The second Canadian, Captain Graham, came in contact with a piece of submerged ice, outside the Straits of Belle Isle, in July, 1861. The ship was proceeding cautiously, but so hard and sharp was the ice, a rent was made in the ship’s side below the water-line, and it was soon seen that she was done for. This is how she went down, as told by Captain Graham: “The wind had increased to a gale. About 9.30 a. m. we came up to heavy field ice closely packed. We had been going half-speed till we saw the ice, when we stopped altogether, then turned her head to the west, steaming slowly through a narrow passage between heavy ice on the starboard side and what appeared to be a light patch of ice on the port side, which scratched along the bow for sixty feet. The concussion was very slight, and I had no apprehension of any damage; went below to see what was wrong, and found the water rushing along the main deck and up the hatchway. The boats were ordered out, and the ship headed for land full speed. She soon began to settle down forward, taking a list to starboard, when the engines were stopped and the boats lowered. Immediately after leaving her, the ship with a plunge dropped five or six feet by the head, and then directly afterwards her stern flew up in the air, and she went down head foremost.” The mail-master, nine of the crew and twenty-six passengers went down with the ship.
The North Briton, Captain Grange, was wrecked in November, 1861, on one of the Mingan Islands, north of Anticosti (the usual track for steamers at that time). There was no loss of life. The Anglo-Saxon, Captain Burgess, in April, 1863, was stranded in Clam Cove, three miles from Cape Race, during a dense fog. A heavy sea rolling in drove her farther on the rocks, from which she eventually slid off and sank in deep water. The captain, some of the officers, and many of the passengers and crew were carried down into the vortex of the ship, and were drowned to the number of 238 souls.
The Norwegian, Captain McMaster, in June, 1863, was totally wrecked on St. Paul’s Island, at the entrance of the Gulf. A dense fog was prevailing. The passengers and crew, numbering about 420, were all saved. The Bohemian, Captain Borland, struck on the Alden Ledges, off Cape Elizabeth, near Portland, in February, 1864, when twenty passengers were drowned. The Dacian was wrecked near Halifax, April 7th, 1872. In the same year the Germany went ashore at the mouth of the Garonne River, near Bordeaux, France, and was totally wrecked, with the loss of thirty lives. The St. George, Captain Jones, was lost on the Blonde Rock, south of Seal Island, N.S. The Jura stranded on Formby Bank, at the entrance to the Mersey, in 1864. The Moravian, Captain Archer, was wrecked on Mud Islands, near Yarmouth, N.S., in December, 1881. The Hanoverian, Captain Thompson, struck a rock at the entrance of Nepassey Bay, Newfoundland, and was totally lost, but all hands were saved.
The Pomeranian, Captain Dalziel, a fine ship of 4,364 tons, in 1893 survived one of the stormiest Atlantic voyages on record. She sailed from Greenock for New York, March 27th. After eight days battling with a furious gale, when about twelve hundred miles west of Ireland, she was well-nigh overwhelmed by a tremendous wave, which made a clean sweep of the deck. The bridge, the chart-house, the saloon, the steam-winch, the ventilators, everything between the foremast and the funnel, were hurled overboard, a mass of wreckage. The captain and a saloon passenger were so severely injured that both died in a few hours. The second and fourth officers, who were on the bridge, were swept into the sea and drowned, as were the rest of the cabin passengers, one intermediate, and four of the crew—twelve persons in all. Three of the lifeboats were carried away and two were smashed, leaving only one available for service. The whole of the nautical instruments, books and charts had gone overboard, the steering gear was badly wrecked, and the only compass left was that in the steering-house aft. The first officer, Mr. McCulloch, on whom the command now devolved, seeing the crippled condition of the ship, turned her head homewards, a thing not easily done in such a sea, and eventually returned to the Clyde in a gale of wind.
“THE PARISIAN,” 1881.
It is doubtful if there is another shipping company in existence that would have withstood the strain put on the Allan line by such a succession of disasters; but so far as outsiders are aware the Allans never lost courage. They were bound to succeed in the long-run, and they did. When ships could not be built quickly enough to take the places of those that had been lost at sea, they bought of others ships ready-made, meanwhile resolving to reinforce their fleet with larger and in every way better boats than heretofore. The Norwegian and Hibernian, of 2,400 tons each, were launched from Denny’s yard in 1861. In 1863 Steeles of Greenock built for them the Peruvian and the Moravian, both very fine ships. The Nestorian and the Austrian, of 2,700 tons each, built by Barclay & Curle, Glasgow, are both good ships now after thirty years’ service. The Sarmatian and Polynesian (now Laurentian), about 4,000 tons each, came out in 1871 and 1872, and proved excellent boats. The Circassian, 3,724 tons, was launched in 1873, and the Sardinian in 1875. The Parisian, the finest of the fleet, was built by Robert Napier & Sons, Glasgow, in 1881, and took her place on the line the following year. She is built of steel, the bottom being constructed of an inner and outer skin five feet apart, the space thus enclosed being available for water ballast and also a protection from the perils of collision. The Allans were the first to apply this kind of build to Atlantic steamers, and were also the first to build such steamers of steel. The general dimensions of the Parisian are: length over all, 440 feet; breadth, 46 feet; moulded depth, 36 feet; with a gross tonnage of 5,365 tons. Her machinery is capable of developing 6,000 indicated horse-power. Although she has neither twin screws nor triple expansion engines, she has done her work remarkably well, maintaining an average speed of about fourteen knots. Her fastest voyage from Moville to Rimouski was made in 1896, viz., 6 days, 13 hours, 10 minutes, corrected time. Her best day’s run on that voyage was 359 knots. Her career has been a remarkable one: in these seventeen years she has not met with an accident, and is consequently a very popular ship. She is fitted for 160 saloon passengers in the most complete and comfortable manner, and there seems to be always room for one more. On a recent occasion the Parisian brought over 255 cabin passengers. She can easily accommodate 120 second-class and 1,000 steerage passengers. She carries a large cargo and is a very fine sea boat.
The fleet of the Allan Line consists at present of thirty-four steamers, aggregating 134,937 tons. In addition to the weekly line between Liverpool and Montreal, regular weekly services are maintained from Montreal, and also from New York, to Glasgow; the London, Quebec and Montreal service is fortnightly in summer; there is also a direct service between Glasgow and Boston fortnightly, and regular communication between Liverpool, Glasgow and Philadelphia, as well as with River Plate and other ports.
Some of the freight and cattle-ships of the Allan Line are large and fine vessels, such as the Buenos Ayrean, 4,005 tons, built at Dumbarton in 1879—one of the first ships ever constructed of steel. The Carthaginian and Siberian are both 4,000-ton ships, specially adapted for the cattle trade. The Mongolian and Numidian, of 4,750 tons each, are model ships in the class to which they belong. A few years ago the Allans acquired the State Line, plying between Glasgow and New York. Two of these, the State of California (5,500 tons) and the State of Nebraska (4,000 tons), are excellent ships with good accommodation for large numbers of passengers. The two oldest ships of the line in commission are the Waldensian (formerly St. Andrew), built in 1861, and the Phœnician (formerly the St. David), built in 1864, both of which are still doing service in the South American trade.