SS Bohemian (1859)

Bohemian
An 1864 woodcut image of the wreck
History
United Kingdom
NameBohemian
OwnerMontreal Ocean Steamship Company
Route
BuilderWilliam Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland
Yard number71
Launched8 February 1859
Sponsored byAlison L. Galbraith
Completed19 April 1859
IdentificationUK official number 27115
FateSunk on 22 February 1864 (162 years ago) (1864-02-22) in Casco Bay, Maine, U.S. at: 43°34′28″N 70°11′53″W / 43.57444°N 70.19806°W / 43.57444; -70.19806
General characteristics
TypeScrew steamer with auxiliary sails
Tonnage2,189 GRT, 1,489 NRT
Length294.3 feet (89.7 m)
Beam37.7 feet (11.5 m)
Draft20 feet (6.1 m)
Depth26.3 feet (8.0 m)
Decks3
Installed powerEngine No. 56: direct acting, inverted, 2 cylinder, 339 nominal hp (253 kW)
Propulsion1 screw
Sail planBarque
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) (est.)
Capacity450 passengers
Crew99
Notes218 passengers onboard final voyage

SS Bohemian  was a British barque-rigged steamship in service from 1859 to 1864. She is remembered for having sunk in Casco Bay on approach to Portland, Maine, after striking an underwater ledge on 22 February 1864. The ensuing loss of 42 lives places it atop the list of disasters in Maine by death toll.

Construction

The ship was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton, Scotland. She was launched on 8 February 1859, as reported in The Herald of Glasgow the following day. That report described her as being 2,200 gross tonnage, 300 feet (91 m) long, and outfitted with a 300 horsepower (220 kW) engine. Present-day reference sites give slightly different figures. A screw steamer, she was also outfitted with auxiliary sails as a barque. She was expected to have a passenger capacity of 450 when completed. Built for the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company (part of the Allan Line), she was the fourth such vessel launched at Dumbarton for the company in a 10-month span.

Service history

Bohemian began making transatlantic journeys by November 1859; she arrived in Portland, Maine, on the evening of 29 November, having left Liverpool, England, on the morning of 16 November. She subsequently departed Portland on 3 December (in place of the SS Indian, which had wrecked on 21 November) and arrived in Liverpool on 17 December. Bohemian was credited in several London newspapers for bringing news to England of the death of American abolitionist John Brown, who had been executed on 2 December in Virginia.

In late February 1860, Bohemian departed Portland with a schooner in tow, to be dropped off at Barrington, Nova Scotia; the schooner was being sent to visit the wreck site of the SS Hungarian, which had sunk on 19 February at Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia.

In early January 1862, a scheduled arrival of Bohemian in Portland was the subject of correspondence between William H. Seward, the Secretary of State, and Israel Washburn Jr., the Governor of Maine. In the context of the then-unresolved Trent Affair impacting UK–US relations, the question had arisen as to if Bohemian—with British troops onboard bound for Canada—would be allowed to land in Portland. Seward asserted that they would be allowed to land, a decision that he later explained in a detailed letter to Washburn.

On 15 December 1862, Bohemian rescued the crew of Marina, an English brig en route from Montreal to Scotland with grain as cargo, as she was sinking in the Atlantic Ocean at 55°N 17°W / 55°N 17°W / 55; -17.

Sinking

On 22 February 1864, Bohemian was approaching the Port of Portland, having departed Liverpool on 4 February; she was five days overdue. Due to hazy conditions, captain Robert Borland struggled to gauge the ship's location off Cape Elizabeth. At approximately 8:00 p.m., the ship struck an underwater ledge approximately two miles (3.2 km) southeast of Cape Elizabeth. The captain ordered the ship to proceed at full speed to reach shallow water, until flooding seawater extinguished the ship's boilers. She was within one-quarter mile (0.40 km) of shore when headway was lost off of Maxwell Point. The captain then had anchors dropped and gave the order to abandon ship.

During the launching of lifeboats, panic among passengers caused one lifeboat to become overloaded; it fell from the ship and was swamped, resulting in 16 drownings. Of the 218 passengers and 99 crew onboard, most were brought to land by lifeboats, but 70 to 80 were still on the ship when it sank at 10:30 p.m. in five fathoms (30 ft; 9.1 m) of water, leaving the deck slightly above the sea. Returning lifeboats brought the remaining survivors to shore shortly before midnight. Eventually, the death toll was determined to be 42.

In art

The 1939 mural Shipwreck at Night by Alzira Peirce depicts the wreck of the Bohemian—the mural is located inside a post office in South Portland, Maine.

Notes

  1. ↑ Some sources list Bohemian with a Royal Mail Ship (RMS) ship prefix.
  2. ↑ During the era that the ship was built, gross register tonnage (GRT) was in use; gross tonnage (GT) was defined in 1969 and came into force in 1982.
  3. ↑ The 1859 news report said "engines", but present-day reference sites indicate the ship had a single screw powered by a single engine.
  4. ↑ Apparently the SS Nova Scotian (launched March 1858; yard no. 68), SS North Briton (June 1858; yard no. 69), and SS Hungarian (September 1858; yard no. 70), which Bohemian (February 1859; yard no. 71) was "built after the model of".
  5. ↑ The location where John Brown was executed is now part of West Virginia.
  6. ↑ Maxwell Point is located at 43°34′20″N 70°11′59″W / 43.5721°N 70.1998°W.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bohemian, Allan Line". norwayheritage.com. Retrieved 19 April 2026. Allan Line sister steamships Nova Scotian - North Briton - Hungarian - Bohemian
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Dumbarton". The Herald. No. 6051. Glasgow, Scotland. 9 February 1859. p. 3. Retrieved 10 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Screw Steamer BOHEMIAN". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bohemian". Hunting New England Shipwrecks. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Loss of the Steamship Bohemian". The Times. No. 24816. London. 10 March 1864. p. 14. Retrieved 10 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 Sauter, Michael B.; Suneson, Grant; Harrington, John; Gedeon, Joseph (28 October 2017). "The Worst Tragedy in Every State". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 5 April 2026. Tragedy: RMS Bohemian Sinking | Date: February 22, 1864 | Total fatalities: 42
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Bachelder, Peter D. (7 May 1966). "Shipwrecks Of Casco Bay: 42 Persons Lost When Bohemian Hit Ledge At Cape In 1864". Evening Express. Portland, Maine. p. 16. Retrieved 5 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Graham, Gillian (18 February 2014). "Recalling a Maine shipwreck that time nearly forgot". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Wreck of the Bohemian, Cape Elizabeth, 1864". mainememory.net. Maine Historical Society. Retrieved 5 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "The Allan Line". norwayheritage.com. Retrieved 19 April 2026. S/S Bohemian 1859 William Denny & Co. 2,108 gross
  11. ↑ "Screw Steamer NOVA SCOTIAN". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  12. ↑ "Screw Steamer NORTH BRITON". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  13. ↑ "Screw Steamer HUNGARIAN". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  14. ↑ "For Liverpool". Eastern Argus. Portland, Maine. 3 December 1859. p. 2. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Arrival of the Steamship Bohemian at Portland!". The Bangor Daily Union. Bangor, Maine. 30 November 1859. p. 3. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Indian, Allan Line". norwayheritage.com. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "Latest Intelligence". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester, England. 14 December 2026. p. 3. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "The United States". The Daily News. No. 4242. London. 17 December 1859. p. 5. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "The United States". The Examiner. No. 2707. London. 17 December 1859. p. 9. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Sailing of the Steamer". Eastern Argus. Portland, Maine. 27 February 1860. p. 2. Retrieved 25 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "(untitled)". Lewiston Daily Evening Journal. Lewiston, Maine. 31 January 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 25 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "Permission of British Troops to pass through Maine". Eastern Argus. Portland, Maine. 1 February 1862. p. 2. Retrieved 25 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "Mercantile Ship News: Dec. 30". The Standard. London. 13 January 1863. p. 7. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Latest Intelligence". Stockport Advertiser. Stockport, England. 16 January 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "Shipping Intelligence: Wednesday, January 14". Liverpool Mercury. No. 4660. Liverpool, England. 16 January 1863. p. 10. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ Seymour, Tom (April 2020). "The Wreck of the Steamship Bohemian". Fishermen's Voice. Vol. 25, no. 4. Retrieved 5 April 2026 – via fishermensvoice.com.
  27. ↑ "Post Office Mural – South Portland ME". livingnewdeal.org. Retrieved 9 April 2026.