RMS Republic (1903) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

RMS
Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship , usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract by Royal Mail...

Republic was a steam-powered ocean liner

Ocean liner

An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...

built in 1903 by Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....

in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, and lost at sea in a collision six years later while sailing for the White Star Line

White Star Line

The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...

. A CQD

CQD

CQD, transmitted in Morse code as — · — · — — · — — · · is one of the first distress signals adopted for radio use...

distress call was issued on the new Marconi radio device, the first recorded, resulting in the saving of around 1200 lives. At the time, she was one of the largest and most luxurious liners afloat, though she was designed more for safety and sturdiness rather than beauty.

White Star acquisition

The ship was originally built in Belfast

Belfast

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

for the International Mercantile Marine's

International Mercantile Marine Co.

The International Mercantile Marine Co., originally the International Navigation Co., was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade. The end result was heavy losses for Morgan....

Dominion Line

Trans-atlantic passenger line founded in 1870 as the Liverpool & Mississippi Steamship Co., with the official name being changed in 1872 to the Mississippi & Dominion Steamship Co Ltd. The firm was amalgamated in 1902 into the International Mercantile Marine Co....

(a sister company to the White Star Line

White Star Line

) and was named SS Columbus
SS Columbus
SS Columbus may refer to one of the following passenger steamers:* SS Columbus , built by Harland and Wolff for the Dominion Line, but was transferred to the White Star Line in October 1903 and renamed RMS Republic., launched in 1914 for the North German Lloyd but never completed; handed over to...

. After two voyages with Dominion, she was sold to White Star and renamed Republic (White Star's original of 1872 had been sold over a decade earlier).

Collision with SS Florida

In early morning of 23 January 1909, while sailing from 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...

to Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

and Mediterranean ports with 742 passengers and crew and Captain Inman Sealby (1862–1942) in command, Republic entered a thick fog off the island of Nantucket

Nantucket, Massachusetts

Nantucket is an island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Amongst the passengers were plenty of illustrious people such as Mrs. Sophie Curtis, wife of George M. Curtis

George M. Curtis

George Martin Curtis was a two-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district.Born near Oxford, New York, to John S. and Elizabeth Curtis, Curtis moved to Ogle County, Illinois, in 1856 with his parents, who settled on a farm near Rochelle, Illinois...

, Mrs. Mary Severance, wife of Cordenio A. Severance, Professor John M. Coulter

John Merle Coulter

John Merle Coulter, Ph. D. was an American botanist and educator, brother of Stanley Coulter, born at Ningpo, China. He received his education at Hanover College in Indiana. He served in the Rocky Mountains for two years as botanist to the United States Geological Survey...

, and Lady Katherine Van Loo. Travelling in first class were also Mr. Leonard L. McMurray, who, in 1915, would survive the sinking of the Cunard liner

Cunard Line

Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...

, and Mrs. John T. Davis, daughter-in-law of senator Henry G. Davis

Henry G. Davis

Henry Gassaway Davis was a self-made millionaire and U.S. Senator from West Virginia. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1904. His brother was U.S...

of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

with two children.

The steamer reduced speed and regularly signalled its presence by whistle. At 5:47 a.m., another whistle was heard and the Republic's engines were ordered to full reverse, and the helm put "hard-a-port". Out of the fog, the Lloyd Italiano liner appeared and hit Republic amidships, at about a right angle. Two passengers asleep in their cabins on Republic were killed when Florida's bow sliced into her, including liquor wholesale manager Eugene Lynch's wife Mary and banker W. J. Mooney. Eugene Lynch was critically injured and died as a result of his injuries at Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, January 26. On Florida, three crewmen were also killed when the bow was crushed back to a collision bulkhead.

The engine and boiler rooms on Republic began to flood, and the ship listed. Captain Sealby led the crew in calmly organizing the passengers on deck for evacuation. Republic was equipped with the new Marconi wireless

Wireless

Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...

telegraph system, and became the first ship in history to issue a CQD

CQD

CQD, transmitted in Morse code as — · — · — — · — — · · is one of the first distress signals adopted for radio use...

distress signal, sent by Jack R. Binns. Florida came about to rescue Republic's complement, and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Gresham

USCGC Gresham

USCGC Gresham has been the name of more than one cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service or United States Coast Guard:*USCGC Gresham , in commission in the United States Revenue Cutter Service 1897-1915 and with the United States Coast Guard 1915-1917, 1919-1935, and 1943-1944*USCGC...

responded to the distress signal as well. Passengers were distributed between the two ships, with Florida taking the bulk of them, but with 900 Italian immigrants already on board, this left the ship dangerously overloaded.

The White Star liner , commanded by Captain J. B. Ranson

J. B. Ranson

Captain J. B. Ranson OBE was a commander of White Star Line liners. He was born in 1864. His marine career began at the age of 14, when he joined the Pacific Steam Navigation Company...

, also responded to the CQD call, but due to the persistent fog, it was not until the evening that Baltic was able to locate the drifting Republic. Once on-scene, the rescued passengers were transferred from Gresham and Florida to Baltic. Because of the damage to Florida, that ship's immigrant passengers were also transferred to Baltic, but a riot nearly broke out when they had to wait until first-class Republic passengers were transferred. Once everyone was on board, Baltic sailed for New York.

Captain Sealby and a skeleton crew remained on board Republic to make an effort to save her. Crewmen from the Gresham tried using collision mats to stem the flooding, but to no avail. By this time the steamers New York and Lucania (from Cunard

Cunard Line

) had also arrived, and waited while an attempt was made by Gresham to take Republic under tow. This effort, too was futile, and on 24 January, Republic sank. At 15,378 tons, she was the largest ship to have sunk up to that time. All the remaining crew were evacuated before she sank.

Rumoured cargo

There are many rumours that the Republic was carrying gold and/or other valuables when she went down. One rumour is that she was carrying gold worth $250,000–$265,000 in American gold coins to be used as payroll for the US Navy's Great White Fleet

Great White Fleet

The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with...

. Another theory is that she was carrying money for the relief effort for the 1908 earthquake

1908 Messina earthquake

The 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami took some 100,000–200,000 lives on December 28, 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy.-Quake:On December 28, 1908 from about 05:20 to 05:21 an earthquake of 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale occurred centered on the of city Messina, in Sicily. Reggio...

in Messina, Italy

Messina, Italy

Messina is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, Italy and the capital of the province of Messina. It has a population of about 250,000 inhabitants in the city proper and about 650,000 in the province...

. A third theory, put forward by Captain Martin Bayerle, is that she was carrying $3,000,000 in gold coins as part of a loan to the Imperial Russian

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

government. All of these values, of course, are in 1909 dollars when gold was $20 per ounce. Today, the coin values would bring the recovery to at least many hundreds of millions of dollars, and some experts have estimated that the recovery (with proper marketing of the recovered coins) could approach $5 billion or more, making the Republic salvage the largest treasure recovery of all time.

Rediscovery

The wreck of the Republic was found by Captain Martin Bayerle in 1981. She lies upright approximately 50 miles (80.5 km) south of Nantucket Island at 40°26′0"N 69°46′0"W in approximately 270 feet (82.3 m) of water. Two salvage expeditions in the 1980s attempted to locate the gold, but were unsuccessful. However, the ship contains many other treasures. In addition to the gold, many ship and personal artefacts remain. To date, however, none of the rumoured Tsar's treasure has been found.

The wreckage of the SS Andrea Doria

SS Andrea Doria

SS Andrea Doria[p] was an ocean liner for the Italian Line home ported in Genoa, Italy, most famous for its sinking in 1956, when 46 people died. Named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, the ship had a gross register tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and...

, another liner sunk as the result of a collision with a ship, lies a few miles to the northwest.

The salvage continues

In 2005, Captain Bayerle's exclusive salvage rights to the wreck were reconfirmed by the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts. A re-survey of the vessel is planned for 2010 followed by a major salvage for the summer of 2011. A "section lift" of the vessel had been planned but recent surveys (2009) have determined that the ship is in such fragile condition that she would break up under any strain. Instead, Bayerle will excavate the section of the ship which contains the specie room.

External links

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