SS Vestris

The SS Vestris was a 1912 steamship owned by Lamport & Holt and used in their New York to River Plate service. On 12 November 1928, she began listing about 200 miles off Hampton Roads, Virginia, was abandoned, and sank, killing more than 100. The wreck is thought to rest some 2 km (1.2 miles) beneath the North Atlantic.

The sinking, which attracted much press coverage at the time, remains notable for the loss of life, particularly of women and children, after the vessel was abandoned. The sinking and subsequent inquiries may also have shaped the second International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) in 1929.

History
The Vestris was built by Workman, Clark & Co. Ltd. of Belfast, Ireland, in 1912. She was the third of a class of three vessels built by Workman, the others being the Vandyck and Vauban. These vessels were built for the New York to River Plate service. The Vestris was launched 16 May 1912 and made her maiden voyage on 19 September 1912 from Liverpool to River Plate.

The Vestris was chartered as a military transport during World War I to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the United States to France. While on this service she was narrowly missed by a torpedo in the English Channel. In 1919 the Vestris was chartered to Cunard Line and operated six circular services; Buenos Aires - Liverpool - New York - Buenos Aires. According to A. A. Hoehling the Vestris was among the last ships in contact with USS Cyclops in 1918.

In September 1919, the Vestris, carrying 550, suffered damage from a fire in her coal bunkers. The crew battled to extinguish the flames for four days before either the HMS Dartmouth or HMS Yarmouth escorted the ship to Saint Lucia in the West Indies. Several days later the fire was extinguished.

In 1922, the Vestris was briefly chartered to Royal Mail. The Vestris sank 12 November 1928.

Sinking


Vestris left New York bound for the River Plate on 10 November 1928 with 325 passengers and crew. A day after leaving New York, the ship ran into a severe storm and developed a starboard list. The following day, the list worsened as cargo and coal bunkers shifted and the ship took on water through numerous leaks.

On 12 November, at 9:56 am, an SOS was sent out giving her position as latitude 37° 35' N. and longitude 71° 81' [sic] W., which was incorrect by about 37 miles. The SOS was repeated at 11:04 am.

Between 11 am and noon, while the ship was off Norfolk, Virginia, the order was given to man lifeboats and the ship was abandoned. Two hours later, at about 2pm, the Vestris sank at Lat. 37° 38' N, Long. 70° 23' W. The rescue vessels arriving on the scene, late in the evening of 12 November and early in the morning of 13 November, were the steamships American Shipper, Myriam,  Berlin and the  USS Wyoming.

Death toll
While estimates of the dead vary from 110 to 127, Time magazine and the New York Times reported that from the complement of 128 passengers and 198 crew on board, 111 people lost their lives.:


 * 68 dead or missing from a total 128 passengers. 60 passengers survived.
 * 43 dead or missing from a total of 198 crew members. 155 crew survived.

None of the 13 children and only eight of the 33 women aboard the ship survived. The captain of the Vestris, William J. Carey, went down with his ship. Twenty-two bodies were recovered by rescue vessels.

Aftermath
Press reports after the sinking were critical of the crew and management of the Vestris. In the wake of the disaster, Lamport and Holt experienced a dramatic drop in bookings for the company’s other liners and their service to South America ceased at the end of 1929.

Many inquires and investigations were held into the sinking of the Vestris. Criticism was made of:
 * overloading of the vessel
 * the conduct of the Master, officers and crew of the vessel
 * delays in issuing an SOS call
 * poor decisions made during deployment of the lifeboats, which led to the two of the first three lifeboats to be deployed (containing mostly women and children) sinking with the Vestris and another swamping
 * legal requirements governing lifeboats and out-dated life-preservers
 * lack of radio sets in nearby vessels at the time

Lawsuits were brought after the sinking on behalf of 600 claimants totaling $5,000,000.

The Vestris' sinking was covered by Associated Press reporter Lorena Hickok. Her story on the event became the first to appear in the New York Times under a woman's byline.