Name SS Canadian Port of registry London, United Kingdom Yard number 21 Length 87 m | Owner Allan Line S. S. Co. Builder Robert Steele & Co. Completed 1860 Beam 10 m | |
SSCanadian was a British Passenger ship which struck an iceberg and sank in the Straits of Belle Isle 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) north of Cape Bauld (51°30′N 55°30′W) while she was travelling from Quebec, Canada to Liverpool, United Kingdom.
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Construction
SS Canadian was constructed in 1860 at the Robert Steele & Co. shipyard in Greenock, United Kingdom. She was completed in 1860 and named Canadian, she sailed for Allan Line from 1860 until her demise in 1861. The ship was 86.9 metres (285 ft 1 in) long, with a beam of 10.4 metres (34 ft 1 in) and was assessed at 1.926 GRT. She had one 2 cyl. Compound engine driving a single screw propeller.
Sinking
On 4 June 1861, SS Canadian sailed from Quebec, Canada to Liverpool, United Kingdom with 60 crew and 241 passengers on board under the command of Captain Graham.
When the Canadian sailed through the Straits of Belle Isle, ice and thick weather started to form and the captain ordered to slow the ship down to 5 knots while passing through the ice. At 11:50 AM the Canadian struck an iceberg which was largely hidden underwater, the collision fatally damaged the ship and the ships 3 compartments were flooding quickly. Since the collision was at such a low speed and most passengers were preparing for lunch, nobody really noticed anything was wrong until passengers noticed that the crew in order of the captain were preparing the lifeboats to be lowered. Since the ship was sinking quickly, the crew needed to work very fast in order to evacuate everyone. Every lifeboat was lowered safely except lifeboat number 8 which capsized when being lowered killing at least 30 people. The ship sank beneath the freezing ice filled waters a half hour after striking the iceberg. Some passengers and crew didn't make it into a lifeboat and went down with the ship, in total 35 people perished in the disaster. Amongst those who perished was mail officer James Panton, he is considered to be one of the heroes during the sinking. He managed to guide many people to the lifeboats and even saved some of his mail bags. He also gave up his seat in a lifeboat for a female passenger, Mr. Panton was last seen hanging by a rope over the side of the ship as he went down with her. The 266 survivors were soon picked up by 4 French fishing vessels and taken to Quirpon Bay.
Wreck
Canadian sank 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) north of Cape Bauld, Canada (51°30′N 55°30′W).