The Captain, officers and crew were all new to the vessel after being transferred from the Alaska at Liverpool on the voyage to New York. The Alaska was also owned by the Guion Steamship Company. Some of the facts in the newspaper article below may contrast with the some of the numbers on this webpage as they were found in the actual Wreck Report of the SS Abyssinia. The formal investigation, which was held in Liverpool in late February and early March 1892 found the vessel was abandoned due to the serious fire which broke out in the cargo of cotton. She had a crew of 88 and carried 59 passengers along with more than 1200 bales of cotton. The investigation found the cotton was stored too close to the coals and separated by a temporary wooden bulkhead. Though inconclusive, it is strongly the opinion that the cotton was ignited “by sparks from one of the naked lamps used by the trimmers.”
From The Newfoundland Colonist, 8 January 1892, page 4.
BURNED AT SEA.
Loss of the Steamer Abyssinia.
HER PASSENGERS ALL SAFE.
Rescued by a German Steamer.
The steamship Abyssinia of the Guion Line, which sailed from New York on the 13th of December for Liverpool, has been burned at sea. All hands were saved.
The news was brought by the North German Lloyd steamer Spree, Captain Willigrod, which left New York December 15th for Bremen. When she passed the Scilly Islands this morning she signalled that the Abyssinia had been burned in latitude 49° N, longitude 29° W. She also signalled that all on board were saved.
At midnight the Spree arrived at Southampton, and landed the passengers and crew of the Abyssinia. They were all in fair condition, having recovered from the shock which their rough experience had given them, especially two women. Captain Murray of the Abyssinia spoke highly of the humanity and courage shown by the officers of the Spree in their prompt assistance to the Abyssinia when made aware of the vessel’s danger.
The Fire Discovered.
The Abyssinia’s voyage was without special incident from the date of starting until last Friday. It was about noon when the signs of fire was discovered by the crew. Care was taken not to alarm the passengers, and Captain Murray bent every effort to smother the fire. It had evidently been smouldering for some time, and when an attempt was made to ascertain its extent a volume of smoke drove back the explorers. It soon became evident that the vessel was beyond saving and the passengers were quietly told to make preparations to leave, the crew laboring meanwhile to retard the advance of the flames, which threatened to burst from the hold.
Scanning the Horizon.
The passengers behaved well, the women showing wonderful courage under the circumstances. All eyes were strained for a vessel while the growing heat of the deck told of increasing danger. The flag of distress was hoisted and the horizon anxiously scanned. At length the Spree came in sight, and the speed with which she directed her course toward the burning vessel carried joy to the crew and passengers of the Abyssinia. Captain Willigrod asked Captain Murray the condition of his ship, and on receiving a reply, instantly caused his boats to be lowered, and the German sailors quickly manned them and made for the burning vessel. The sea was not running high.
Leaving the Burning Ship.
The first let into the boats were the women. A sturdy sailor carried down each of the children, their mothers following. Then came the male passengers, and the crew last of all, Captain Murray going down last in the boat. The passengers were permitted to take with them such belongings as they could carry about their persons, other baggage being sacrificed. The passengers were sixty-eight in number, and the crew numbered about eighty.
After the Abyssinia had been abandoned the fire gained rapidly, and the vessel must have gone down soon after.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but Captain Murray expressed the opinion that it originated spontaneously in the cargo, of which there were over a thousand bales destined for Liverpool.
The Abyssinia left New York at 6.15 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, bound for Liverpool, Captain George S Murray of the steamship Alaska in command. She carried eighteen cabin and thirty-eight steerage passengers.
A List of Her Cargo.
The Abyssinia was lost in latitude 46°, longitude 29°. She carried a large cargo of merchandise, the full value of which cannot yet be given. It was made up as follows: 1223 bales of cotton, 782 bales of hops, 554 bales of leather, 1750 sacks of “matte,” 134 handpicks, 197 logs of sabicu wood, eleven logs of satinwood, ten tons of small pieces of satinwood, forty-three packages of clocks, thirty-five boxed organs, twenty-nine packages of scrap rubber, 110 bales of domestic, 850 packages of soap, 120 cases of canned meat, forty barrels of oil, forty-two barrels of zinc-ashes, six cases of furs, 856 boxes of bacon, 55 tierces of provisions, 50 half-barrels of lard, 100 tubs of butter, 800 barrels of apples, 18,000 bushels of wheat, 4,300 staves and 31 packages of miscellaneous merchandise. The wheat was shipped by Paul Worth of this city, and consigned to “order.”
Description of the Ship.
The Abyssinia was valued at $200,000, and was built for the Cunard line by the Thompsons of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1870. She was 363 feet long, 42 feet 7 inches beam and 34 feet depth of hold, having a registered tonnage of 2,347 tons and a gross tonnage of 3.651 tons. She was rated as A1 and counted as one of Cunard line’s crack steamers. For the past five years she has been running between Vancouver, B. C., and Hong Kong, as one of the Canadian Pacific line steamers, and this was her first regular trip for the Guion line since then. She arrived in the port last September from Hong Kong with a cargo of teas consigned to Henderson Bros. of this city. She was billed to sail, on what has proven to be her last trip, on Saturday, Dec. 12, but, as she did not arrive in this port until Friday, Dec. 11, it was impossible to load her in time to leave at the appointed time, and she did not leave her dock until 6.15 p.m., Sunday evening, Dec. 13. She was manned by the crew of the Alaska, consisting of eighty men.
Some forty of fifty passengers who were to have sailed on the Abyssinia on Saturday, Dec. 12, went by other steamers when they found that the Abyssinia could not leave on the advertised day.
