SS Tempest

SS Tempest
History
OwnerAnchor Line
Port of registryGlasgow  United Kingdom
BuilderSandeman & McLaurin
Launched21 December 1854
FateVanished c. February 1857
General characteristics
Tonnage866 GRT
Length214 ft (65 m)
Beam28 ft (8.5 m)
Draft19 ft (5.8 m)
Propulsion150 hp (110 kW) Steam engines

SS Tempest was the first ship of the Anchor Line belonging to Scottish brothers Nicol and Robert Handyside and Captain Thomas Henderson.[1][2] The 214-foot (65 m), 866-ton ship was built as a sail-ship by Sandeman & McLaurin of Glasgow and launched on 21 December 1854.[3] On 3 April 1855 Henderson began a maiden voyage from Glasgow to Bombay.

The Anchor Line decided to begin transatlantic service between Glasgow and New York City with Tempest. She was converted to a screw steamship with the fitting, by Randolf and Elder, of 150 horsepower (110 kW) engines in 1856. Her first passage left Glasgow on 11 October 1856; sailing from New York on 19 November, she returned to Glasgow after a 28-day crossing.

Her second journey departed Glasgow 27 December, mastered by Capt James Morris, with cargo and 50 passengers. She arrived in New York on 1 February. She sailed eastward on 13 February 1857 with crew, cargo and one passenger aboard.[4] She vanished without a trace.[1][5] Her fate remains an unsolved mystery to this day along with the 150 people that were on board.[6][7]

Two other ships of the Anchor Line disappeared at sea; United Kingdom in 1869 and Ismailia in 1873.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Flayhart, William H. (2000). The American Line (1871–1902). W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 16, 17. ISBN 9780393047103.
  2. ^ "The Story of the Anchor Line Part One: 1855 – 1869 – The Early Struggles". Clyde-built Ship Database. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Tempest (25654)". Scottish Built Ships database. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  4. ^ "S/S Tempest, Anchor Line". Norway Heritage. Retrieved 21 July 2013. Nb. Some sources claim 150 passengers.
  5. ^ "The Anchor Line". The Ships List. 30 September 2010. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008.
  6. ^ Lossing, Benson John; Wilson, Woodrow (1905). Harper's encyclopaedia of United States history from 458 A. D. to 1909. p. 449. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  7. ^ "SS Tempest (+1857)". Wrecksite.EU. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  8. ^ Knox, Thomas Wallace (1886). The life of Robert Fulton and a history of steam navigation. G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 398.

Davis, C. L., Esq. (5 February 2005) [1900]. "Never Heard Of. Mysteries of the Atlantic Ferry". The Ships List. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)


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