SS La Bourgogne

SS La Bourgogne was a French ocean liner.

She was built in 1885 by Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer for the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (French Line). She was a 7,395 gross ton vessel, 494.4 ft long and with a beam of 52.2 ft. She had two funnels and four masts, was of iron and steel construction, and propelled by a single screw giving a speed of 17 kn. There was accommodation for 390 first class passengers, 65 second class and 600 third class passengers. Launched on 8 October 1885, she sailed on her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York on 19 June 1886. In February 1896 she collided with, and sank the steamer Ailsa, of the Atlas Steamship Company, off the US coast. In 1897-8 she was fitted with quadruple expansion engines and her masts reduced to two. On 4 July 1898 she was sunk in collision in dense fog with the British sailing ship Cromartyshire off Sable Island. At the time, she was carrying 506 passengers and 220 crew, of whom 549 were lost, including Turkish wrestler Yusuf İsmail, the American instructor/sculptor Emil Wuertz, American painter De Scott Evans, an Armenian Orthodox priest, Rev. Stepan Der Stepanian, his wife and three children, and three members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Only 173 people survived, but fewer than 70 survivors were passengers, only one woman was rescued, and all children perished. Reports circulated that the crew had refused to aid passengers in the water, to the point of stabbing them. Surviving crew members required police protection upon their arrival in New York.