SS Austria

SS Austria was a steamship of the Hamburg America Line which sank on 13 September 1858, in one of the worst transatlantic maritime disasters of the nineteenth century, claiming the lives of 449 passengers and crew. The Austria was built by Caird & Co. of Greenock, Scotland and was launched on 23 June 1857. She was 318 ft and 2,684 BRT, with three masts and single screw propeller propulsion.

After a cancelled British Government charter, she went into service with the Hamburg America Line on 1 May 1858 on the Hamburg-New York route.

Tragedy at sea
On 1 September 1858, SS Austria captained by F. A. Heydtmann sailed from Hamburg on her third voyage to New York City. At approximately 12:00, on 13 September, at coordinates 45.01667°N, -41.5°W, a decision was made to fumigate steerage by dipping a red-hot chain into a bucket of tar; the chain became too hot for the boatswain to hold, and it was dropped onto the deck, which immediately burst into flames; although the ship was traveling at only half speed it was impossible to stop the engines as the engine crew had become asphyxiated. When the helmsman abandoned the wheel, the ship swung into the wind, spreading the flames down the length of the ship, racing through the mahogany veneer and varnished bulkheads, as passengers jumped into the sea. The passing barque, Maurice of France rescued most of the survivors, and the Catarina of Norway picked up more the next morning. As the blackened hulk was left to sink, all but 65 of 538 passengers were lost.



Survivors
Charles Rosene
 * Theodore Eisfeld, New York Philharmonic music director
 * Charles Brew, British Columbia Inspector of Police

Drowned

 * Henriette Wulff, friend and frequent correspondent of Hans Christian Andersen

Paintings of the disaster

 * Josef Püttner, "Untergang der Austria", Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Germany.
 * Eugène Isabey, "L'incendie de l'Austria", Musée national de la Marine, Paris, France.
 * Anonymous, "Burning of the Austria", National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England.
 * Le duc Charles, "L'Incendie de l'Austria", Chateau des ducs de Bretagne, Musée d'Histoire de Nantes, Nantes, France.