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THE LOSS OF THE AMERICAN 23 APRIL 1880 and MENTION OF THE TEUTON

On 8 May 1880 the Natal Witness announced that the Union R.M.S. American had arrived at Cape Town, and that among the passengers was Mr John PATERSON of Port Elizabeth, Member of the Cape Parliament. Also on board were passengers for Natal, Mr SMITH, Misses THORNTON and BORLAS(S)E. However, this report was incorrect, and was shortly followed by the announcement that the American had in fact been wrecked under dramatic circumstances.

This ship of 2,126 tons, built in Dundee in 1873, was one of 5 mail steamers put into service by the Union Company in that year as a result of the opposition of Currie's Line in the England to Cape route. In 1876 she had undergone some alterations, which marred her original appearance. She was, nevertheless, a fine large steamer, and on this particular voyage, under Captain A MacLean WAIT, had departed Plymouth for the Cape on 9 April 1880 carrying 76 hands and 66 passengers (and one stowaway).

When she was slightly north of the Equator, on the morning of Friday 23 April, her passengers were roused from their slumbers by a sudden and violent shock, and it became apparent that the engines had stopped. The propeller-shaft had broken.

This wasn't an unusual occurrence among steamers of the period, and generally the vessel would hoist her sail and continue slowly to the nearest port for repair, or be taken in under tow. But the American's shaft had somehow bent, tearing away plating at her stern as well as part of the bulkhead aft. Water began to pour in, and the captain, with commendable calm and presence of mind, called the passengers together to explain what had happened and ordered breakfast to be served while the crew and some volunteers from among the passengers manned the pumps.

It became clear that the pumps couldn't cope and that the American was doomed. Captain WAIT (aptly named) took six hours to decide to abandon ship, and the passengers and crew were ordered into the boats, everyone being got off safely. After another hour and a half the vessel disappeared stern first into the Atlantic.

Despite their incredulity at finding themselves adrift in mid-ocean in 8 boats after enduring this unexpected disaster, all behaved courageously and there was cause for optimism: the weather was fine and as they were in the regular West African shipping lanes there was every chance they would be picked up soon. If not, the captain hoped to make Cape Palmas, 250 miles away, and accordingly set sail.

But the boats gradually became separated. Three of them were picked up by the liner Congo on her way home, on 25 April and these survivors were landed at Madeira on 8 May where the news of the wreck was cabled to England.

Three other boats were found by the American vessel Emma F Herriman, and later these survivors, about 60 in all, were transferred to a steamer, the Coanza which landed them at Grand Bassa, Liberia, and they were then taken on board the Senegal which sailed for Las Palmas. Their troubles weren't over yet. On 15 May, the Senegal, now carrying far more than her usual number of passengers, ran aground off the coast. This was too much - a double shipwreck for the unfortunate souls of the American. Panic ensued, people rushed for the boats, one of which jammed then on being cut loose plunged into the sea. In the melee, John PATERSON, probably struck by the propeller, was lost. There were no other casualties and the remainder made for Las Palmas by wagon.

The captain of the R.M.S. Teuton, which was in the area, put back to Las Palmas having sighted the Senegal aground, and took on board those passengers of the American which had arrived at the town. The Teuton then headed for the Cape, stopping at Madeira to take on the survivors who had landed there from the British and Africa steamer, Congo, under Captain LIVERSEDGE.

It was only on 28 May that news came of one of the remaining two missing boats from the American - the occupants had been picked up by a German schooner, the Moltke, transferred to the steamer Kamerun, and then landed at Madeira. When almost all hope had been abandoned of the seven crew members who were in the last remaining boat, they were miraculously found by the Portuguese ship, Tarujo, four months after the first news of the disaster had reached England, and landed at Loanda on 21 July.

The story occupied column after column in the South African press for a considerable time, with inevitable delays in news being received of the missing boats. Eye-witness accounts, such as that of a passenger, Mr COX, thrilled the reading public, and the Natal Witness published an entire supplement on the ill-fated American. The loss of the respected Cape Member of Parliament, John PATERSON, was deplored; in Port Elizabeth flags all over the town were flown at half-mast. It seems PATERSON had twice postponed his voyage before finally choosing to depart on the American. Some premonition, perhaps?

Survivors named in the reports include:
Mr and Mrs LORD and daughter (the latter two were nearly lost,
Mrs LORD at one point succumbing to severe hysterics and her child being rescued by Mr COX),
Mr LEVEY (or LEVI) and son,
Messrs.
COX (who had been in the same boat as PATERSON and gave details of this incident),
HYDE,
DEDICKE,
STEPHAM,
WILKINSON (of Durban, who lost a finger),
MANN,
BORLAS(S)E,
Miss MANN,
Messrs McCULLOUGH,
LEHRASSEN,
KRANE,
NICHOLS,
SEAFERS,
GARD,
GORDON,
SMITH,
HUMPHREY (of Graaf-Reinet; he fainted when he got into the boat after the 2nd wreck,
that of the Senegal)
ZAPH and FARNACHE
(the last-named from Delagoa Bay, plus his servant, who unlike his master was a strong swimmer).
Captain WAIT, the second and fourth officers (4th officer was DUNN) of the American, and the chief and two other engineers, the chief steward and stewardess were among those saved. The Captain's conduct, his reluctance to hurry his passengers and crew into the boats thus averting panic and loss of life in the initial wreck, were much praised.

One of the rescued, a young man named Alexander SMITH, was later (12 June 1880) reported by the Natal Witness to be staying at Mrs GRANGER's Boarding House in Church Street, Pietermaritzburg.

A sad and intriguing footnote is that Captain MANNING of the Teuton, which played such an important role in the American drama, was to lose his own ship only nine months later in August 1881, off Quoin Point, Cape. Possibly emulating Captain WAIT's example, MANNING delayed in getting his passengers into the lifeboats, but in this case with tragic consequences. Just as people were at last filling the boats, the Teuton's bulkheads burst without warning, and she plunged head first into the water, sinking immediately. Many were sucked under by the vessel, most of the occupants of the first full boat were drowned, and apart from a few survivors who managed to clamber into three of the boats, everyone perished. A girl called Elizabeth MAXWELL was the one female survivor of the wreck. Of 272 souls on board, 36 were saved, 11 passengers and 25 crew. Captain MANNING went down with his ship, and his was the only body recovered. At a Court of Inquiry, it was declared that the Teuton had been lost through injudicious reckoning on the part of her commander, as she had struck on rocks well-known and charted, and that the loss of life had been due to his not lowering the boats sooner.