SS Vesta

SS Vesta was a propeller-driven fishing vessel 250 gross tons, built in 1853 at Nantes, France, by Hernoux et Cie of Dieppe for the Société Terreneuvienne of Granville in Normandy.^[1] The ship completed her sea trials on July 7th, 1854.^[3] The company had extensive fishing interests in the Grand Banks area off Newfoundland, which it operated from a base in Saint Pierre Island.^[4] On 27 September 1854 Vesta was eastbound with a crew of 50, returning 147 fisherman and salters home. In a heavy fog, Vesta collided with the Collins Line passenger paddle steamer SS Arctic.^[5] A three-metre (ten-foot) section of Vesta's bow was sheared off, but the watertight bulkhead behind the bow remained intact and kept out the sea, keeping the vessel afloat.^[1]

From a wooden engraving showing the iron propeller ship Vesta as it appeared on the arrival at St Johns, Newfoundland.
History
Name	SS Vesta
Owner	1853–1855 Société Terreneuvienne[1] 1855–1863 Compagnie Générale Maritime[2]
Port of registry	Granville, France
Completed	1853[1]
Name	Amberes
Owner	1863–1873 J Amann[2]
Fate	Sunk in Santander harbour 1873[2]
General characteristics
Tonnage	250 GRT[1]
Length	46 m (152 ft)[1]
Beam	6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)[1]
Draught	3.2 m (10 ft 5 in)[1]
Propulsion	Steam-powered[1]

The much larger Arctic, which initially had appeared to have sustained only superficial damage, had been fatally holed below the waterline. Lacking watertight compartments, the hull filled with water and the ship sank, four hours later, with great loss of life.^[6] By contrast, the only casualties from Vesta's crew and passengers were about a dozen who precipitately left the ship in a lifeboat, which was then accidentally run down by the Arctic.^[7]

After the collision, Vesta's captain, Alphonse Duchesne, brought the ship slowly to St John's, Newfoundland, which she reached on 29 September, and was repaired.^[8] On 20 March 1855 Vesta sailed for home, and was forced into Liverpool after fighting ice and storms for 17 days.^[1]

Captain Alphonse Duchesne, Master of the French steamship SS Vesta

Later that year she was sold to the Compagnie Générale Maritime of Le Havre, and ran services between Valencia to Le Havre, via Málaga, Gibraltar, Cádiz and Lisbon, advertising first class and second class cabins.^[9]

It passed, in 1863, to J Amann of Bilbao and was renamed Amberes. She was used as a freighter, generally working between northern Spanish ports and Antwerp. On December 13th, 1865, the ship, sailing from Bordeaux to Antwerp, collided with the Danish schooner Ornen, sailing from Gothenburg to Seville.^[10] Both ships were damaged, with Amberes receiving a hole in her side, also loosing some rigging. The schooner also took on water and the crew abandoned ship to Amberes, which later towed the Ornen to Dartmouth.^[11]

On March 27th, 1870, while 60 miles southwest of the Eddystone Lighthouse, steaming from Bayonne to Antwerp, the Amberes' boiler burst around 5pm. The ship's crew were uninjured, and she went under tow of the Britannia, arriving in the Plymouth Sound in the morning of the 28th of March.^[12] By June 1870, the ship was repaired for the price of £1200.^[13]

On December 9th, 1873, the ship sunk in Santander harbour, while carrying a cargo of flour,^[14] leading to the extension of a pier.^[15]

See also

• SS Arctic disaster