SS Elbe

SS "Elbe" was built in the Govan Shipyard of John Elder & Company., Ltd, Glasgow, in 1881 for the Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen [ [http://users.pandora.be/tree/wreck/wreck-database/detail_query.html?filter=731 A description of the ship and incident by Jan Lettens 06/08/2007] ] . The "Elbe" had double-expansion engines which provided power to her single-screw propeller. She was a fast ship for her time being able to reach the speed of 16 knots, but small cargo capacity, along with her high consumption of coal, would soon make her uneconomical. She had a straight bow, two funnels and four masts [ [http://www.genemaas.net/ships.htm#SS%20Elbe Ship's description] ] . She was launched on 2 April 1881. After sea trials she made her maiden voyage on 26 June 1881, leaving Bremen for New York via Southampton. The "Elbe" had accommodation consisting of 179 first-class passengers, 142 in second class, and 796 in steerage. She was a very popular ship with immigrants from Europe to the United States and was virtually always sold out in steerage. The "Elbe" spent most of the next ten years working the North Atlantic service but she also made three voyages to Adelaide in Australia, two of which were in December of 1889 and 1890.

Disaster in the North Sea

The night of 30 January 1895 was stormy [ [http://www.senseofplacesuffolk.co.uk/learning_resources/det_ss_elbe.pdf Description of the disaster from Suffolk County Council] ] . In the North Sea conditions were freezing and there were huge seas. SS "Elbe" had left Bremerhaven for New York earlier in the day with 354 passengers aboard. Also out at sea on this rough night was the steamship "Crathie", sailing from Aberdeen in Scotland, heading for Rotterdam. As conditions grew worse the "Elbe" discharged warning rockets to alert other ships of 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. called the "Wildflower" found them. In desperate conditions the brave crew of the "Wildflower" struggled to pull the twenty distressed survivors from the lifeboat which had begun to break up. The skipper of the "Wildflower", 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 due to the expertise of the "Elbe"'s crewman aboard the lifeboat.

teamship Crathie

The "Crathie" had also been badly damaged in the collision but, astonishingly, and to the great shame of the captain and its crew, she carried on with her voyage to Rotterdam. When later asked why they had not stayed on to help the "Elbe" and her passengers, the captain 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 [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9805E1DF1039E033A25752C0A9639C94649ED7CF&oref=slogin] New York Times report May 1, 1895] .

Miss Anna Boecker

Of the twenty who survived the sinking, only one was a female. Anna Boecker [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E0DE4D6123DE433A25754C2A9649C94649ED7CF Miss Boecker's evidence] , New York Times, February 27, 1895] , was a shy, quiet maid in the employment of an elderly Lady, and they were traveling together to Southampton. In the panic and confusion of the collision she had been unable to save her Lady 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 of 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 floundering 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 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. The brave crew of the fishing smack "Wildflower" each 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 twenty German citizens. They also received other medals and gifts in the following years.

1993

In the early part of 1993, a group of Dutch amateur divers searched and located the wreck of the "Elbe" on the sea bed. They managed to salvage a large quantity of the glasswork and tea sets from the wreck site. [5]

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