Commonwealth was a large sidewheel steamboat

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 built in 1854–55 for passenger service on Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...

. The most celebrated Sound steamer of her day, Commonwealth was especially noted for the elegance and comfort of her passenger accommodations, which included gas lighting, steam heating, and an "enchantingly beautiful" domed roof in her upper saloon. Her stability of motion led her captain to describe Commonwealth as the finest rough weather steamboat ever built in the United States.

Commonwealth would spend her entire career on Long Island Sound routes, first from New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to Allyn's Point

Allyn's Point

Allyn's Point is a location on the Thames River in Ledyard, Connecticut, United States. It was the southern terminal of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad from 1843 to 1899, and briefly hosted a steamboat connection with the Long Island Rail Road. The Thames River frequently froze on its northern...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 under the management of the Norwich and New London Steamboat Company, and later to Stonington

Stonington, Connecticut

The Town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut, in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, Wequetequock, the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic and Old Mystic...

 and Groton

Groton, Connecticut

Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....

 with the New Jersey Steam Navigation and the Merchants' Steamship companies. During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, she was part of the transport network that moved northern state Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 regiments to the battlefront. Commonwealths end came prematurely when she was destroyed by a dockyard fire at Groton in December 1865.

Construction and design

Commonwealth was built by Lawrence & Foulks

Lawrence & Foulks

Lawrence & Foulks was a 19th-century American shipbuilding company based in New York. Established in the early 1850s, the company built 144 vessels of all types over the course of some fifty years, but is best known for its production of high-speed wooden-hulled steamboats and steamships...

 at Williamsburg

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 for the Norwich and New London Steamboat Company, which ran a steamboat line between New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. About eighteeen months in construction, she was completed in March 1855.

Dimensions and hull design

Commonwealth had an overall length of 330 feet (100 metres), with a length on deck of 316 feet and 300 feet along the load line, making her one of the largest steamboats on the sound. She had a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 42 feet—77 feet over the guards—a hold depth of 13 feet 6 inches and a gross register tonnage

Gross Register Tonnage

Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...

 of 1,732 tons. For a vessel of her size and tonnage, she drew a surprisingly light draft of scarcely more than 8 feet in running trim.

Commonwealths hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 design was considered to be exceptional—"worthy of examination by all professional architects." The hull was flat-bottomed with an external keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

, and the bow

Bow (ship)

The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...

 sharply angled. The midship section was duplicated for 56 feet fore and aft—an original feature in steamboat design—and the broad beam was considered an aid to stability. Like all large American wooden-hulled

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 steamboats of the era, the hull was supported by heavy hog frames and iron tie-rods suspended from king post

King post

A king post is a central vertical supporting post used in architectural, bridge, or aircraft design applications.-Architecture:...

s to prevent excessive hogging, but in Commonwealths case it was also strengthened with diagonal iron braces "after the manner of fastening the first-class sea-going steamships", and constructed throughout "with great reference to strength and safety."

Overall, the hull was deemed to provide "adequate stability, ease of motion, and every other good sea quality." This assessment would be borne out in practice: Commonwealths longstanding captain, Jerome W. Williams, would later describe the vessel as "the finest boat for rough water ever built" in the United States.

Machinery

Commonwealth was powered by a 1,200 horsepower

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

, 19 rpm single cylinder

Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...

 vertical beam steam engine

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

, with 76-inch bore, 12-foot stroke and Stevens cut-off

Cutoff (steam engine)

In a steam engine, cutoff is the point in the piston stroke at which the inlet valve is closed. On a steam locomotive, the cutoff is controlled by the reverser....

 set at 7 feet, built by the Morgan Iron Works

Morgan iron works

The Morgan Iron Works was a 19th century manufacturing plant for marine steam engines located in New York City, United States. Originally founded as T. F...

 of New York. The engine was fitted with a safety device, designed by Erastus W. Smith, which uncoupled the eccentric

Eccentric (mechanism)

In mechanical engineering, an eccentric is a circular disk solidly fixed to a rotating axle with its centre offset from that of the axle ....

 in the event of the piston moving further than its prescribed limit, to prevent further damage in the event of a component failure.

Steam, at an average pressure of 30 psi

Pounds per square inch

The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...

 (max. 40) was supplied by a pair of 38-foot by 13-foot-6-inch cylindrical iron return-flue boilers, placed on the guards forward of the paddlewheels. The boiler furnaces, six in total, were fitted with blower engines and used anthracite coal

Anthracite coal

Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster...

 for fuel, about 30 tons of which could be stored in the ship's coal bunkers. The paddlewheels were 38 feet in diameter and each fitted with 28 10-foot 6-inch paddles, with a dip of 32 inches—40 inches when the vessel was fully loaded. While Commonwealths speed is not recorded, it is said to have been unexceptional.

Passenger accommodations

Commonwealth was noted for the excellence of her passenger accommodations, designed by architect Alexander Hawkins. One feature in particular—the domed upper roof—drew praise, including that of a correspondent for The New York Times:
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One of the most noticeable and praiseworthy [features] ... is a semicircular roof to the upper saloon, which gives an air of spaciousness, elegance and comfort that is as novel as it is cheering. This arched roof extends nearly the entire length of the boat, and the prospect through the long corridor is enchantingly beautiful; the arched roof sits so gracefully on its supports, and its ribs are so light, that it seems self-sustained, like the blue arch above our heads. It is painted with exquisite taste a pure white, for any attempt at ornamentation would mar its graceful and beautiful proportions; and gilding and gingerbread work are used with a sparing and chastened hand in all parts of this splendid vessel.

The saloon deck also featured an after cabin fitted with thirty large sofas, allowing passengers to "sit and enjoy the magnificent prospect of the evening passage on the Sound with comfort."

Below the saloon deck, in the upper hull, was the main passenger deck, with 120 staterooms, fitted with two beds each, and a number of bridal suites. The staterooms were large, well-ventilated, and designed with "Oriental elegance", incorporating materials such as satin

Satin

Satin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibres such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is...

 damask

Damask

Damask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...

, moquette

Moquette

Moquette is type of fabric with a thick, dense pile. It is a particularly versatile and hard-wearing material, predominantly wool with a small percentage of polyester. Moquette is renowned for its attractive, hard-wearing, durable, and fire-resistant qualities, hence it is commonly used for...

, lace

Lace

Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...

, velvet

Velvet

Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed,with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel.The word 'velvety' is used as an adjective to mean -"smooth like velvet".-Composition:...

 tapestry, and rosewood

Rosewood

Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. All rosewoods are strong and heavy, taking an excellent polish, being suitable for guitars, marimbas, turnery , handles, furniture, luxury flooring, etc.In general,...

 furniture. Also on this deck, abaft of the engine room, was "a spacious and splendid ladies' cabin, unsurpassed in style and finish."

Below the main passenger deck was a third deck, containing more cabin space aft and a dining saloon forward. The three decks were linked by staircases forward and aft, with a main staircase amidships with double flights and double entrances which ran from the lower cabin to the upper saloon, described as a particularly fine piece of workmanship.

A number of firms were subcontracted for the specialty work: McGrath & Allendorph and M. H. C. Glensman for the cabinet work; Reed, Tice & Hamilton for the joinery; A. T. Stuart & Co. for the upholstery; Haughwout & Co. for the chandelier

Chandelier

A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...

s; and Storrs Brothers for the plated ware. Furniture for the vessel, constructed of rosewood, was designed specifically for the ship. The tableware was of white China and heavy plated silverware. The servants designed their own livery: black pants, white vests and jackets, and blue velvet caps with silver trimming and the letters "C. W." in beadwork at the front.

Safety features and communications

In addition to passenger comfort, the designers of Commonwealth also paid considerable attention to safety. Commonwealth was furnished with eight lifeboats, 600 life-preservers—enough for every passenger aboard—and 155 life-preserving seats. A large number of water pumps, operable either by machine or hand, were installed, each fitted with "a great length of hose" ready for use; also a number of "steam fire annihilators". Even the staterooms themselves were arranged in such a way as to permit rapid access to the main deck in case of emergency.

To communicate with passengers and crew, a speaking trumpet was fitted to the rooms of the captain and pilot, just aft of the wheelhouse

Wheelhouse

Wheelhouse or Wheel-house may refer to a number of topicsIn nautical context*The location of the steering wheel of a boat or ship**Bridge **Pilothouse...

. The trumpet could also be utilized as a whistle to the forecastle

Forecastle

Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...

. Additionally, the captain was able to communicate with crew members via a set of twelve bells located in different parts of the ship.

Officers

Having spent a considerable sum on the boat, the proprietors of Commonwealth were careful to ensure that their investment was placed in competent hands. Their choice of skipper for the vessel was Captain Jerome W. Williams, a seaman with almost 25 years of navigational experience on Long Island Sound, and known for his "cool, clear head and good judgement". Williams would remain Commonwealths captain for the whole of her career, through all her changes of ownership, and is said to have developed a great fondness for the vessel. Commonwealths chief engineer was Samuel Carter, another man with at least 20 years' experience. Both officers were said to enjoy "the very highest reputation" in their respective fields.

1855–1860

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Commonwealth embarked on her trial trip, testing her engine for the first time, on March 20, 1855. She was then placed by her proprietors, the Norwich & New London Steamboat Company, on the route from New York to Allyn's Point

Allyn's Point

Allyn's Point is a location on the Thames River in Ledyard, Connecticut, United States. It was the southern terminal of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad from 1843 to 1899, and briefly hosted a steamboat connection with the Long Island Rail Road. The Thames River frequently froze on its northern...

, Connecticut, the latter being the terminus of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad

New York and New England Railroad

The New York and New England Railroad was a major railroad connecting southern New York state with Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed by...

, which ran a connecting service to Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 via Norwich

Norwich, Connecticut

Regular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a shipping center through the early part of the 20th century. During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments, and specialty item manufacturing...

, Connecticut and Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

. For Commonwealths debut, the Railroad itself introduced a number of "splendid new sixteen wheel" railway carriages as a means of increasing the attraction of the service. The Railroad also assigned a train specifically to the steamer, ready to leave the moment Commonwealth arrived with her freight and passengers.

Commonwealth made her maiden voyage to Allyn's Point on Thursday, April 5, 1855. She would thereafter maintain a regular scheduled service on this route, departing from the foot of Cortlandt Street, New York at 4pm every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, alternating with her stablemate Connecticut which departed at the same time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This schedule, excepting accidents, maintenance and poor weather, appears to have persisted until the sale of Commonwealth in 1860.

On the night of September 3, 1855, Commonwealth broke her starboard crankshaft

Crankshaft

The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...

 in stormy weather, and was taken in tow by the rival steamer Metropolis of the Fall River Line

Fall River Line

The Fall River Line was a combination steamboat and railroad connection between New York City and Boston that operated between 1847 and 1937. It consisted of a railroad journey between Boston and Fall River, Massachusetts, where passengers would then board steamboats for the journey through...

, the two vessels arriving in port about 8:00am, or about two hours behind schedule for Metropolis. A new crankshaft was manufactured and fitted to Commonwealth in the "remarkably short time" of ten days, and she resumed service on or about the 18th.

In October and November 1855, the essayist Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...

 made a couple of voyages aboard Commonwealth to New York City. Of the second, Thoreau remarked that while the weather was "so windy inland", the vessel had "a perfectly smooth passage" and himself "about as good a sleep as usually at home." In June 1857, a woman reportedly fell overboard from Commonwealth at the New London wharf, and could not be extricated from the water for half an hour, during which time the buoyancy of her hoop dress was said to have saved her from drowning. In August 1858, Commonwealth suffered a collision with the schooner Sea Lark, but only minor damage was done to either vessel.

In early 1859, the Norwich & New London Steamboat Company attempted to negotiate a larger share of the proceeds with their partner, the Norwich & Worcester Railroad. With the failure of these negotiations, the Steamboat Company announced its intention to replace Commonwealth with an inferior vessel on the expiration of their existing contract. Commonwealth consequently made her last run from Allyn's Point on Monday, January 2, 1860. A few days later, she was sold to the New Jersey Steamboat Company (Stonington Line), which placed the vessel on the New York to Stonington, Connecticut

Stonington, Connecticut

The Town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut, in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, Wequetequock, the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic and Old Mystic...

 route.

Commonwealths most serious accident in terms of human cost occurred on the morning of December 19, 1860, about 5am. While waiting for daylight, to pass safely through Hell Gate

Hell Gate

Hell Gate is a narrow tidal strait in the East River in New York City in the United States. It separates Astoria, Queens from Randall's Island/Wards Island ....

, a defective plate in Commonwealths steam chimney burst, allowing steam into the starboard fireroom. When the firemen opened the door to make their escape, a gust of wind diverted the steam into a group of passengers on deck. A family of four from Dublin, the Blakes, were all scalded, the mother so badly she was not expected to recover. A young colored waiter who ran out on deck at the same moment was fatally scalded by inhalation. Two other passengers were also scalded. At an inquest held two days later, the cause of the explosion was determined to be corrosion of the steam chimney, and an accidental finding returned.

Civil war era, 1861–1865

With the outbreak of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in April 1861, the U.S. government requisitioned hundreds of steamboats and steamships to serve as transports, gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

s and blockade ships. Commonwealth would escape this fate, continuing through the war to operate on her usual Long Island Sound routes. In this role she would still however contribute to the war effort, as part of the transport network that brought newly recruited regiments and their supplies from the northeastern United States to the battlefront.
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As early as May 1861, Commonwealth was engaged in transporting troops from Connecticut to New Jersey, when elements of the 40th "Mozart" Regiment, New York Volunteers, embarked at Stonington on the 31st. Numerous full regiments followed, including the 1st Massachusetts Infantry

1st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

The 1st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War.Organized at "Camp Ellsworth" in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the regiment was made up partly of companies that had belonged to the 1st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, a...

 (June 1861); the 7th Massachusetts Infantry

7th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

The 7th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. It was formed on June 15, 1861 in Taunton. Its original commander was Colonel Darius N...

(July); the 16th Maine and 19th Maine Volunteers (August 1862); and the 27th Maine and 11th Rhode Island Volunteers. Commonwealth was capable of accommodating an entire 1,000-man regiment plus additional passengers on a single voyage, but conditions in such circumstances were not always ideal—the 11th Rhode Island, for example, complained of a shortage of suitable sleeping arrangements. Regiments transported on Commonwealth in late 1862 were treated to "fine view[s]" of the mammoth British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 steamship , then laid up in New York Harbor for extended repairs.

When transporting troops, Commonwealths usual route from Stonington to New York City was slightly altered, with the point of embarkation sometimes moved to Groton, Connecticut

Groton, Connecticut

Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....

 and the destination to Jersey City. After disembarking at Jersey, regiments then typically travelled on by train to Philadelphia. Here they were invariably given an enthusiastic reception by the local populace, which included a "splendid repast" at the Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloon, a venue maintained for the troops throughout the war by local volunteers. While the meal was greatly appreciated, some soldiers are said to have left the city with fonder memories still of the passionate embraces of the local females, who lined the streets to bid them farewell on their departure. After the war, some regiments would also return to their homes on Commonwealth.

In late 1863, Commonwealth suffered a series of collisions with other vessels, all of them relatively minor. On October 20, the British propeller Salidan, setting out for Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, struck Commonwealth as the latter was exiting her Cortlandt Street berth. Commonwealths starboard paddle guard was torn off, and some damage done to the paddle frame—about $1,000 damage in all, which was expected to take four or five days to repair. On November 28, in dense fog, Commonwealth collided with two Williamsburg ferries in succession—Warren and Nebraska. Again, the vessels involved appear to have escaped serious damage.

In December 1863, Commonwealths proprietors, the Stonington Line, merged with the Neptune Line to form a new entity, the Merchants' Steamship Company. Commonwealth and the other Stonington Line boats were subsequently sold by private auction to the newly formed company. Since the Stonington Line's partner, the Boston and Providence Railroad, had by this time extended its service to Groton, Connecticut and built a large new terminus there, Commonwealths regular destination was around the same time relocated from Stonington to Groton.

Loss

Following her acquisition by the Merchants Steamship Company in December 1863, Commonwealth appears to have continued working the New York to Groton route almost without incident for the next two years, the one exception being another minor scrape with a New York ferry on November 22, 1864.
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Commonwealth departed New York on her usual run on December 28, 1865. Shortly after arriving at Groton, at about 1:30am on the morning of the 29th, a fire broke out at the Groton depot which could not be contained. An attempt to tow Commonwealth to safety was made by a local ferry, but an unusually low tide, combined with the weight of Commonwealths freight which was still aboard, had grounded the vessel on a sandbar, and Commonwealth caught fire at the bows and was burned to the water's edge. Fortunately, most of Commonwealths passengers had already disembarked and departed by train, but a young medical student named J. Dickson Ripley, a nephew of Connecticut Governor William A. Buckingham, could not be aroused despite repeated poundings on his cabin door and was presumed to have suffocated from smoke inhalation in his sleep.

In addition to the loss of Commonwealth, the entire depot at Groton was destroyed, so thoroughly that the Railroad was forced to move its terminus back to its former location of Stonington for a time. Total damage from the fire was estimated at $1,500,000. Because of Commonwealths well maintained firefighting facilities, her proprietors had only insured the vessel for $80,000, with replacement value estimated at $600,000.

Salvage of Commonwealth continued well into 1866, with the steamer's safe, containing about $500 and "many valuable papers", recovered in July. According to Fred Dayton, author of the 1925 history Steamboat Days, Commonwealth was subsequently raised, "rebuilt from the burned wreck", and returned to service on her former route, before being "wrecked in a storm off Orient Point", but this account is uncorroborated.

Models

A number of notable models of Commonwealth were made in her time. William Foulks, partner in the shipbuilding firm that constructed Commonwealth, won the gold medal in the naval architecture

Naval architecture

Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...

 division of the American Institute of New York's 27th Annual Fair in 1855 for a model of the vessel. The American jewelry firm Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue , which is a registered trademark.- History :...

 won the bronze medal for silverware at the Paris Exposition of 1867

Exposition Universelle (1867)

The Exposition Universelle of 1867 was a World Exposition held in Paris, France, in 1867.-Conception:In 1864, Emperor Napoleon III decreed that an international exposition should be held in Paris in 1867. A commission was appointed with Prince Jerome Napoleon as president, under whose direction...

 for a display which included an "exquisite" silver model music box of Commonwealth capable of playing a dozen different airs. An 1864 edition of Scientific American describes in detail a similar model:

In its construction seventy-three ounces of gold were used, and two hundred and fifty-two ounces of silver, and skilled mechanics have been employed upon the work for six months, at an aggregate cost of six thousand five hundred dollars. The length of this model is thirty-one inches, and it is an exact copy of the steamer Commonwealth, made by measurement upon a diminished scale of three thirty-seconds of an inch to the foot. The workmanship is most elaborate. Not only the smoke-stacks, flag-staffs and deck machinery are carefully copied, but the panels of the saloons, the window shades, and all the intricate and delicate handiwork which appears on the steamer, are accurately represented. This piece of workmanship is supplied with machinery and music, and will undoubtedly be one of the features of the Philadelphia Fair.

While the Scientific American piece neglects to name the builder of this model, its description concurs with that of the Tiffany model displayed at the Paris Exposition. Jerome W. Williams, Commonwealths longstanding captain, is also known to have had a gold model of Commonwealth constructed, "with a mechanism that caused her walking beam and wheels to move when a coin was inserted." It is not known whether any of these models still exist.