"Steamer Sunk in Boston Harbor The Ottomon Comes Into Collision with the H.M. Whitney of the Metropolitan Line Boston, Mass., Sept. 28 – [Special] – Within seven minutes after it left its wharf this evening the steamer H.M. Whitney of the Metropolitan line, plying between Boston and New York, was lying in midchannel with its nose in the muddy bottom of the harbor and two holes in its starboard side, made by the prow of the steamship Ottoman of the Warren line. The collision was the result of a misunderstanding of signals. The Ottoman was coming up from quarantine and the H.M. Whitney had just started for New York. They met in the channel, both vessels going at a slow rate of speed. Capt. Hallett of the Whitney says he gave two whistles and that the Ottoman answered him with two. Capt. Williams of the Ottoman says he heard only one whistle and that he answered it with one. The result was that the Ottoman crashed into the Whitney’s starboard bow near the foremast. The force of the collision knocked everybody and everything on the Whitney endwise. In an instant it filled and sank. The water tight compartments held the Whitney’s stern above water. Fortunately no lives were lost and no one was injured by the collision. The Ottoman suffered only slightly, a small hole being stove in the bow below the water line and a few of the iron plated being started. The Whitney cost $250,000 and is fully covered by insurance. Its cargo is valued at $150,000. Arrangements have been made to begin the work of raising the Whitney at once." – Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1892, p. 1.
Description: "Steamer Sunk in Boston Harbor The Ottomon Comes Into Collision with the H.M. Whitney of the Metropolitan Line Boston, Mass., Sept. 28 – [Special] – Within seven minutes after it left its wharf this evening the steamer H.M. Whitney of the Metropolitan line, plying between Boston and New York, was lying in midchannel with its nose in the muddy bottom of the harbor and two holes in its starboard side, made by the prow of the steamship Ottoman of the Warren line. The collision was the result of a misunderstanding of signals. The Ottoman was coming up from quarantine and the H.M. Whitney had just started for New York. They met in the channel, both vessels going at a slow rate of speed. Capt. Hallett of the Whitney says he gave two whistles and that the Ottoman answered him with two. Capt. Williams of the Ottoman says he heard only one whistle and that he answered it with one. The result was that the Ottoman crashed into the Whitney’s starboard bow near the foremast. The force of the collision knocked everybody and everything on the Whitney endwise. In an instant it filled and sank. The water tight compartments held the Whitney’s stern above water. Fortunately no lives were lost and no one was injured by the collision. The Ottoman suffered only slightly, a small hole being stove in the bow below the water line and a few of the iron plated being started. The Whitney cost $250,000 and is fully covered by insurance. Its cargo is valued at $150,000. Arrangements have been made to begin the work of raising the Whitney at once." – Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1892, p. 1. [show more]
"Steamer Sunk in Boston Harbor The Ottomon Comes Into Collision with the H.M. Whitney of the Metropolitan Line Boston, Mass., Sept. 28 – [Special] – Within seven minutes after it left its wharf this evening the steamer H.M. Whitney of the Metropolitan line, plying between Boston and New York, was lying in midchannel with its nose in the muddy bottom of the harbor and two holes in its starboard side, made by the prow of the steamship Ottoman of the Warren line. The collision was the result of a misunderstanding of signals. The Ottoman was coming up from quarantine and the H.M. Whitney had just started for New York. They met in the channel, both vessels going at a slow rate of speed. Capt. Hallett of the Whitney says he gave two whistles and that the Ottoman answered him with two. Capt. Williams of the Ottoman says he heard only one whistle and that he answered it with one. The result was that the Ottoman crashed into the Whitney’s starboard bow near the foremast. The force of the collision knocked everybody and everything on the Whitney endwise. In an instant it filled and sank. The water tight compartments held the Whitney’s stern above water. Fortunately no lives were lost and no one was injured by the collision. The Ottoman suffered only slightly, a small hole being stove in the bow below the water line and a few of the iron plated being started. The Whitney cost $250,000 and is fully covered by insurance. Its cargo is valued at $150,000. Arrangements have been made to begin the work of raising the Whitney at once." – Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1892, p. 1.
Description: "Steamer Sunk in Boston Harbor The Ottomon Comes Into Collision with the H.M. Whitney of the Metropolitan Line Boston, Mass., Sept. 28 – [Special] – Within seven minutes after it left its wharf this evening the steamer H.M. Whitney of the Metropolitan line, plying between Boston and New York, was lying in midchannel with its nose in the muddy bottom of the harbor and two holes in its starboard side, made by the prow of the steamship Ottoman of the Warren line. The collision was the result of a misunderstanding of signals. The Ottoman was coming up from quarantine and the H.M. Whitney had just started for New York. They met in the channel, both vessels going at a slow rate of speed. Capt. Hallett of the Whitney says he gave two whistles and that the Ottoman answered him with two. Capt. Williams of the Ottoman says he heard only one whistle and that he answered it with one. The result was that the Ottoman crashed into the Whitney’s starboard bow near the foremast. The force of the collision knocked everybody and everything on the Whitney endwise. In an instant it filled and sank. The water tight compartments held the Whitney’s stern above water. Fortunately no lives were lost and no one was injured by the collision. The Ottoman suffered only slightly, a small hole being stove in the bow below the water line and a few of the iron plated being started. The Whitney cost $250,000 and is fully covered by insurance. Its cargo is valued at $150,000. Arrangements have been made to begin the work of raising the Whitney at once." – Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1892, p. 1. [show more]
Vessel Name - "Agnes" - later "G.T. Hadlock" ferry Class - Steam Passenger Launch Build date - 1888 Built by - W.R. Keene Built at - Manset, Maine Gross tons - 12.20 Length - 39’ Beam - 9’ Draught - 4.02’ She was powered by a Shipman Automatic engine by 1890.
Description: Vessel Name - "Agnes" - later "G.T. Hadlock" ferry Class - Steam Passenger Launch Build date - 1888 Built by - W.R. Keene Built at - Manset, Maine Gross tons - 12.20 Length - 39’ Beam - 9’ Draught - 4.02’ She was powered by a Shipman Automatic engine by 1890.
About this photo, George Bedigan wrote: "I have enclosed scan of my father’s (Jean Bedigian) discharge papers from SS Norembega. The picture in question looks to be more circa 1920 than 1902. I say that after examining the gentleman with the suit and tie. If Jean Bedigian is in the photo it would be the fourth crew member from the left. I do not have a photo of him at that time but a photo of one of his sons (attached .. soldier on the right ) has a likeness. Also he was not a tall man approx. 5’ 7”. Jean’s mother (Zois) and sister(Maria who married an American soldier) emigrated to the US after the first world war and may have settled in the area." Jean Bedigian (1885-1950)
Description: About this photo, George Bedigan wrote: "I have enclosed scan of my father’s (Jean Bedigian) discharge papers from SS Norembega. The picture in question looks to be more circa 1920 than 1902. I say that after examining the gentleman with the suit and tie. If Jean Bedigian is in the photo it would be the fourth crew member from the left. I do not have a photo of him at that time but a photo of one of his sons (attached .. soldier on the right ) has a likeness. Also he was not a tall man approx. 5’ 7”. Jean’s mother (Zois) and sister(Maria who married an American soldier) emigrated to the US after the first world war and may have settled in the area." Jean Bedigian (1885-1950) [show more]
Heading out of Southwest Harbor by the Manset shore. The Nathaniel Gott house on Greening Island is visible off the stern of the vessels as is the Gott barn before it was moved further away from the shore.
Description: Heading out of Southwest Harbor by the Manset shore. The Nathaniel Gott house on Greening Island is visible off the stern of the vessels as is the Gott barn before it was moved further away from the shore.
"“The Maine Central fleet expanded quickly from the turn of the century until 1913. “Pemaquid” was the first of the new ships, having been purchased from the Long Island Railroad in 1901. She was a 132-foot steel-hilled single-screw steamer built in 1893 by Neafie and Levy of Philadelphia, with the distinction of being the last of the fleet to carry the Maine Central flag… Maine Central’s ships were sold off one by one until by 1931 the reliable “Pemaquid”, which during her thirty years with the railroad was used year-round, filling in for the seasonal vessels on the Mt. Desert run, was the only ship left. She was sold south that year and eventually was re-engined with a diesel. She lasted a long time, operating in the New York area into the 1960’s. The Eastern [Steamship Lines] threw in the towel three years later, in 1934. Hereafter the Maine trains would stop in Ellsworth, and Mt. Desert Ferry, the great bustling rail and steamboat facility, would fall silent.” - Mount Desert - An Informal History Edited by Gunnar Hansen, Maritime Transportation section written by Peter B. Bell, p. 166-167, 169 - 1989 ""The steamer ""Pemaquid"" was built in 1893 as the ""Long Island."" Shortly after the turn of the century, she was placed in service on the Maine coast by the Maine Central Railroad. The vessel left Maine in 1931. [She operated on the Hudson River and last ran] as a dieselized ferry to Block Island."" - ""Steamboats On The Hudson River"" by William H. Ewen, Jr., Arcadia Publishing, May 30, 2011, p. 89."
Description: "“The Maine Central fleet expanded quickly from the turn of the century until 1913. “Pemaquid” was the first of the new ships, having been purchased from the Long Island Railroad in 1901. She was a 132-foot steel-hilled single-screw steamer built in 1893 by Neafie and Levy of Philadelphia, with the distinction of being the last of the fleet to carry the Maine Central flag… Maine Central’s ships were sold off one by one until by 1931 the reliable “Pemaquid”, which during her thirty years with the railroad was used year-round, filling in for the seasonal vessels on the Mt. Desert run, was the only ship left. She was sold south that year and eventually was re-engined with a diesel. She lasted a long time, operating in the New York area into the 1960’s. The Eastern [Steamship Lines] threw in the towel three years later, in 1934. Hereafter the Maine trains would stop in Ellsworth, and Mt. Desert Ferry, the great bustling rail and steamboat facility, would fall silent.” - Mount Desert - An Informal History Edited by Gunnar Hansen, Maritime Transportation section written by Peter B. Bell, p. 166-167, 169 - 1989 ""The steamer ""Pemaquid"" was built in 1893 as the ""Long Island."" Shortly after the turn of the century, she was placed in service on the Maine coast by the Maine Central Railroad. The vessel left Maine in 1931. [She operated on the Hudson River and last ran] as a dieselized ferry to Block Island."" - ""Steamboats On The Hudson River"" by William H. Ewen, Jr., Arcadia Publishing, May 30, 2011, p. 89." [show more]
See “Maine Lakes Steamboat Album" by Walter M. Macdougall et al, published by Down East Magazine, Camden, Maine, 1976, p. 10-12 for another photograph of the vessel and information about the West Branch vessels.
Description: See “Maine Lakes Steamboat Album" by Walter M. Macdougall et al, published by Down East Magazine, Camden, Maine, 1976, p. 10-12 for another photograph of the vessel and information about the West Branch vessels.