The SS Princess Alice is one of the most heartbreaking shipwrecks in history, and it doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. In 1878, this passenger paddle steamer was cruising along the Thames in London when it collided with a larger ship, the Bywell Castle, breaking apart in minutes. Tragically, over 600 people died, many because the water was heavily polluted with raw sewage, making survival almost impossible. Families out for a pleasant evening were suddenly caught in a horrifying disaster that devastated the city. The tragedy led to public outrage, prompting improvements in river safety and pollution control. Though less famous than the Titanic, the story of the Princess Alice is just as haunting and important to remember. Credit:
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Final route: By Goran tek-en, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77057724
Animation is created by Bright Side.
#brightside
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FunTranscript
00:00If I asked you to name the most famous shipwreck of all time, you'd go with the Titanic, right?
00:07The Atlantic Ocean, the hope for new life, heartbreaking love stories.
00:12It had it all to become a blockbuster.
00:15But I guess you've never heard of SS Princess Alice that submerged in the sewage of the River Thames, taking between 600 and 700 lives with it.
00:25Life in 19th century Victorian London wasn't easy, especially for working class folks.
00:31Affordable public transport and bank holidays made it a bit easier.
00:35The people could escape to the coast on a train or pleasure boat, even if it was just for a day.
00:43Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent started as a fort under Henry VIII and then grew into a bustling town with a dockyard.
00:51When they added a railway station in 1863, it became a prime destination for day-trippers and holidaymakers.
00:58Seaside promenades, charming piers, and a whole bunch of fun stuff to do by the sea.
01:04It had it all.
01:06A bit inland along the River Thames, you had the Rocherville Gardens.
01:10These gardens had archery lawns, bowls, mazes, lakes, cliff walks, and even a floral bazaar.
01:18Plus, there was an aviary, a bear pit, and a skeleton of a lost whale that had taken a wrong turn in the Thames.
01:26Londoners of the late 19th century could hop on a train or cruise along the Thames by boat, and both options were pretty popular.
01:34But on the 3rd of September, 1878, way more people than usual opted for the boat.
01:42They chose it over the railroad after a passenger train had collided with goods wagons in Kent, taking the lives of five people.
01:49The river felt like a safer way to go.
01:55One of the ships available for the trip was the SS Princess Alice.
01:59The paddle steamer was first launched in 1865 on the west coast of Scotland.
02:05Its original name was The Bute, and it was used as a ferry for the passengers of the Weems Bay Railway Company.
02:12A couple of years later, it was sold and renamed after Queen Victoria's third child.
02:18Then, it was sold again and got the nickname The Shaw's Boat as it transported the Shaw of Persia up the Thames to Greenwich in 1873.
02:28The ship had gone through several alterations in its lifetime.
02:31It got new boilers and watertight bulkheads.
02:34The Board of Trade had inspected it and marked it safe.
02:37In the year of its final voyage, it was officially allowed to carry up to 936 passengers between London and Gravesend in calm water.
02:50On the day of the tragedy, Princess Alice was on what was called a Moonlight Trip downstream from Swan Pier near London Bridge to Sheerness Kent and back.
03:00The trip wasn't expensive, so most of the passengers were from the working class.
03:05There was also a musical band aboard to keep the spirits up.
03:08The 3rd of September was a bright day and many families were happy they could catch some final summer sun rays and enjoy fresh sea air.
03:16The then owner of the ship, the London Steamboat Company, had several vessels working on the route.
03:22The passengers were free to hop on and off different ships.
03:27At around 6.30pm, after a beautiful day in the open, the SS Princess Alice headed back to Swan Pier.
03:34No one kept official lists of passengers, so we'll never know exactly how many people were on board that evening.
03:40But they say the steamer was close to its full capacity.
03:44As it got darker and cooler, many families decided to stay inside the saloon or in their cabins below.
03:51Some stories from the steamer sound like fate.
03:56The captain of Princess Alice let his steerer stay at Gravesend and replaced him with one of the passengers.
04:03John Ayres was a sailor but had little experience at the Thames or with a vessel like Princess Alice.
04:10Alfred Thomas Merriman, a chef from East London, had been offered to work on the steamer at the last moment.
04:17He was 30 years old and a father of four, so he couldn't say no to extra money.
04:23At around 7.40pm, he was standing on the deck by the saloon door.
04:28By that time, Princess Alice had passed Tripcock Point and entered Galleon's Reach.
04:33The passengers could see the North Woolwich Pier in the distance.
04:37Many of them planned to disembark at that stop.
04:40And that's when Merriman noticed a huge ship carrying coal.
04:44It was Bywell Castle.
04:46This vessel normally carried coal to Africa, but it had just been repainted at a dry dock.
04:52Bywell Castle was going to Newcastle to pick up some coal and transport it to Alexandria, Egypt.
04:58The ship's captain, Harrison, wasn't too familiar with these waters,
05:02so he called in Christopher Dix, a seasoned Thames River pilot, to lend a hand, even though he didn't have to.
05:09The ship had a fancy raised forward part below the deck, and Dix couldn't quite see what was in front of him.
05:16So, they had a sailor on lookout duty, as they set sail from Millwall at the speed of 5 knots, 5.7 miles per hour.
05:25They tried to stick to the middle of the river, but other boats had other plans.
05:31When they were approaching Galleon's Reach, Dix spotted Princess Alice's red port light, headed their way, but planning to pass on the right side.
05:42At the same time, Grinstead, the captain of Princess Alice, was going against the river's flow, trying to find the smooth waters on the south side.
05:52He adjusted his course, steering into Bywell Castle's path.
05:57Both crews realized they were headed for a collision.
06:00Dix tried to steer clear and even ordered reverse full speed on the engines, but it was too late.
06:09The Bywell Castle collided head-on with the Princess Alice, which was much smaller, weighing less than a third of the 890-ton coal-carrying collier.
06:19It sliced the passenger steamer in two.
06:22As Merriman remembered later, laughter on board immediately changed into screaming and panic.
06:28Some people rushed to the bridge for safety. Merriman hurried to the captain, asking what to do next.
06:34The captain's response was grim.
06:37We are sinking fast. Do your best.
06:43The ends of the steamer went high into the air, and the middle just sank, taking passengers with it.
06:49Those unfortunate ones who were below deck were tragically trapped.
06:53The impact caused tons of untreated sewage to gush from outlets near the collision site.
06:59The water became a frothy mess of unprocessed waste with a horrible odor.
07:05It was potent enough to make even the most resilient sailors wretch.
07:09Amid the chaos, passengers struggled for life in the contaminated water.
07:14They inhaled lungfuls of hazardous waste without knowing.
07:18The crew aboard the Bywell Castle sprang into action.
07:21They dropped ropes from their deck, urging Princess Alice's passengers to climb aboard.
07:26Anything that could float, from planks to barrels, was tossed into the water to serve as flotation devices for those in need.
07:33Other members of their team launched a lifeboat, saving 14 people.
07:38Nearby boats, moored along the riverbanks, joined the mission, plucking survivors from the water.
07:45Many of Princess Alice's passengers didn't know how to swim,
07:49and it was even trickier for ladies wearing long, heavy dresses.
07:53Merriman was among the lucky ones who could swim.
07:57He first held onto a piece of wreckage, and then, when others got to it,
08:01swam away and caught onto a rope hanging over the side of the Bywell Castle.
08:06They managed to save around 130 people this way.
08:11Another survivor was Robert Haynes, who played in the Princess Alice band.
08:16He was fond of ships and had noticed the Bywell Castle a couple of minutes before the collision.
08:21He chose not to follow the rest of the band, who went downstairs for a break, and that saved his life.
08:27Princess Alice's sister ship, Duke of Tech, arrived 10 minutes too late to assist with the rescue efforts.
08:34Only two people who had been below deck or in the saloon managed to survive the collision.
08:39We still don't know the total count of lives taken on that day, but it's somewhere between 650 and 700.
08:46And what makes this story even more tragic is that it has been mostly forgotten.