The SS La Bourgogne sailed from New York on 2 July, 1898. Her destination was Harve, France. Two days later she steamed at full speed despite the fog she enveloped the Grand Bank.
Heading on a northeast course was the British Sailing ship, Cromartyshire, at reduced speed and sounding her Norwegian foghorn at regular interval. The La Bourgogne was no match for the steel hulled Cromartyshire.
The Cromartyshire
The latter met the steamship perpendicularly, inflicting a large gashing below the water line.
The SS La Bourgogne had minutes before she would descend 9,000 feet to the ocean floor. She would take with her 550 lives and the disaster would be recorded in newspapers across the world.
But there was much more to the story.
Although speed and negligence were the primary contributors to the accident, the actions occurring on the SS La Bourgogne’s deck were the most notable. Those events contributed to the great loss of life and provided a contrast of human behavior in times of crisis, both the positive and negative.
But that’s a story for another day.