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.
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