2-913-859 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"The Arctic" Steam-Ship, 1854. Two ships collide in poor visibility. '...the Arctic steam-ship, on her passage from Liverpool to New York, while running in a very thick fog, was struck on the starboard bow...by an iron steamer which made three large holes in the ship...So dense was the fog that the vessel could not be seen a minute before the collision...a steamer was very indistinctly seen...which turned out to be the Vesta...the wife, daughter, and son of Mr. E. K. Collins, with several ladies, were put on board a boat - in the act of lowering which one of the tackle gave way, and all, except one lady, who clung to a sailor holding fast to the boat, were precipitated into the sea and lost...I asked the Captain what his intentions were, who replied that the ship's fate should be his. I then asked him if he would not allow his son to go with me...but he returned me the answer that he should share his fate'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.