SS Berlin (1894)



The SS Berlin was a steel ship, which was owned by the Great Eastern Railway and built for use on their ferry service from Harwich and Hook of Holland, which the company had initiated in 1893.

The Great Eastern Railway ordered three steamships to operate the service. The ships were named Amsterdam, Berlin and Vienna to publicise some of the rail connections from the Hook of Holland. The Berlin was built in 1894 by Earles Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Hull. She had berths for 218 first- and 120 second-class passengers.

Sinking
At 0500 on Thursday, 21 February 1907 the Hook Lighthouse-Keeper recorded that Berlin was navigating the channel, when she suddenly veered off course northwards after being struck on her port quarter by a huge wave. Captain Precious and Pilot Bronders managed to return the ship to her original course, but the Berlin was struck by another wave and was swung northwards, causing her to become impaled on the tip of the granite breakwater at the entrance to the New Waterway.

The waves were sweeping over the vessel and both Captain Precious and Pilot Bronders were soon swept overboard. The Dutch steam life-boat President van Heel attempted to offer aid, but the rough seas prevented her from being able to approach the stricken vessel, and the Berlin broke in two amidships at 0600.

The majority of those on board had fled to the bow which sank when the ship broke in half. The lifeboat could not close with the survivors on the stern of the vessel due to the weather. Only one man, a Captain Parkinson who was travelling as a passenger, was able to swim to the safety of the lifeboat.

Prince Henry made a visit the following day and went out on the pilot boat Helvoetsluis, along with the Dutch steam life-boat President van Heel, to recover the deceased from the sea and rescue the fifteen people remaining on the stern. The rescue of the people required a great deal of effort. An important role in this rescue was played by lifeboat Captain Martijn Sperling who used a small boat to reach the North Pier and ascend its iron beacon, from where he was able to throw ropes to the deck of the wreck to rescue 11 of the survivors. Captain Sperling then took a yawl from the salvage vessel Van der Tak alongside the wreck to rescue the remaining three female survivors.

Both Alberts Frères and the English firm The Warwick Trading Company filmed these events; they are considered to be the only Dutch film of a current event that attracted international attention in the early years of cinema.

Aftermath
The correct number of persons on board the ferry at that time was apparently not immediately known. Messages in English newspapers ranged from 128 to 180 persons on board. It is now known that 128 of 144 persons on board were killed, including about forty crew members. The tragedy of the Berlin was, at that time a very large, if not the largest disaster, and since then has been the standard for later government investigations of shipping accidents.

Following the sinking of the SS Berlin, the Railway Passengers Assurance Company Ltd, now part of Aviva, paid out £8,600, its largest single loss at that time. Of the 128 people killed, 10 were insured by the company, with three holding general accident policies and seven holding boat and rail tickets.

Notable passengers
One notable passenger on the vessel was Mr Herbert, a King's Messenger travelling with diplomatic bags, including ones for Berlin, Copenhagen and Tehran. Included in the Tehran bag was the jewelled sword and decorations and all his other orders and ribbons including the insignia of the Knight Grand Commander of the Royal Victorian Order belonging to Prince ala-as-Saltanch. Although it is believed that Mr Herbert's body was recovered on 16 March, the family asked for it to be treated as unidentified. The sword was recovered in early April.

A second notable victim was Hendrik Spijker of the Spyker car company. Following his death in the sinking investigations revealed that the company's finances were in a parlous state, leading to the company's bankruptcy declaration.

Cultural references
The Dutch TV program "Andere Tijden", showed rare film footage of the disaster on 1 March 2007.