SS Stonington

The SS Stonington was a passenger paddle steamer of the Stonington Line that collided with another steamer on June 11, 1880, in Long Island Sound.

The Stonington had taken on a full list of passengers in Stonington, Connecticut at 9 or 10 pm. Later that evening at around 11:30 pm, in heavy fog, she collided with her sister ship the SS Narragansett near the mouth of the Connecticut River. The Stonington was damaged, but was able to return to a port and took no casualties. The Narragansett had a huge gash in the side of her hull, and caught fire and burnbed rapidly. Many of the passengers asleep in their staterooms were unable to escape, resulting in 30 to 70 lives lost on board.

Significant controversy followed the collision, as the captains of the two ships gave different accounts of the accident and the events leading up to it, and the crew of the Narragansett faced accusations of neglecting its duty.

Historical note
One of the passengers on the Stonington was Charles J. Guiteau who, just over a year later, assassinated President James A. Garfield. Guiteau was on deck at the time of the collision, and afterwards believed that he had been miraculously spared to punish Garfield.