Mate in order to make it to the Fire Island Life-Saving Service Station. The crew would not have survived this extreme storm and ship leaking without help from the New York Life-Saving Service.
This map was created by using Palladio and coordinates from our Shipwreck Database.
Newspaper Reports
The narrative of the Hylton Castle was constructed after intensive primary research to find stories told from the perspective of the crew or others at the time so that we could gain a better understanding of what events occurred and why. Three sources utilized were 1886 newspaper articles from the Te Aroha News, The New York Times, and the Atlanta Constitution. The first article recounts the events up until the first half of the Hylton Castle crew was rescued. The second article details the events afterward up until Captain Colvin's boat was rescued. This article also provided further information about the men aboard the ship and a reason why the Hylton Castle was doomed from the start due to her overload of corn. The third article recounts the terrible January 1886 blizzard that swept through the United States and several other shipwrecks and nuances it caused, including the shipwreck of the Hylton Castle.
These accounts provide insight to crewmember narratives aboard the Hylton Castle and how crew comradery, leadership, and the Life-Saving Service ultimately helped them overcome disaster. These articles also help provide insight as to how the blizzard of 1886 may have contributed to the large spike in shipwrecks during 1886. Last and most importantly, the survival story of the Hylton Castle crew leads us to understand how the Life-Saving Service played a large role in saving people and preserving many narratives about various shipwrecks during our research period of 1850-1900.
See the other ship narratives to learn how they fared against other common causes for shipwrecks during 1850-1900s then navigate to our final insights.
the vizcaya
Key Facts
Captain: Francisco Cunill
Ship type: Steam/sail passenger liner
Built: 1872 in London, England
Cargo: Merchandise, Personal
Crew: 16
Passengers: 77
Departure: New York, New York
Destination: Havana, Cuba
& cornelius hargrave
Key Facts
Captain: Allen
Ship type: 4-mast Schooner
Built: 1889 in Camden, ME
Cargo: 2000 Tons of Coal
Crew: 10
Passengers: 0
Departure: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Destination: Fall River, Massachusetts
A Maritime Tragedy
Aside from weather difficulties and structural compromise, many shipwrecks were caused by direct collision between two ships. This narrative will explore the many perspectives and angles surrounding the collision of the American schooner Cornelius Hargrave and the Spanish passenger steam liner Vizcaya. Seventy-four of the ninety-three souls aboard the Vizcaya are believed to have been drowned, while all ten of the crew aboard the Hargrave were saved.
A Tale of Two Ships
October 30, 1890, 7:00 PM
It is a clear night on the Atlantic. As second mate Walker, you are in charge of the deck when cross about an eighth of a mile away, you spot a steamer showing a green light of the port side of your bow. It is the Vizcaya, the pride of the Compania Transatlantica Espanola; its luxury deck and its marble ornamented saloons and parlors dressed to accommodate first-, second-, and third- class passengers. You call out the ship to the rest of the crew.
Captain Allen and first mate Henry Perring appear from their quarters. Allen, upon first sight of the scene exclaims, “What the devil does that mean?” Under the rules of navigation, the green light you see means that your ship the Cornelius Hargrave should stay their course… (but without getting into a collision). The bewildered Captain turns to you and asks, “Have you shown him a torch?,” ordering you to go forward and make a flare. The steamer does not catch on, but Captain Allen is confident in his position that we have the right of way so cannot be blamed should anything bad happen. Moments go by until it's a complete hour later and the steamer doesn't seem to be responding and is staying its course. He starts to shout at the steamer’s bridge “Hard a-starboard. Put your helm hard a-starboard."
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October 30, 1890, 8:00 PM
Now assume the role of second officer Francisco Covas aboard on the Vizcaya. You have just finished dinner and are below deck talking the purser. Your captain the well-tenured and respected Francisco Cunill a former of officer of the Spanish Naval Reserve is in the smoking room chit-chatting with passengers while Third Officer Francisco Morillas is on the bridge. Time is slipping away when suddenly the piercing scream of a whistle blow and the engine room bell that signals reverse engines goes off.
You and the rest of the officers rush to the deck. Captain Cunill ascends the bridge and takes command, but it appears he won’t be able to change the order of the ship’s fate. As you rush to the deck, you see the white sails of a large schooner take its path towards you. Its bow pointed directly towards the middle of your starboard side.
October 30, 1890, 7:30 PM
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The schooner’s bowspirit makes first contact head on, ripping away the rigging and deckhouses. The crash of the metal and timbers along with the shrieks of horror from passengers creates a atrocious soup of sound. The wreckage starts to separate and you realize that your ship is basically almost cut in half. The schooner carries away a portion of the rigging and the bridge upon which the captain was standing. The bridge is ripped clean from the ship, and the schooner, freeing itself, carries the debris, Captain Cunill, and Third Officer Morillas into the sea.
October 30, 1890, 7:40 PM
Chief Engineer comes up from the engine room and announces that everything below is gone and the hull is flooding rapidly. You quickly make your way to the stern of the ship. Taking one last look you see that the ship is going down in a matter of seconds before you fling yourself into the sea. You are one of the few to make it onto one of the masts from the schooner, now sunk, that are afloat. For 12 cold, long hours, you cling on for dear life until another ship, the Humboldt, stumbles upon the site the next morning. You make it to the US mainland along with the schooner's crew who had managed to get a lifeboat down in time. Your stories to the media are conflicting. Four of the closest life saving stations on the coast are notified of the wreck and begin to look for any remaining survivors.
The Aftermath
The external circumstances in which this collision occurred weren't harsh or difficult as with the other shipwrecks listed prior. So, why did this happen? Many can boil this down to simple human error and miscommunication. It can be incredibly reductive to claim this, but accidents happen on the road in modern times for a number of human reasons. So, what makes us think 19th century maritime travel on the Atlantic would be immune to such things as recklessness, assumptions, and grave miscalculations. One could put blame on either side. However, the main point of many analyzing this was that Allen saw the Vizcaya far before they collided but chose to stay his course assuming he had the right of way as a sailing ship, which he did. But relied so much so on this tenet that the result ended in complete disaster. The rule that he so much relied on also has ties to technological innovation. With the rise of steam ships and industry, these new ships were introduced into the ocean playground so rules had to be constructed in order to assure smooth engagements. The problem might be when these rules are taken too firmly with conviction that common sense goes out of the window.
What was it like?
How do you think you would feel as the survivor of a shipwreck? Below is a possible response to a newspaper interview you gave after returning back to the New Jersey coast when the Life-Saving Service found you in the middle of the sea.
"I was lucky enough to be one of the 10 men saved after my ship, the Cornelius Hargrave, unexpectedly collided with the Vizcaya last Thursday. I was so excited to be going back to New York, but now, I am just so happy to be alive. Thank goodness for the Life-Saving Service, because without them, I would not be here right now. I am one of the lucky ones - I mourn the others lost from my ship, and those lost on the Vizcaya, and my prayers go out to their families.
You, a crew member aboard the Cornelius Hargrave
New York Times Report
See the other ship narratives to learn how they fared against other common causes for shipwrecks during 1850-1900s then navigate to our final insights.
insights
Map of known shipwreck locations
Shipwrecks were a common occurrence along the Jersey shore. The stories of the New York, Hylton Castle, and the collision of the Cornelius Hargrave and the Vizcaya demonstrate how dangerous maritime conditions were between 1850 and 1900. As the majority of ships sailing during this time period were schooners, which use the wind as their source of power, the elements typically determined whether a voyage would be safe or not.
The stories presented here are not unique - many ships were stranded or collided with one another, and inclement weather, like storms and fog, also resulted in a high number of shipwrecks. Due to the volatile nature of voyages during this time period, the Life-Saving Service, started in 1878, made a major impact on the maritime landscape. Not only were more people saved as a result of this service, but shipwrecks were more carefully documented as well, contributing to the wealth of shipwreck data during this period. The lives saved due to the Life Saving Service in the Hylton Castle and Cornelius Hargrave/Vizcaya wrecks and others like them allowed for the stories of these shipwrecks to be told.
about the life-saving service
The Life-Saving Service was very important for those aboard the Hylton Castle, Cornelius Hargrave, and Vizcaya. Had the Life-Saving Service existed during the time of the New York, perhaps their outcome would have been very different. A high number of disastrous shipwrecks throughout the 19th century resulted in the creation of the Life-Saving Service, which would save many lives over the course of its existence.
Watch this short video to learn more about the importance of the Life-Saving Service.
Life-Saving Service members performing a capsizing drill
Life as a member of the Life-Saving Service was not easy. The “surfmen” of the Life-Saving Service were stationed at 40 different locations along the New Jersey coast, and were held to high standards. Their job required quick thinking in emergency situations, and those that were not up to the task were promptly removed. Surfmen were responsible for daily tower watches and nightly beach patrols, as well as drills to ensure that their skills were at the highest level. One such drill was a capsizing drill, where surfmen would purposefully flip the boat, then flip it back the correct way and return to their seat in the boat as quickly as possible. The quickest reported time for such a drill was 13 seconds (US Life-Saving Service Heritage Association).
Cirrus word cloud visualization created in Voyant Tools
Word Trend visualization created in Voyant Tools
Members of the Life-Saving Service documented their work annually in a report to the government. The above visualizations show the most common words found in these yearly reports. Evidently, rescue missions for schooner wrecks, the most common vessels to wreck during this period (see how many schooners wrecked here), were well-documented in these reports. Reports also revolved around the actions of the crew and their station, indicated by the high number of times those terms were used. These archived reports give people today more insight into shipwrecks during this time, and how hard surfmen worked to ensure that they saved as many people as possible.
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As iron hulled, steam-powered ships replaced wooden, sail-powered vessels like schooners, the need for the Life-Saving Service diminished. This technological change contributed to the decline in shipwrecks at the end of the 19th century. In 1915, the Life-Saving Service morphed into the US Coast Guard that still exists today.
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